Official Blog | UCGPC

The University of California Graduate and Professional Council (UCGPC) convened this July 12 with a critical agenda: ratifying its annual advocacy campaign priorities for the 2025–2026 academic year. Represented at the table were ex officio board members from all ten UC graduate campuses, each tasked with advancing the interests of thousands of graduate and professional students systemwide.

Policy-Focused Process, Inclusive Representation

In keeping with UCGPC’s student advocacy mission, the board meeting was run under strict nonprofit governance standards and Robert’s Rules of Order. Every campus—Berkeley to Riverside—sent delegates empowered to reflect their unique constituencies but committed to building consensus on systemwide priorities. The structure emphasized the organization’s identity as a student representative body: diverse, policy-centered, and squarely focused on improving graduate student life across California.

Priorities: From Data to Deliberation

Campaign priorities did not materialize in a vacuum. Earlier in the summer, UCGPC conducted a systemwide survey, drawing more than one hundred responses that detailed core concerns: immigration and student protections, struggles with basic needs from housing to food security, and mounting healthcare costs. These themes were distilled into three broad campaigns, up for formal board approval:

1. Immigration, Undocumented, and International Student Protections
2. Basic Needs (Housing, Food, Family, Finances)
3. Healthcare Access and Affordability

Intense Debate, Respectful Process

Although the priorities were shaped by clear student feedback, their adoption was far from automatic. Debate on the floor reflected the organization’s dynamism and the sense of urgency among student leaders. Delegates from Southern campuses pressed for a sharper basic needs focus, citing local housing crises. Others raised acute concern over the federal climate’s impact on international scholars, arguing for an expanded definition of ‘student protections.’

The discussion was pointed, at times heated. Questions arose about whether campaign themes should be combined for greater unity or separated for sharper advocacy. Representatives from larger institutions called for scaling resources, while smaller-campus voices cautioned against losing sight of specific, local needs. Some board members questioned the method for prioritization, challenging whether qualitative survey results should dominate over documented ongoing challenges.

Yet, through the debate, the commitment to policy impact and student representation prevailed. The structured process—requiring motions, seconds, and roll call votes—ensured all perspectives were aired and respectfully considered. In the end, board members moved to endorse the three campaigns as presented, with language clarifying the overlap between basic needs and housing. Committees were authorized for immediate formation around each theme, ensuring work could proceed without delay.

The Outcome: Advocacy Grounded in Student Voice

By the meeting’s close, UCGPC’s board—rooted in the collective experience of all ten graduate UC campuses—stood united. The adopted campaign priorities reflect not just survey data or staff recommendations, but the product of an engaged, representative, and policy-driven debate. As committees form and advocacy efforts begin, the organization’s nonprofit and student representative character remains central: process-driven, inclusive, and accountable to the graduate and professional students it serves.

The 2025–2026 academic year marks a renewed commitment across campuses—a promise that UCGPC, through its governance and advocacy, will keep the graduate student voice front and center in statewide policy conversations.