By NOAH RANKIN
Due to suggestions from various student groups, United Student Body — the Student Assembly initiative passed in spring 2013 that requires several student groups to outline Diversity and Inclusion Plans to receive funding — has undergone several changes for this semester.
According to Shivang Tayal ’16, vice president of Diversity and Inclusion and International Liaison for the S.A., these changes include adding Tier 2 and Tier 3 SAFC-funded organizations to the list of groups affected by USB, reducing the number of “Diversity and Inclusion Plan” items that must be enumerated by each group and creating a task force under the Student Assembly Committee for Inclusion and Diversity Initiatives to evaluate these plans in face-to-face meetings with group leaders.
According to Tayal, while only the byline-funded and Performance-tier SAFC funded organizations had to submit Diversity and Inclusion Plans last year, this year’s number has increased due to an amendment made last spring.
“This year the purview of USB has increased to Tier 2 and Tier 3 [SAFC-funded] organizations, which have 80 to 100 organizations,” Tayal said. “Last year approximately 30 organizations submitted DIPs.”
USB has also “streamlined its implementation,” according to Tayal, making the Diversity and Inclusion Plan form shorter and more accessible to complete.
United Student Body was originally passed by the Student Assembly in spring 2013. (Riley Yuan / Sun Staff Photographer)