Executive Branch

The faces that represent you

What We Do

The USG Executive Branch is the overseeing body of the Undergraduate Student Government.  It is comprised of the elected President, Mikaela Bautista, Vice President, Emma Fallon, their Chief of Staff, Karen Borglund, and the Executive Cabinet that oversees the functions of the different departments within USG.  The Executive Branch also contains the USG Communications, Programming and Funding departments. 

MEET OUR TEAM

OUR PLATFORM

Committed to making progress on the M+E platform while communicating clear, transparent updates to the student body, our administration has been focused on:

starting

continuing

concluding

Academic Advising
  • Met with Dean Bullock of Dornsife to touch base on the current state of Dornsife Advising and discuss initial concerns and questions regarding the new Cluster Advising setup.
    • For the rest of the semester, we will meet monthly with the Dean to address student concerns and help streamline resources for the student body.
  • Consistently keeping tabs on status of academic advisors throughout the layoffs.
Free ChatGPT

USC has officially announced that it will be partnering with ChatGPT EDU. While we were not directly involved in the final decision to launch ChatGPT EDU, this initiative fulfills our original goal of making a large language model more accessible and available campus-wide, as outlined in our platform. We were honored to participate in subcommittees, meet with administration, and speak with President Kim to share students’ thoughts and concerns throughout the process.

    • Hosted Dr.Helena Sei from the school of Rossier to discuss how to ethically use AI 
    • Hosted an AI roundtable to gather feedback from students surrounding AI in the classroom. Responses will be given to the Center for Excellence in teaching to inform their practices when working with faculty. 
    • We will continue to meet with the administration and President Kim to ensure that student perspective is included in decisions and implementation.
Discount Lyft- USC Shuttle
  • Senator Murthy is continuing conversations regarding Waymo discounts while also advocating for the extension of Lyft hours. 
    • Senator Murthy has sent out a survey for the extension of Lyft hours. 
Campus Activities
  • Successfully managed a budget to ensure CA has the capacity to process budgets. 
  • Created our new RSO Liaison position to help communicate with RSOs about the application process and our opportunities
    • Working closely with Campus Activities to workshop the position
Extended Doheny Hours
  • Met with Dr.Palascios to discuss feasibility and proposal of this during the next budget meeting. Receiving contact to organize a meeting!
Menstrual Product Access
  • Successfully established a Period Pantry located in the Office of Basic Needs.
  • Senator Murthy & DS team implemented a digital map of campus that shows where menstrual products are available.
Local School Initiatives
  • Field day! 
    • External Affairs Chair Juni and Academic Affairs Chair Nguyen heading the project and picking up communication from VP Fallon and Chief of Staff. 
  • First Generation Student Assembly Mentorship program with partnership schools
    • External Affairs Chair Juni and FGSA Co-Execs are working to create a student mentor ship program between USC and First-gen students
Mobile ID Cards
  • Confirmation that ID cards will be implemented in 3+ years on the current schedule. 
  • Senator Shih and President Bautista are continuing to meet with the administration to ensure the implementation process runs smoothly.
Study Spaces
  • Based on previous advocacy from the Academic Affairs Committee regarding the lack of late study spaces on campus, Student Life has decided to open all rooms in the STU, TCC, and SKS Center for students to study. Rooms are open until 11 pm.
  • Trojan Family room is being rebranded to be an interactive study space with more seating, music, and games.
  • Continuing conversations surrounding later hours during finals week.
    • Senator Murthy working on Leavey Basement
    • Advocacy for extended Doheny hours
Welcome Dinner
  • Officially in the planning process with the Welcome Back team for our welcome dinner for spring admits, transfer, and newly admitted students.
USG Culture
  • USG Families
    • Created a point system created to encourage collaboration, connections, and provide a space for people to seek community within USG aside from working. 
  • Facilitating a vibrant and friendly office environment by prioritizing team meetings, interdepartmental collaboration, and day-to-day bonding.
  • Updated ORCA (our HR system) guidelines.
USG Transparency
  • Recording and broadcasting Senate meetings.
  • Improving communication in connection with the student body- updating our website, senators tabling, and hosting an open house and info session about USG. 
  • Connecting with more student groups to share forms, receive feedback, and bridge the gap in the student body 
    • RSOs 
    • Panhellenic 
    • Media 
  • Implementing an open house for students to come see the USG office
Football Games
  • With the cancellation of the Spring 2026 football game meeting, we connected with Trojan Pride to begin laying the foundation for increasing school spirit next year through themed games (e.g., blackout, whiteout, etc.).
Senior Events
  • Collaborating with the Alumni Association to enhance Grad Week celebrations for graduating seniors. 
    • Will be meeting soon to discuss ideas and current initiatives.
RSO Recognition Assistance
  • RSO Liaison
    • Created RSO Liaison, a new position in USG, to be in charge of assisting RSOs and students with the re-recognition process, answering questions and staying in contact with RSOs to make them aware of resources, events, and gathering feedback.
    • Advocating for RSOs in all our meetings and offering any help to campus activities with administrative burden.

Who We Are

Executive Cabinet 2025-26
  • President Mikaela Bautista 
  • Vice President Emma Fallon
  • Chief of Staff  Karen Borglund
  • Chief Financial Officer Avery Horton
  • Chief Communications Officer Emily Chang
  • Chief Programming Officer Ali Edmonds
  • Chief Diversity Officer  Yasmeen ElFarra
  • Speaker of the Senate Jeremiah Boisrund