Campus Life

The Policies Applying to Campus Activities, Organizations and Students (PACAOS) is a compendium of many of the most important University policies relating to student life, covering such areas as student government, student groups (registered campus organizations), student conduct, campus-based student fees (fees determined by student vote via referenda that support so many student programs, activities and facilities), and student records (student privacy).

PACAOS is maintained by the UCOP Campus Life unit. Specifically, our unit coordinates the process for prospective changes to these policies as a result of input from a variety of sources, including campuses and students. We also provide interpretation to campuses of the content of the policies, working closely with the Office of the General Counsel. While students, and even many campus administrators, may never have occasion to consult PACAOS directly, PACAOS serves as the basis for the campus "implementing regulations" (sometimes known as the campus "rulebooks"), which do provide direct guidance to campus administrators, student governments, registration campus organizations and individual students. These campus regulations, while necessarily more elaborate at the level of operational detail than PACAOS itself is, derive their fundamental policy content from PACAOS. PACAOS is important because it is the University-wide foundation, insuring that all 10 campuses have consistency in their local policies, practices and procedures in the areas covered by the parent document.