UC Berkeley\u2019s Richmond Field Station, or RFS, launched its first large-scale student fabrication facility earlier this month that is meant to house engineering organizations such asBerkeley Formula Racing, Space Technologies and Rocketry\u00a0and Formula Electric at Berkeley.<\/p>\n
However, student engineering clubs claim the new space is \u201cin no way an upgrade,\u201d according to Space Enterprise at Berkeley president Rebeca Mendoza.<\/p>\n
The Student Organization Applied Research Labs, or SOAR, consolidates workplaces for registered student organizations, or RSOs, that were previously at the RFS into a central upgraded facility. The upgraded facility comes with new fabrication equipment as well as expanded safety protocols and greater training requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The RFS hosts select engineering registered student organizations, RSOs, workspaces on site, including CalSol, Space Technologies and Rocketry, and Space Enterprise at Berkeley. These clubs have held access to RFS workspaces, where students are able to access the equipment and staff support necessary to build and test prototypes for competitions in rocketry, aerocraft design and formula racing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The College of Engineering began plans for a new facility with expanded safety protocols and greater supervision over two years ago in response to safety violations including chemical, fabrication and electrical hazards, as well as a lack of oversight over student operations at the RFS.The college invested more than $3 million dollars into the project.<\/p>\n
However, student engineering clubs argue that the new facilities operate under reduced operational hours, limited staffing and increased supervision that is limiting to their club activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese were not isolated incidents but systemic issues that required immediate action to protect student safety and the university\u2019s ability to continue hosting RSOs at RFS,\u201d said an email response from the RFS to the RSOs.<\/p>\n
According to Mendoza, student concerns stem primarily from restricted access to the new facilities and limited staffing. Under the new policies, access to the SOAR lab facilities will be from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., posing a challenge to students who typically work late at night after work and other class responsibilities.<\/p>\n
Mendoza said members of her club \u2014 Space Enterprise at Berkeley, or SEB \u2014 are skipping class to complete their work during these hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She added that \u201canything beyond light assembly work\u201d must now be supervised. The two current SOAR labs staff members operate on a more limited schedule, which makes productive work on their projects even more limited, preventing SEB from\u201cmaking progress at the same pace that (they) normally do,\u201d according to Mendoza.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some fabrication tools have remained unavailable as construction and installation at the facility continues, according to Mendoza.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Student representatives of these clubs wrote and signed a petition to the College of Engineering expressing frustration at these changes and asking for greater transparency. The petition has over 100 signatures from members of engineering clubs at the RFS, according to Mendoza.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In response to the petition, the College of Engineering has held town hall meetings with student representatives, asked RSOs to designate communication leads and proposed the creation of a student advisory board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To address the staffing concerns, the RFS may allow students to play a role in the hiring process of an additional staff supervisor, according to \u00a0Joey Gottbrath, who oversees the fabrication and equipment facilities at the RFS.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n