Give students stronger representation on the UC Board of Regents

Support ACA 18

By Raymond de Vente

In a public university system that manages a $53.5 billion annual budget, oversees three national labs, and educates nearly 300,000 students, you would expect those students to have a real say in how things are run. Currently, they do not.

That is why Californians should pay attention to ACA 18, a new Assembly Constitutional Amendment moving through the state legislature. Authored by Assemblymember Jessica Caloza (D-Los Angeles), this measure would finally fix a long-standing democratic deficit at the heart of the University of California.

Here is the current reality: Under the California Constitution, the UC Board of Regents, the powerful body that governs the entire system, includes just one voting student representative. One vote for almost 300,000 minds. While the constitution currently authorizes the Board to appoint student members, it does not guarantee meaningful representation. After a year of serving as a non-voting “designate,” a single student finally gets a vote. For a system this massive, that is not representation; it is a token gesture.

ACA 18 changes this by requiring the Board to appoint two voting student regents. Crucially, one of these students must be an undergraduate and one must be a graduate or professional student. This guarantees that both the specific needs of undergrads, like housing and class sizes, and the concerns of graduate researchers, like stipends and labor conditions, have an equal voice at the table.

This isn’t a radical idea; it is catching up. As student advocate Evelin Chavez pointed out, both the California State University (CSU) system and the California Community College system already have two voting student seats on their governing boards. If our peer institutions trust students with two votes, why does the prestigious UC system insist on only one?

Currently, students spend their first year on the Board as a powerless “designate,” forced to shadow a voting member. ACA 18 would keep the designate model for training but double the voting power the following year. This ensures institutional knowledge while finally giving students the authority to actually influence the $190 billion in investments and the policies that dictate their daily lives.

Opponents may argue that students are temporary or lack experience. But students are the primary stakeholders of the university. They feel the impact of tuition hikes, housing shortages, and mental health service gaps immediately. Giving them two votes isn’t about ceding control; it’s about listening to the people the university exists to serve.

ACA 18 still needs to pass both chambers of the legislature to appear on the November ballot. If it does, and a simple majority of voters say “yes,” California will finally align the UC with its sister community college and CSU systems.