Varsha Torpunuri wants to end the stigma against transfer students at UC Berkeley. A transfer student herself, Torpunuri is running to ensure housing support for transfers, strengthen the pathway for transfers to apply to and attend Berkeley, build cross-cultural support for transfers and expand data available on transfer stigma.
Torpunuri brings both passion and measured expertise to the role. She serves as the chief of staff to current Transfer Representative Joshua de Miguel and has frequently met with transfer student constituencies while advocating for their interests within the ASUC. She also served in student government at her community college, providing her with institutional experience.
Torpunuri wants to increase the amount of housing available to students by providing additional transfer hubs outside of Unit 3 Residence Halls and increasing the number of transfer Residential Assistants for transfer students. This is an issue she is particularly passionate about in her current position as president of the Unit 3 Residence Hall Association. She also hopes to work with the Berkeley Rent Board to manage the often-unaffordable cost of living for transfer students.
For Torpunuri, a major problem facing transfer student advocacy is a lack of data. She sees additional data on transfer students as “increasing transfer visibility as a whole,” allowing the ASUC Office of the Transfer Student Representative to better address transfer needs. Torpunuri wants to use this data to improve transfer access to RSOs on campus while also increasing transfer access to housing and campus resources.
Finally, Torpunuri wants to streamline the transfer process at UC Berkeley. She wants to consolidate the unit calculator for transfers to more readily show transfer credits and advocate for Berkeley transfer liaisons at community colleges across the state.
The transfer representative is tasked with advocating for one of the largest communities at Berkeley. Torpunuri will lead the office well, continuing existing efforts for transfer integration while expanding programs available to transfer students.
Natania Aslmand did not respond to our requests for an interview.