Friday, September 26, 1997
Grad student here to help clear mystery surrounding UC
Regents
REGENTS: Providing outlook for upcoming academic year,
information on university
By Kathryn McClymond
Pop quiz: Who are the UC Regents? How did they get to be
Regents? What do they do anyway? And which Regent is also a UC
student?
I know, I know – you’re not really in the mood for pop quizzes
yet – after all, it’s only zero week. You don’t know anything about
the Regents except that they seem to ask for more and more of your
money each year. And why should you worry about them anyway –
you’ll never know a UC Regent, right?
Wrong.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Kathryn McClymond. I’m
beginning my sixth year as a graduate student in religious studies
at UC Santa Barbara, and from July 1, l997, until June 30, 1998,
I’m one of the UC Regents. One of my goals this year is to make the
UC system – including the Regents – a little less mysterious, a
little more accessible and a lot more helpful to you, the UC
student. Throughout the 1997-1998 academic year I’ll be writing
regular columns in the student newspaper, discussing how the UC
system is structured on a system-wide level, including the Regents,
the office of the president, the chancellors and laboratory
directors and various student, faculty and staff organizations.
We’ll be looking at some of the hot issues currently facing the
university, such as domestic-partner benefits, students fees and
outreach to K-12 students across the state- all issues that affect
us as students. Occasionally I also plan to invite guest writers
(other Regents, administrators in the office of the president and
student leaders) to address topics in their areas of expertise.
Why should you care about any of this? As students we often feel
far removed from the major financial and policy decisions that
affect us. In a university system with over 160,000 students and an
annual budget of over $10 billion, it’s easy to feel insignificant.
But students have more influence than you might think, and the
better informed we are about the policies, the people and the
procedures that shape UC decision-making, the better citizens we
are in the university community. As an educated student you can be
influential in your own university’s development. That benefits all
of us: students, staff, faculty, administrators and Regents.
In my next column I’ll describe the UC Regents themselves: who
they are, what they do, how they get to be Regents and how they
work with President Atkinson and the chancellors. Also, I’ll
describe the role of the student regent, the one UC student who
sits as a voting member of the Board of Regents. I’ll tell you how
you can apply to be next year’s student regent. Any undergraduate
or graduate student is eligible, and the selection process begins
this fall. So it’s not too early to start thinking about the
possibility.
Throughout the year I’ll publish various columns designed to
educate you about the UC system and make us better informed, more
active members of the university community. If you have particular
issues you’d like me to discuss, or if you have any questions about
happenings in the university, you can contact me via e-mail at
[email protected]. I look forward to a year in which we can all
make a positive contribution to the University of California.
Oh, and if you’re lucky, I’ll tell you about the time I got lost
driving Regent Ward Connerly around UC Irvine. But that’s another
column.McClymond is a graduate student in religious studies at UC
Santa Barbara. She is also the student member of the UC Board of
regents.