Fall 2025 Transparency Report

Contents

- Letter from the TSR, Hyerim Yoon

- Note from Chief of Staff, Jennifer Ulloa de la Torre

 - Transparency Report, CCC/UC Relations

- Note from Chief of Staff, Paige Zwerner

- Transparency Report, External Programs and Platforms

- Note from Chief of Staff, James Yen

- Transparency Report, Internal Operations

This past quarter has been the busiest yet, simultaneously the most rewarding time of my college career. As fall comes to a close, I am filled with an immense sense of gratitude for my community around me, and I’m under the impression that the strength of our transfer student body is the encouraging force my office needs as we head into the new year.

This fall, my office got to plan and attend inclusive events, host basic needs drives for our UCLA community, meet with transfer leaders and policy makers across the UC system, reinstate our Transfer Awareness Trainings, and participate in numerous Appointments Review Committee interviews alongside USAC’s Internal Vice President, External Vice President, and General Representative 2. More specific updates can be found in my officer report, which is linked in the @uclatsr bio.

The start of my term was marked by significant challenges. From the UC ban on student government boycotts, growing threats against our international and undocumented students, and painful attacks on our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, it’s clear we are living through a series of historic moments. I stand firmly against any effort to limit the actions of a democratically elected body, and I’ve been working with my fellow council members to ensure that our undergraduate students and their right to safe, inclusive education remain protected.

Despite the challenges we faced, I am so proud that my office and I were able to come together and show up to support the most resilient and powerful group I know on UCLA’s campus—our transfer student body. Every single day, I am in awe of the students I have the privilege of representing at council every Tuesday at 7 PM.

Thank you all for supporting my office this quarter. More to come in the winter, so please stay tuned. And, as always, Power to the Transfer!

In strength and solidarity

Hyerim Yoon (she/they)

USAC Transfer Student Representative, 2025–2026

This fall, the committees within California Community Colleges—University of California [CCC-UC] Relations Branch have advocated for representation and provided resources for transfer students through policy research, educational workshops, and awareness presentations. The branch consisted of four committees, all working toward the same goal of addressing transfer needs: External Relations, California Community College [CCC] Connections, Administrative Affairs, and Research & Career Development.

In our first ten weeks, these committees have attended a community swearing-in ceremony, conducted transfer-awareness presentations for UCLA organizations, guided transfers through the process of delivering public comments at UC Regents meetings; and, planned events like the prospective transfers panel in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s ASUC Transfer Representative Office, an informative webinar offering resources on how to get involved in research, and a lobby training workshop.

We look forward to the quarter ahead as we prepare for a new legislative session and transfer university decisions to roll out. Moving forward, each committee has outlined its commitment to continue helping transfer students of all backgrounds by connecting with local community colleges, conducting focus groups, strengthening relationships with local officials, and hosting more informative presentations.

Thank you to every member who serves on this branch for giving us your time, passion, and commitment. Serving the transfer community alongside individuals who share the same passion for public policy and CCC representation has been an incredibly rewarding experience.

En comunidad,

A critical first step for the committee was meeting with TSR Hyerim to clearly define the committee's purpose and scope with the TSR Office. This meeting facilitated an outline of future plans and initiatives for the Administrative Affairs Committee. This meeting also gave birth to plans for transfer-friendly club resources, which can directly address transfer club engagement barriers. In terms of administrative tasks, the directors delegated initial tasks and formalized a weekly meeting schedule to ensure sustained participation and progress. Furthermore, the committee prepared, reviewed, and presented a Transfer Awareness Training (TAT) to the Student Wellness Commission. To expand the Transfer Awareness Training initiative, the committee drafted an official TAT request email, which was designed to solicit participation from certain UCLA organizations. This primary list consists of USAC representatives, existing clubs, and other key UCLA organizations. At the start of launching the Administrative Affairs committee, the directors also met with the External Vice President’s Office to discuss the upcoming UC Regents meeting and how they could support them, as the committee did not want to overstep the boundaries of Admin Affairs. During the meeting, James Woolery, as well as the EVP Internal Head of Staff, discussed the background, significance, and agenda of the UC Regents, including the infamous Cohort Tuition Model they planned to enact. As a result, the meeting continued with the planning of a workshop for the next UC Regents meeting in order to empower transfers to make a public comment. This was then shared with the rest of the committee who became encouraged to submit a public comment regarding either the cohort tuition model or another issue they wanted to improve. To continue, the Administrative Affairs Committee followed up and utilized the meeting by creating a UC Regents Informative Slideshow. This included preparing slides that went over the roles and responsibilities of the UC Regents, the details concerning the cohort tuition model, and the call to action of submitting a public comment that opposed it. The slideshow was presented at the Transfer Student Representative general meeting, which raised awareness about the issue.

This quarter, we've engaged with students through a number of avenues, including a CV workshop event that saw a number of first-year transfers who are eager to apply to research labs on campus.

START is happy to announce that we have recruited 2 lab technicians who are current transfers. The application, as intended, received a large proportion of applicants who are transfers, which was made possible by the reposting and word of mouth of the TSR office and staff. These techs will be assisting on a longitudinal START study that will launch in winter 2026 and will recruit 300 undergraduate students.

More recently, we have collaborated with the TSR wellness committee to host an HIV/STI awareness event on December 8th (pending funding approval). Through that initiative, we aim to make STI/HIV education approachable, stigma-free, and engaging. The event will include short interactive presentations from peer student health educators that will use a social network approach to disseminate information on how to access key resources (i.e., free condoms, free safer sex materials, HIV/STI testing). We have also designed a number of additional initiatives to support students’ health, well-being, and research, pending funding approval.

Next quarter, our flagship event is aimed at increasing transfer students' knowledge of research opportunities on campus and how to apply to them. Additionally, we will be applying for funds to mobilize undergraduate students to seek better inclusion in research opportunities, and have said opportunities be better integrated in the curricula of specific disciplines where undergraduate research experience is needed for becoming a competitive graduate applicant.

This Fall quarter, the External Relations committee has primarily focused on learning about the lobbying process, designating roles for each committee member, and planning our Lobby Training Day that took place on November 12th. Since the Fall quarter neared the end of the California state legislative session, we mainly wanted to educate our committee members on the process so we could schedule legislative meetings and track legislation in the Winter quarter. Our committee members took on roles such as legislative leads, fundraising leads, and internal liaisons. Our Lobby Training Event was a success, where each committee member discussed what the lobby process is, why students should participate in it, and how transfer students can get involved. We have also begun discussing the specific types of issue areas we would like to focus on when conducting our legislative meetings next quarter. The primary issue areas we want to pay attention to are food insecurity, housing insecurity, and non-traditional student experiences (commuters, Veterans, previously incarcerated, and older students). To do this, we are contacting UCLA-affiliated clubs and organizations that would be interested in conducting a focus group session with transfer students who have experienced these issues, in order to get the most relevant statistical data, something that is crucial for organizing legislative meetings next quarter. While conducting our focus groups, our legislative leads, Jake and Sanjana, will be starting to review bills that have been introduced into the California state government, with a specific focus on bills that have been introduced by state officials who are members of the Committee on Education in both the Senate and the Assembly. With that, we can begin to organize and schedule meetings, which will be extremely beneficial for our main Spring event, Transfer Student Lobby Day.

This fall has been both rewarding and challenging. Between attacks on our Universities' funding, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, SNAP benefits (and many more), the need for supportive programming was higher than ever. I was frustrated to see the position our students were put in, but the opportunity to serve them is a fulfilling experience.

This quarter, the External Programs and Platforms branch hosted events such as Basic Needs Drives, which served over 100 students; a panel discussion on ableism; a yoga event to help students decompress; the Bruin Buddies mentorship program; and housing town halls to inform students about their options, to name a few.

This quarter also allowed me to connect with leaders in Bruin Parenting Scholars, which has been a privilege. My favorite part of this position has been building a supportive community for students of all identities. I look forward to continuing this relationship and expanding the communities we co-program with.

In the future, this branch will continue to create supportive, meaningful programming for students across UCLA. Keep an eye out for our future initiatives!

In Community,

The Student Housing Committee has held a variety of events this quarter, advocated for students with their housing and dining concerns, provided basic resources, and educated students on their dining and housing options–all in partnership with other offices and organizations.

Starting over the summer, we put out a housing feedback form to gauge student responses to the 4/10 apartment change and overall UCLA Housing feedback. We also met with administrators to discuss the 7P meal plan increase for off-campus students, how the UCLA Dining food budget functions in deficit, and other student dining and housing concerns.

We held a two-part Transfer Housing Townhall with representatives of OCHC, Student Legal Services, Swipe Out Hunger, BruinDine, the Transfer Student Center, UCLA Housing, UCLA Dining, the Commuter Liaison, and many USAC offices (e.g., FAC, GR 2, GR 3, ISR, and IVP).

We have also held a 3-part Holiday Basic Needs Drive, in time for Thanksgiving and before the Winter Break closure, focusing on items for students with dependents, commuters, and international students. This event was held in partnership with Swipe Out Hunger, BruinDine, and Bruin Parenting Scholars.

Our committee has also put out various resources and content for students, including a guide to CAE accommodations and a guide to housing for late admits.

To educate students on food insecurity and dining resources, we also partnered with Swipe Out Hunger, BruinDine, and GR 2 to flyer about their swipe donation program, food recovery events, and student advocacy efforts in a Halloween Trick or Treat Yourself to Volunteering event.

We have also put out Housing and Dining Feedback Forms to get student input on the 4/10s and new off-campus 7P option, so we can better advocate to administrators come Winter Quarter.

We have a lot planned for next quarter, including a HOWsing Night, How-to-Housing workshops, and more, so stay tuned!

This Fall Quarter, our committee was able to accomplish a lot, and it really set a strong foundation for the rest of the year. One of the biggest things we did was work with the UCLA Office of Student Affairs to hand out free Rose Bowl Game tickets for the UCLA vs. Maryland football game. With help from Vice Chancellor Mick DeLuca, we were able to secure around 500–550 tickets, which was huge. We partnered closely with the Transfer Student Center, especially Sarah Molitoris, to make sure the distribution process went smoothly and that as many students as possible had the chance to attend.

Another highlight was hosting our first Bruin Rams GameDay. We took students to SoFi Stadium to watch the Rams play the Saints, and the experience ended up being even more exciting since the Rams won 34–10. Events like this helped bring students together outside of campus and gave everyone a chance to relax and bond. We also held an office social at Enzo Pizzeria, a local Westwood business, which gave our committee a chance to connect more personally while supporting a neighborhood spot. Throughout all of this, we worked with the Finance team to make sure our funding requests were completed and approved correctly.

For the rest of the year, we’re hoping to keep building on this momentum. We’re looking into planning trips to a basketball or baseball game, or maybe even a hockey game. Overall, our goal is to continue creating appropriate, fun, and accessible events that bring the student body together and make the student experience even better.

This past quarter, the NTMI office introduced itself and connected with NTMI groups on campus, such as Bruin Underground Scholars, Students with Dependents, and the Undocumented Students Program. We gathered information on what student populations they serve, what their needs are, and how we can contribute to their efforts and advocate for them better. Additionally, we are compiling a master document with all of these groups and what they would like from our office, so we plan on sharing it early in the Winter Quarter, so that our office can better plan and coordinate ways to make our events more accessible and welcoming. Attempts were made to host a large social and fundraiser, which unfortunately fell through due to external forces, and so they have to be rescheduled to the Winter Quarter. We plan on rescheduling our boba social fundraiser event to the first Saturday of Week 1 (January 10) as soon as we have confirmation. The Hammer Event had very minimal turnout, likely due to the weather conditions. We are considering being more helpful by attending other NTMI group events next quarter and pursuing joint partnership participation by helping in whichever way we can. Another thing we would like to do is collaborate with another USAC office, which would likely be the EVP, by helping with their basic needs department. This is because they also tend to host events that our NTMI population would benefit from, so it would be nice to collaborate and contribute on a greater scale.

The Transfer Opportunities committee has made a lot of progress this year towards expanding resources and support for UCLA’s transfer community. One of our major accomplishments has been the consistent publication of the monthly transfer opportunities newsletter. Each issue highlights relevant internships, campus programs, scholarships, and events tailored to the needs of transfers. This newsletter has become a reliable resource for students seeking guidance and timely information, and its regular distribution has strengthened our committee’s presence and impact.

In addition to the newsletter, we have initiated productive conversations with New Student Orientation regarding the creation of dedicated time during orientation for transfer students to apply for scholarships. This initiative aims to ensure that incoming transfer students are immediately connected to financial support opportunities and understand the resources available to them as soon as they arrive at UCLA. We are hopeful that these conversations will lead to changes that will benefit more and more incoming students.

The committee has also begun outreach to the ASUCLA Board of Directors to advocate for the implementation of a transfer student representative position. Such a role would provide institutionalized advocacy within ASUCLA and ensure transfer-specific concerns are voiced during key decision-making processes.

For the remainder of the year, we plan to continue producing the monthly newsletter with the goals of strengthening its reach and content. We also hope to further our conversations with both NSO and ASUCLA BOD and develop event programming for the upcoming quarter that is centered around support and community-building for transfer students.

The Transfer Wellness Committee is composed of two co-directors and three staff members, and staffing was completed in August. Our weekly team meetings occur every Tuesday weekly, which last from 7:00-7:30 PM. This is time used to discuss allocations of time and tasks for staff, such as planning event logistics (including times, items, and budget). Directors assist staff with event planning, paperwork, and securing locations. This quarter, we will have hosted a total of 6 events. Our first event was the TSR ice cream social, which allowed UCLA students to meet the TSR team while also providing the TSR team with an opportunity to officially meet in a more social setting. The next event focused on mental and physical well-being by doing yoga and journaling. There was relatively low attendance, but I believe that it could be improved by better signage for events. Another event focused on pastries and conversation, which was well-attended and provided another excellent social opportunity for the TSR office to connect with one another. We also hosted a collaboration event with Sustainagoals for a tote bag painting event. Our last two events will take place during finals week, with one event in collaboration with Joseph to promote safe sex and STD resources. Our team’s event will focus on providing mental health resources during finals week, including stress balls, pencils, flyers, and snack items. I think our biggest room for improvement involves better signage for events, improved deadlines for events to ensure our expected midterm and final event weeks, and our communication as a committee.

The Internal Relations branch of the Transfer Student Representative’s Office has been hard at work this quarter! Consisting of the Internal Communications and Transparency, Finance, Transfer Transitions, Committee Integration Program, and Joint Projects committees, we have been hard at work serving both the transfer student population and helping the office run smoothly.

The committees of Internal Communications and Transparency completed work that helped individuals in the office have their voices heard, through town hall meetings and several feedback forms.

The Finance committee has been hard at work, processing cash advances and reimbursement forms, securing contingency funds, and helping individuals apply for external grants.

The Transfer Transitions committee planned a total of four events throughout Fall Quarter, working with the Transfer Student Center as well as the California Community College Committee, another committee in the Transfer Student Representative’s office.

The Committee Integration Program, which is a collaborative effort with the International Student Representative’s office, accepted interns who learned about how USAC and more specifically how the TSR and ISR offices work.

Finally, the Joint Projects committee communicated extensively with Intramural Sports on how transfer students can be involved at a higher rate than how they are now.

We look forward to the Winter Quarter, where we can continue serving the transfer student population!

Sincerely,

In the Fall Quarter of 2025, the Transfer Transitions Committee ran a total of four events. During the months of August and September, we planned the “Academics at UCLA” and “Life at UCLA” webinars, as well as the transfer social picnic for new transfer students. This included creating slideshow presentations, scripts, and collaborating with the Transfer Student Center. The “Academics at UCLA” event, held on September 15th, had a great turnout. We had former and current transfer students, as well as professor guests, speak about topics such as research and academic culture at UCLA, and we also discussed academic resources. The “Life at UCLA” event, held on September 16th, was also very successful. The topics discussed included what to know for weeks 0-1, taking up space on campus, a living at UCLA/commuting panel, wellness, and speakers from the Career Center and Recreation. The transfer picnic was held on September 18th and had a great turnout, with approximately 100 transfer students in attendance. There were sandwiches and drinks available for students, which were all budgeted with the TSC and discussed with Hyerim. This event allowed transfer students to mingle and meet other new transfer students. Around midway through the quarter, the committee started planning the “Transfer Talk” webinar for prospective applicants. This event was a collaboration with the California Community College Connections Committee. In preparation for this, outreach to many different community colleges was conducted, and informational slides were created. The event was held online on November 21st and had a turnout of around 60 attendees. Topics covered were financial aid, extracurricular tips, a “what we wish we knew” section, and a glimpse of life at UCLA. There was also a Q&A session at the end. Overall, the committee accomplished creating events to help ease the transition from community college to UCLA for many students.

The Committee Integration Program co-directors spent the first 3 weeks of Fall 2025 advertising the Committee Integration Program through Instagram posts and the Enormous Activities Fair. During the Fall 2025 Quarter, the Committee Integration Program accepted its cohort of TSR and ISR interns. This application process included a written application as a Google form, and from this form, as well as some deliberation among the directors, 18 applicants were matriculated. The retention was 15 interns at week 9.

From weeks 4 to 6, the interns were taught about USAC’s structure, elections, resolutions, and referenda, and the structure of both the TSR and ISR offices. During our second meeting, the interns had a pizza social and got to know each other as they will be working together in the future. From the third meeting onwards, the interns formed groups of 3 and worked on projects that they could implement when they joined their office, including events, Q&A forms, and workshops. These projects were sent in and reviewed for feedback by the directors. The interns also attended the TSR and ISR all-staff meetings to get an idea of how the structure of the office works first-hand. At the end of the quarter, the interns will be matriculated into their respective offices and will be placed as the representatives of the office, as the representatives of the office see fit.

Internal Communications:

The Internal Communications Committee focused on maintaining consistent communication with the rest of the office to stay informed about the progress and experiences of other committees, both professionally and personally. Our primary objective was to gather, listen to, and respond to feedback, though the amount received was limited. In addition to weekly check-ins during meetings, we created a new feedback form for staff members to share any concerns or suggestions related to the TSR office. Later in the term, we collaborated with the Transparency Committee to explore introducing a bylaw for USAC that would establish a higher standard for hiring transfer students within the office. Together, we began outlining the structure and purpose of the bylaw, researching the current number of transfer students involved, and determining an appropriate target, whether expressed as a percentage or a fixed number. While the bylaw is still in development, progress has been steady and promising.

Transparency:

Transparency focused on a few initiatives that ended up getting pivoted into focusing on these reports. First, I was aiming on hosting two Town Halls to promote office transparency among students by informing them on office initiatives. However, the turnout was much less than we hoped, which led to us cancelling the second Town Hall for Week 9. Instead, we decided to merge Internal Communications and Transparency as committees to work together for a USAC bylaw proposal. As mentioned above, progress has been steady. The goal is to get the ability to reach out to each USAC office by the end of this week in order to get a total count of transfers in USAC. I believe that this will be an important focus for the Winter Quarter.

During the fall quarter, the finance committee worked on budgeting the $9595.792 we received for the 2025-2026 fiscal year across over 10 different committees within the Office of the Transfer Student Representative. We have received and processed a total of 5 cash advances, which were used to help fund both campus-wide and office events, including a “Meet the Office” ice cream social, a mask decorating event in the Transfer Student Center, and a Bruin Buddies holiday party. Additionally, we have received and processed a total of 12 reimbursement requests throughout the quarter in which the funds were used to assist with printing costs, lobby trainings, and the provision of food for social events. The finance committee also worked to secure contingency funds through written collaboration with the director of external programming to help secure a total of $7980. These funds were used to host a Bruin Football Rose Bowl GameDay as well as a Bruin Rams GameDay, which were community-building initiatives designed to offer UCLA undergraduate students the opportunity to attend a football game for free and at a discounted rate, respectively. As a committee, we additionally assisted the Director of Research & Career Development with applying for the Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Grant, as well as the 25-26 SWC Programming Fund. Both applications were successful and resulted in the obtainment of $1,400.81 and $746.24, respectively. The committee is currently working on updating and creating an end-of-quarter budget update, a cash inflow and outflow tracker, as well as transitioning from Google Sheets to Excel to help streamline how we keep track of our quarterly earnings and spending amongst the multitude of committees within the TSR office.

As a student government office, we prioritize putting transparency and students first, which means being able to effectively communicate with the community we serve. We take pride in prioritizing transfers, and we look forward to the accomplishments we achieve as an office and how we can better serve you.

Until next time,