Erica Husse and Omar Qudrat are running for financial supports commissioner in this year’s undergraduate student elections because they want to make it easier for students to focus on their studies rather than on paying for their educations.
Qudrat, a third-year philosophy student on the United Independents slate, worked for the financial supports commission this year and said he plans to devote his time in office making the commission’s book-lending program more accessible to students.
“I want to advertise the program a lot more,” Qudrat said. “I want to take the step of going out and finding the students who need them and showing them we have the resources.”
Qudrat said asking professors to include information about the book-lending program on class syllabi and targeting the most popular classes are possible ways to get students informed about the program.
He added that if elected, he plans to apply for money from the Undergraduate Students Associated Council’s surplus fund to purchase more books for the program.
Husse, a third-year political science and environmental studies student running with Students United for Reform and Equality, said she wants to aggressively advertise the book-lending program.
Another focus, Husse said, would be collaborating with the school’s textbook buy-back program to ensure that used books are available for the students who need those books the most.
Husse said she wanted to create a student financial aid coalition on campus to ensure that students who are struggling with financial issues know where to find help.
“I’ve gone through the financial aid process for three years and I really want to make a difference. ... I know some of the problems that exist,” Husse said.
Husse, who was vice chairwoman of the On-Campus Housing Council this year and the president of Hitch Suites, said she plans to use her knowledge of Housing issues to address student concerns about both on and off-campus housing.
Ranking high on her list of goals for next year’s commission would be to co-program with UCLA’s Office of Residential Life, collaborating to make Westwood housing indexes more accessible to students.
Qudrat said one of the commission’s biggest challenges this year was getting data on Westwood apartment buildings. When the majority of the data is compiled, Qudrat said he plans to make the index highly public to pressure landlords to lower their prices.
“What we’re doing is putting the landlords in a position to keep their prices competitive,” Qudrat said. “I’ll personally contact the landlord who has an unjustified higher rate … by mail, by phone, and if they don’t respond I’ll go knock on their doors myself.”
Expressing concern about students’ lack of knowledge about programs addressing financial issues, both candidates plan on using information sessions to tell students about available programs.
Husse said she wants the financial supports commission to provide a series of seminars to help students make good financial decisions.
“I’m interested in doing … seminars on building good credit, making wise decisions and getting rid of debt. This is the first time (students) are on their own,” Husse said.
Qudrat said he will work with the financial aid office, contacting every financial aid student at UCLA with information about services offered by the commission.
Office hours and periodic workshops should also be available to keep students updated on financial aid issues, Qudrat said.
“Let them know what we have available for them … since they’re the ones we’re working for, I want to make sure that I hear their concerns,” Qudrat said.
Qudrat also said he wants to ensure that the BruinGo! program, which allows students to ride the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus for free, stays up and running this coming year.