The Graduate Assembly (GA) and campus administration have funded new positions to lead campus-wide efforts to combat basic needs insecurity and to directly help students in need. Too many UC Berkeley students — both undergraduate and graduate — are faced with the challenge of overcoming food, housing, and financial insecurity. While some resources exist to help students struggling with such issues, students and administrators are pushing to expand these resources and work to prevent basic needs insecurity before it occurs. You can help. The Graduate Assembly has instituted a Basic Needs Security Project to lead graduate student advocacy across campus and to support the work of a Research Fellow, who will interview students and administrators to direct changes to campus policies. The UC Berkeley Basic Needs Committee has requested additional support in enrolling students in California’s supplemental nutrition assistance program, CalFresh, which can provide each student with hundreds of dollars of food support every month. Each of these efforts requires students who care about the well-being of others to step up and help. We encourage you to apply. More information on each of the positions, which differ in funding and time commitment, are below. We especially encourage you to apply if you have previous related work/research experience or if you have experienced basic needs insecurity yourself. Director, GA Basic Needs Security Project The Basic Needs Security Project consists of a senior and a junior Project Director with overlapping terms. The Project Directors will coordinate and oversee advocacy efforts to address the short- and long-term security in housing, food, childcare, and healthcare for academic and professional graduate students at UC Berkeley. Project Director is the most important position to influence basic needs support on campus: previous leaders of GA basic needs advocacy have, among other actions, created a housing guide, a housing Facebook group, and a template basic needs survey for graduate students, and have advocated for student interests with UC Berkeley senior administrators and City of Berkeley officials. All graduate students are encouraged to apply. Funding: $700/month for 10 hrs/week, Spring 2018 and AY 2018-2019. More information: Basic Needs Security Project Director Job Card Contact: Shreyas Patankar, GA CAVP, and Tyler Barnum, Chair, GA Basic Needs Security Workgroup GA Research Fellow The research fellow will conduct comprehensive research of basic needs resources on and off campus, establish and strengthen partnerships with resource providers, and develop procedural infrastructure to administer basic needs support to UC Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students. The fellow will conduct qualitative interviews with students and focus groups with resource providers to identify themes affecting security of food, housing, and childcare. This qualitative data will provide nuance in developing best practices for increasing access to food, housing, and childcare resources. Only graduate students with relevant work or research experience are encouraged to apply. Funding: $20/hour for 10 hrs/week (~$850/month), now through AY 2018-2019 For more information, contact: Tyler Barnum, Chair, GA Basic Needs Security Workgroup CalFresh Support Two positions are available to work until June 30, 2018. A graduate student to help create application support materials, outreach materials, and materials to better inform graduate students of their eligibility. A graduate student to serve as the point of outreach to graduate students and to lead CalFresh enrollment sessions for graduate students. All graduate students are encouraged to apply. For more information, contact: Ruben Canedo, CE3 Research and Mobilization Coordinator.
The Graduate Assembly (GA) and campus administration have funded new positions to lead campus-wide efforts to combat basic needs insecurity and to directly help students in need. Too many UC Berkeley students — both undergraduate and graduate — are faced with the challenge of overcoming food, housing, and financial insecurity. While some resources exist to help students struggling with such issues, students and administrators are pushing to expand these resources and work to prevent basic needs insecurity before it occurs. You can help. The Graduate Assembly has instituted a Basic Needs Security Project to lead graduate student advocacy across campus and to support the work of a Research Fellow, who will interview students and administrators to direct changes to campus policies. The UC Berkeley Basic Needs Committee has requested additional support in enrolling students in California’s supplemental nutrition assistance program, CalFresh, which can provide each student with hundreds of dollars of food support every month. Each of these efforts requires students who care about the well-being of others to step up and help. We encourage you to apply. More information on each of the positions, which differ in funding and time commitment, are below. We especially encourage you to apply if you have previous related work/research experience or if you have experienced basic needs insecurity yourself. Director, GA Basic Needs Security Project The Basic Needs Security Project consists of a senior and a junior Project Director with overlapping terms. The Project Directors will coordinate and oversee advocacy efforts to address the short- and long-term security in housing, food, childcare, and healthcare for academic and professional graduate students at UC Berkeley. Project Director is the most important position to influence basic needs support on campus: previous leaders of GA basic needs advocacy have, among other actions, created a housing guide, a housing Facebook group, and a template basic needs survey for graduate students, and have advocated for student interests with UC Berkeley senior administrators and City of Berkeley officials. All graduate students are encouraged to apply. Funding: $700/month for 10 hrs/week, Spring 2018 and AY 2018-2019. More information: Basic Needs Security Project Director Job Card Contact: Shreyas Patankar, GA CAVP, and Tyler Barnum, Chair, GA Basic Needs Security Workgroup GA Research Fellow The research fellow will conduct comprehensive research of basic needs resources on and off campus, establish and strengthen partnerships with resource providers, and develop procedural infrastructure to administer basic needs support to UC Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students. The fellow will conduct qualitative interviews with students and focus groups with resource providers to identify themes affecting security of food, housing, and childcare. This qualitative data will provide nuance in developing best practices for increasing access to food, housing, and childcare resources. Only graduate students with relevant work or research experience are encouraged to apply. Funding: $20/hour for 10 hrs/week (~$850/month), now through AY 2018-2019 For more information, contact: Tyler Barnum, Chair, GA Basic Needs Security Workgroup CalFresh Support Two positions are available to work until June 30, 2018. A graduate student to help create application support materials, outreach materials, and materials to better inform graduate students of their eligibility. A graduate student to serve as the point of outreach to graduate students and to lead CalFresh enrollment sessions for graduate students. All graduate students are encouraged to apply. For more information, contact: Ruben Canedo, CE3 Research and Mobilization Coordinator.