Student Life
Become integrated into UCLA by taking advantage of student associations, mixing in events, and using facilities available for students.
Student Resources
UCLA's student association operates the UCLA Student Union, UCLA Restaurants, and the UCLA Store which includes the UCLA Computer Store and UCLA Textbooks.
As a UCLA student, you’re already a member of one of the largest and strongest student unions in the nation – the Associated Students UCLA, also called ASUCLA. Now you can get even more for being part of ASUCLA by joining ASUCLA Benefits U! It’s easy, and best of all, it’s FREE! All full-time regularly-enrolled UCLA students are eligible to join. With your registration, you will receive emails with coupons and other promotional information.
The Dashew Center is the home for all international students and scholars at UCLA. The counselors at the Dashew Center will be able to answer specific questions on rules and regulations regarding your visa status.
The office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion is committed to build an equal learning, working, and living environment, by holding ourselves accountable to UCLA's professed ideals.
The Economic Crisis Response Team (ECR TEAM) provides support and guidance to students who have self-identified, or are identified by UCLA faculty or staff, as experiencing a financial crisis that impacts their academic success at UCLA.
The UCLA Graduate Student Resource Center is a one-stop resource, referral and information center for graduate students. The Graduate Student Resource Center offers programs and workshops on a variety of topics, drop-in counseling, a web and in-house resource library, meeting and study space, and the opportunity for social interaction. More information can be found on their web site.
The Students with Dependents Program provides caring and personalized support to UCLA students who are parents, guardians, and caregivers at the undergraduate, graduate and professional school level. The program is committed to helping student success, both as parents and scholars, by offering programs and advocacy that enrich and support parenting student’s academic, personal, and professional goals.
Student Groups
The mission of the Biological Anthropology Society of UCLA is two fold. First, the society will be a means of facilitating communication between undergraduate students, graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professors. The direct interaction and communication between these groups will promote learning and a greater understanding of the various topics of study all encompassed under the umbrella that is biological anthropology. The second part of the society’s mission is to raise awareness and provide a semi-political voice for biological anthropology students on the UCLA campus. This includes, but not limited to, attending meetings and communicating with professors and administrators to ensure that biological anthropology student’s needs are addressed.
The UCLA Graduate Students Association was established to provide for the representation of graduate students and the promotion of graduate students' interests at UCLA and within the University of California. Their web site has information on GSA structures, activities, and resources.
The UCLA Alumni Association is dedicated to engaging alumni in the life of the University and to enhancing the student experience for both undergraduates and graduate students. The Association offers opportunities for social networking as well as career workshops and events for graduate students to meet colleagues from across campus and alumni with advanced degrees.
Interest Groups
BEC unites scholars exploring the connections among evolution, culture, the mind, and society and provides a framework to facilitate research and training on the interaction among natural selection, cultural transmission, social relations, and psychology.
CULTURE, POWER, AND SOCIAL CHANGE
CPSC is concerned with a broad range of issues in sociocultural anthropology. As the name of the group suggests, we are particularly interested in how the workings of culture, and of different forms of power and inequality, play out in the contemporary world. And behind these two issues are questions of social change, that is, of the ways in which the rapidly changing world of today impacts people’s lives, and in turn, how people in different circumstances seek to bring about change in the world. CPSC I hosts talks by both in-house faculty members and visiting post-doctoral and faculty level scholars; CPSC II hosts talks by advanced graduate students. All CPSC events are open only to UCLA faculty, students, and invited guests.
Discourse lab provides participants the opportunity to present original work-in-progress, such as conference papers, thesis or dissertation work, and get commentary. The range of topics, issues, methods, and theories varies, with a preference given to analyses based on spontaneously occurring interaction across everyday settings (e.g. homes, workplaces, classrooms, playgrounds, political campaigns, artistic performances, medical facilities, support organizations).
MMAC provides a forum for exploring recent research and classical and contemporary theoretical perspectives that inform psychocultural studies and medical anthropology. Regular MMAC participants include faculty in Anthropology, Psychology and related departments, post-doctoral scholars, and interested graduate and undergraduate students. Topics explored in recent years include: critical perspectives on health, mental health and illness, healing, memory, emotion, subjectivity & self-processes, religion & spirituality, psychopathology, cultural phenomenology, public health & health disparities, therapeutic applications, research methods & ethics, and psychoanalysis.
Events
Be sure to check the Anthropology Events calendar for upcoming programs.
UCLA Happenings presents over 1,000 top pick events each year in sports, arts and lectures on the UCLA campus.
Health Services & Safety
All registered graduate students may use the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center, an outpatient clinic geared to the special needs of students at UCLA. The Ashe Center offers a full range of clinical and support services, most of which are prepaid by student registration fees. The clinical staff is comprised of highly qualified doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses.
CAMPUS SECURITY ESCORT SERVICE
Campus Security Officers are available for a walking escort free of charge to students, faculty, staff, or visitors 365 days a year from dusk until 1 a.m. The escort services are provided between campus buildings, local living areas, or Westwood Village within the approximate boundaries of Sunset Boulevard to the north, Hilgard Avenue to the east, Wilshire Boulevard to the south, and Veteran Avenue to the west. Call the (310) 794-WALK for an escort. Please allow fifteen to twenty minutes for your escort to arrive.
Services are designed to meet the unique educational needs of regularly enrolled students with documented permanent and temporary disabilities. The philosophy and mission of the program are to encourage independence; assist students in realizing their academic potential; and facilitate the elimination of physical, programmatic, and attitudinal barriers. The CAE staff is available to assist students in successfully meeting educational challenges. A good introduction to the CAE, explaining how the CAE works and how to obtain services, is available in the CAE Student Handbook. For a copy, log on to the website.
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is a multi-disciplinary mental health center for the UCLA community. Psychologists, clinical social workers, and psychiatrists are available, offering individual and group counseling and psychotherapy to students; consultation, outreach, prevention, and education to students; and training programs for graduates in the mental health professions. Counseling and Psychological Services maintains a strict policy of confidentiality. No information is released without the student's written consent except where disclosure is required or allowed by law. Emergency counseling is also available on a drop-in, first-come-first-serve basis.
The UCLA Evening Van Service provides a safe means of transportation around campus during evening hours. The vans provide transportation between campus buildings, on-campus housing, and nearby residential areas. The service is free for UCLA students, employees, and visitors. Maps of the van routes are available online.
UCLA offers a full range of recreational opportunities to meet the needs of the campus community. The Department of Cultural and Recreational Affairs (UCLA Recreation) serves as the administrative center for the coordination of programming, facilities, equipment, and supervision of campus recreational activities and services. Recreation opportunities are extended to the entire UCLA community. Students receive privileges through payment of quarterly registration fees. The Recreation Center offers intramural/club sports, recreational clubs, recreation classes, youth and family programs, outdoor adventures, and excellent facilities for independent recreation and exercise. UCLA community members with proper identification have access to several major facilities in which to practice and play.
Graduate students should take all the usual precautions on and around campus that they would in any urban setting. The UCLA Police Department encourages students to take responsibility for their own safety by taking proactive steps to reduce the likelihood of crimes on campus or to themselves. Crime prevention literature is available at the University Police Department lobby, online, and throughout campus. The Department also offers a number of crime prevention programs and workshops each quarter on topics such as: personal safety, sexual assault awareness and prevention, hate crimes, and drug and alcohol awareness.