Official Blog | UCGPC

Current Status

Advocating for the basic needs of graduate and professional students consistently and fairly is challenging. Mental health services are not available to all UC students who need them. Many UC students are worried about the availability, affordability, and access to graduate student housing. UC administration has previously noted that graduate students have unique needs due to the diversity of their life stages, including family housing, undocumented or undacamented students, and international students. However, some administrators have also suggested that graduate and professional students should be more resourceful since they were accepted into graduate school. This places an unfair burden on the students since many grad students work for the university as ASEs, and professional students pay out of pocket for their education.

Wishlist

Graduate and professional students must consistently and equitably advocate for their basic needs. Additionally, there is a need for increased funding for mental health expansions, both in promotion and prevention. Access to affordable and prioritized graduate student housing, especially for those with families, is also a pressing need. There is a requirement for better liaison with those who approve EBT, an expansion for year-round access to benefits, and a more straightforward renewal process after summer session teaching appointments. Food pantries across campuses are impacted, and graduate students hesitate to use them as they worry about running into other students and maintaining professional concerns. Therefore, there is a need for system-wide graduate student pantries.

Additional Notes

Meeting the diverse needs of graduate and professional students can be challenging as they require different types of support. There is a common perception among UC administrators that graduate and professional students should be able to secure their housing and food without any help. However, this is only sometimes the case, as many of these students work as ASEs for the university and have different financial resources than undergraduate students. It is important to remember that the basic needs of graduate and professional students are the same as those of undergraduate students, and they require support to meet these needs just like any other student.