Doby has been a UCLA administrator for 30 years and has served
as the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs since 1981.
By Winston Doby
It is not readily clear from the submission by Antonio Sandoval
and Natasha Saelua (“Administrators
Need to Fulfill Promises to SPARC Supporters,” Viewpoint,
Nov. 30) that their concern is confined to the staging of student
programs during construction. Nevertheless, I would like to share
some additional facts related to the Student Programs and
Activities Resource Center referendum, our plans for staging
occupants of the Men’s Gym during construction, and the space
student programs will occupy in the Men’s Gym when the
seismic renovation and program upgrades are completed.
My colleagues and I in Student Affairs are extremely grateful to
you, the students, for recognizing the inadequacy of current space
to house student services and programs and for supporting the SPARC
referendum in such overwhelming numbers. Through SPARC, we have the
opportunity to transform a campus landmark (the Men’s
Gymnasium ““ or what was referred to as BO Barn in my
generation) into a programmatic extension of Kerckhoff Hall and
Ackerman Union and to significantly upgrade the John Wooden
Recreational Center. The true beneficiaries of your vision will be
the future UCLA Bruins who utilize these facilities.
We are deeply committed to the student-initiated programs that
are located in the Men’s Gym including the Community Programs
Office, Campus Retention Committee, and the newly-formed Student
Initiated Outreach Committee. The CPO and CRC programs are housed
permanently in approximately 2,100 square feet of Student Affairs
space in the Men’s Gym.
In addition, beginning this Fall, the student programs were
assigned approximately 900 square feet of space on a temporary
basis to house the SIOC until construction begins in June of
2001.
As a result of the SPARC referendum, CPO, CRC and SIOC will be
housed in approximately 6,900 square feet of space, an increase of
over 300 percent, following completion of the Men’s Gym
project. This space assignment is not at issue.
Sandoval and Saelua, chairs of CRC and SIOC respectively, are
legitimately concerned about the location and amount of space their
programs will occupy during the two-year construction period, from
June 2001 to June 2003.
The North Addition to the Wooden Center was built to serve as
the staging facility for the Men’s Gym during construction.
According to campus guidelines, units are allocated approximately
80 percent of their current space during the staging period. It was
clear, however, early on that Wooden North could not accommodate
all occupants of the Men’s Gym at the 80 percent level and
that some units would either be required to receive less space or
to be staged in a remote location.
On May 3, 2000, I signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
then-USAC President Mike de la Rocha to assure students that these
programs would be staged in the center of campus life and would
receive 80 percent of their current space allocation, about 2,100
square feet, during the staging period.
Since that time, it has been decided that: (1) Early Academic
Outreach Programs and BruinCorps, currently housed in approximately
1,900 square feet of space in the Men’s Gym, will be staged
in approximately 1,300 square feet in Wooden North; (2) ROTC
programs, which now occupy approximately 16,000 square feet of
space in the Men’s Gym, will be allocated less than 10,000
square feet of staging space in Wooden North and temporary
trailers; and (3) the student-initiated programs will be staged in
Kerckhoff Hall.
But the amount of staging space that these student programs will
receive has not yet been resolved to the students’
satisfaction. At issue is whether the student programs will be
staged in approximately 2,100 square feet (the current plan) or
approximately 2,500 square feet (their request). The difference is
not trivial in the context of a significant space crunch for the
next two years due to construction and the anticipated student
program expansion.
To further complicate the matter, from the students’
perspective, the approximately 900 square feet of space temporarily
assigned to the SIOC this Fall should be considered in the 80
percent staging calculation. This is even though it was already
taken into account for staging purposes when its permanent
occupant, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Relations, was
relocated to Kerckhoff Hall.
Also, the Student Tours program must vacate approximately 300
square feet of temporary space in Murphy Hall and move to a
location in close proximity to where their tours begin, around
Ackerman Union and Kerckhoff Hall.
Despite these complications, I am confident that the issue will
be resolved in the coming weeks through further discussions with
the students and the other affected Student Affairs unit heads.
Stay tuned.