Hayley Weddle

The UC Board of Regents committees on finances, investments and basic needs met virtually Tuesday over Zoom to discuss the UC system’s financial needs and burdens on students.

The UC Board of Regents makes decisions that impact every UC student’s life — determining student tuition, approving campus developments, setting the UC system’s budget and more — yet most students across the system do not know who the regents are.

Women are better represented on UC Berkeley’s campus than ever before, however, sexism and unequal distributions of power still leave room for improvement, many say. UC Berkeley has come a long way since 1870, when female students were first accepted on campus.

The UC Board of Regents discussed basic needs and the implications of the COVID-19, colloquially known as the coronavirus, pandemic Monday at its first day of meetings this week.

The UC Board of Regents will meet Tuesday through Thursday at UCSF, including a vote between two tuition and fee plans during Wednesday’s board meeting.

The UC Board of Regents approved the 2020-21 budget and discussed the proposed cohort-based tuition model on the third and final day of the meeting at UCSF on Thursday.

There will be discussions on basic needs measures and updates to the cohort-based tuition policy at the upcoming UC Board of Regents meeting. Because these two items are only up for discussion, there will be no votes or immediate impacts.

In 2018, California wildfires devastated UC Berkeley student communities, and the trail of smoke from the Camp Fire resulted in event cancellations.

With UC President Janet Napolitano stepping down this coming August, UC Board of Regents chair John Pérez has appointed a Special Committee to Consider the Selection of a President.

After six years in office, UC President Janet Napolitano announced that she will step down from her position effective Aug. 1, 2020.