The 2024-25 Associated Students Student Advocate General Alvin Wang spoke with the Nexus on his office’s casework process and basic needs advocacy.
Wang plans to maintain an efficient casework process and continue to advocate for students’ basic needs. Maddy Fangio / Daily Nexus
The UC Santa Barbara Office of the Student Advocate’s (OSA) main priority is providing peer support during disputes between the University and students. Third-year computer science major and current Student Advocate General (S.A.G.) Alvin Wang aims to expand basic needs resources on campus and maintain an efficient casework process. Wang was previously the engineering collegiate senator and chair of the Basic Needs Committee.
While the office usually doesn’t typically take cases over the summer, Wang said they were able to work on 16 cases partly due to Wang’s training from the previous S.A.G., Nathan Lee, and the retention of trained OSA caseworkers.
“Students don’t encounter problems just when the quarter starts, they encounter [them] in the summer when they’re figuring out their issues like residency,” Wang said. “A lot of school processes are just much harder to access in the summer because students aren’t on campus. Administration, faculty [and] university personnel might be working remote or on vacation, so it’s almost more important for us to be functioning in the summer.”
The office will continue to promote its services during fall quarter through fliers and presentations.
“We’ve already broken records with the number of cases we’ve taken this summer and absolutely anticipate a huge surge in cases once the school year begins. I hope that we’re able to take all cases and student concerns with professionalism, empathy and effectiveness,” Wang said.
During the 2023-24 school year, the S.A.G. office received 84 cases, more than it had in a given school year in its entire history.
This year, Wang hopes to implement more restorative justice procedures. In particular, he hopes to reinstate the restorative justice program for Deltopia weekend that was suspended last year. Wang says summer progress has been minimal without more extensive Academic Senate meetings.
Wang’s experience on the Basic Needs Committee influenced some of his plans as S.A.G., including his work on meal swipe reforms in collaboration the Young Democratic Socialists of America and Basic Needs. A meal swipe rollover, donations and sharing pilot program will begin this fall and will be supervised by Wang within his jurisdiction as S.A.G.
In addition, Wang has assisted in the planning of a future installation of a new basic needs vending machine at the Pardall Center. Basic Needs is looking to have it finished by Week 2 of Fall Quarter 2024 and aim to include contraceptives, menstrual hygiene products and Black hair care products.
Alongside these projects, Wang said he remains committed to the casework that OSA is known for.
“We’re mainly focused on making sure casework is efficient but also the highest possible quality and standards, because that’s when people think of OSA,” Wang said.
A version of this article appeared on p. 1 of the Oct. 3, 2024 edition of the Daily Nexus.
