Advocacy Presentation + Vote

1. Advocacy Presentation + Vote October 3, 2013

2. Five Advocacy Options • Bike Infrastructure • Campus and Community Safety • International Student Services • Graduate Student Space • Professional Development Delegates to Vote on Top 3

3. 1. Bike Wellness • What is the issue or problem we are trying to solve? • For many grad students, cycling is neither safe nor easy • There is a lack of infrastructure on and off campus (racks, cages, paths, designated routes, better pavement quality, etc.) • There is a lack of information (where bikes are welcome, how to connect between campus and city cycling routes, safe riding habits, trip planning, etc.)

4. Relevant Info • On Campus • UC Berkeley is implementing pedestrian and bicycle improvements recommended in its Long Range Development Plan, Bicycle Plan, and Landscape Master Plan • Bike share programs including ASUC bike share program • SafeTREC report on campus cycling (provides several dozen recommendations to City and UCB) • Other campus updates • Off Campus • Berkeley repaving project 2013-2017 (7 miles/year) • Berkeley redesigning Bicycle Master Plan 2014 • Electric bike share pilot program launches spring 2014 – 8 locations in Berkeley • EBBC Berkeley Bikeways Campaign – modern bikeways to Tunnel, Hearst, and Hillegass roads

5. Recommended routes (from defunct DPS page)

6. Action items • Advocate for… • Infrastructure – on campus & off campus • Improve and add painted lanes / corridors • More and improved better bike paths • Better pavement quality • Improve bike parking options and availability: bike cages on campus & bike racks • Education & Outreach • Route finding , trip planning, & free maps • Bike safety information & training • Provide information about lights and helmets

7. Some solutions

8. Potential Partners • BicyCal – UC Berkeley bike coop • Free repairs! Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays 12-3pm • East Bay Bicycle Coalition – upcoming opportunities: • Tunnel Road planning: October 8, 2013 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm • Cal Cycling • UC Department of Parking and Transportation • UC Police Department • ASUC • City of Berkeley Transportation Division

9. 2. Campus & Community Safety • What is the issue or problem we are trying to solve? • Many grad students live far from campus and often leave campus late at night • Dissatisfaction with existing resources for safe night transportation • This year, pedestrian robbery is on the rise • A lack: • Of resources (lighting, patrols, shuttles, etc.) • Of information (safe routes, existing resources, and linking transit options, etc.)

10. Robberies first six months of 2013

11. Relevant Info Existing Campus Services • Night Safety Shuttles • 7:30pm – 4am perimeter routes http://bearwalk.berkeley.edu/shuttles/ • 4-5:30am door-to-door service • 15/30-minute intervals • BEAR Walk • Dusk-4 AM • Service boundary - 1 mile from campus • Long delays associated with Night Safety Shuttles and Bear Walk.

12. Action items Advocate for: • On Campus • More Blue Boxes • Improve Nigh Safety Shuttle services (hours, etc.) • Improved lighting • Consolidate safety information and increase education • Decrease cost of key-card access for buildings • More visible cross walks • Off campus • Increasing police patrols for certain hours/areas • Discuss long-term strategies for improved street lighting • Connect with neighborhood associations to share information & lobby City

13. Potential Partners • UC Department of Parking and Transportation • UC Police Department • ASUC • City of Berkeley Transportation Division • Berkeley Police Department • Berkeley Neighborhood Associations

14. 3. International Graduate Student Services • Few services are provided to full-time international graduate students. Despite paying higher fees, relatively few support services are provided. • International graduate students add to campus diversity, in terms of community and academic contributions.

15. Background • 21% of masters and professional students are international students. (http://grad.berkeley.edu/news/berkeley_graduate_profile.shtml) • 25% of academic graduate students are international students. (http://grad.berkeley.edu/news/berkeley_graduate_profile.shtml) • International students pay nonresident tuition for the entire duration of their graduate studies (or until advancement to Ph.D. candidacy) • Current activities targeted to international students are focused on short-term visitors (e.g. visiting students) and mainly provided by I-House, which is technically a non-campus entity.

16. Actions Items • Welcome events for international graduate students: social gatherings, info session on things to know on arrival (e.g. bank accounts, health insurance) • Encourage formation of on-campus orgs to facilitate networking of international grad students and maintain ties with Berkeley’s international alumni network • Create on-campus information resource for international graduate students for networking & professional development • Introduce coordination of these activities through the creation of an International Graduate Student Service Projectby GA

17. Potential Partners • Graduate Division • Language and Cultural Departments • Career Center • I-House • Berkeley International Office (BIO)

18. 4. Graduate Student Space • At the first Graduate Assembly meeting this year, several delegates noted that additional work space for graduate students is needed across the university • Graduate student work space, open and accessible to all, is critical to building a sense of community, welcoming pluralism, and allowing graduate students to achieve academic excellence

19. Action Items • Assess/survey available campus space and departmental space available to graduate students • Apply for CACSSF funding to renovate spaces which are designated for use by graduate students but currently inadequate • Advocate for policy changes to allow classroom and other campus space to be multi-purposed for student groups and individual study use

20. Potential Partners • Registrar's Office • Office of Space Management and Capital Programs • CACSSF

21. 5. Professional Development • On the 2012-2013 ASUC/GA grad students reported that career support services were one of the most important services getting Student Services Funding on campus. However, the kinds of professional development (technical interview preparation, leadership training, communication training) that are requirements for many of the kinds of jobs graduate students would want to apply for are not currently offered on campus for many graduate students. • Furthermore, academic advisors are often inflexible with regard to allowing graduate students time off to interview or pursue an internship. Many graduate students feel the need to keep the cultivation of outside options a secret from their advisors.

22. Relevant Info • Currently, professional development services on campus are scattered and inadequate (individual departments, Career Center, VSPA, student orgs). • The GA is currently involved in a joint task force with Graduate Division and has formed a Workgroup to examine options. • The UCSA has taken on the related campaign JOBS! As a UC system wide initiative.

23. Action items • Work with campus partners to house and support programs that result from Professional development CACSSF proposals. • Potentially add FTEs to campus to do professional and career development for grads. • Build permanent relationships with, and assist in the annual transition of, student organizations focusing on professional development. • Advertising professional development services on campus so that graduate students know all of their options. • Work to change the faculty culture and find ways for students to get time for interviews and internships.

24. Potential Partners • Graduate Division (GA/Grad Div Task force) • Academic Senate • Career Center • Visiting Scholar and Postdoctoral Affairs • Chancellor Dirks • Student Organizations • UCSA