[Faculty] UCAD Plus Joint Task Force Update #2

[UCR Provost]

*This letter is sent on behalf of UC System Provost and Executive Vice
President Katherine S. Newman; Academic Council Chair Ahmet Palazoglu; and
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Stern. For your convenience, the text
of letter is pasted below with the PDF attached.*




*Subject:* UCAD Plus Joint Task Force Update #2



Dear Colleagues,



We are pleased to provide our second update on the work of the UCAD Plus
Joint Task Force
<https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/committees/ucad-plus.html>,
which is now more deeply engaged in the substance of their working group
assignments. We continue to work diligently toward our goal of sharing our
preliminary recommendations with UC President Milliken, the Chancellors,
and Senate faculty throughout the system by the end of this academic year.
That will be followed by a systemwide review in the fall of 2026, with a
view toward bringing the task force to its conclusion by January 2027.  We
are well on our way, but these are complex issues occurring in a
multi-layered federal and state landscape. Accordingly, there is still much
to plan so that we can be prepared to address the challenges ahead.



You can learn more by reading through the summaries provided by the
co-chairs of each UCAD Plus workgroup.  At the end of this account, you
will also see some information on the work of the parallel Administrative
Transformation process being led by CFO Nathan Brostrom, COO Rachael Nava
and colleagues.



*Workgroup 1 – Research Activities and Infrastructure*



This group has organized itself into four subareas, focusing on scenario
planning around the following themes: (1) disruptions affecting a single
campus; (2) disruptions affecting a single discipline; (3) disruptions
affecting a single agency; and (4) broad disruptions affecting the entire
system, across disciplines and agencies. These groups are each working on
reports identifying key issues and potential mitigation strategies,
including proposals that might be effective under a range of different
disruptions. It is also engaged in ongoing efforts to inventory core
research facilities across the system, and with University Committee on
Planning and Budget (UCPB
<https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/committees/ucpb/index.html>) and
University Committee on Research Policy (UCORP
<https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/committees/ucorp/index.html>) on
topics of shared interest.



*Workgroup 2 – Academic Personnel Evaluations*



This group is pursuing two focus areas:

·        Individual campus practices in applying Achievement Relative to
Opportunities (ARO) principles under COVID and thereafter, or other
mechanisms for providing flexibility during academic reviews.

·        Mechanisms that enable (a) flexibility for changing faculty series
and (b) providing increased flexibility regarding the time period for
merits and promotion (two of the recommendations in the UCAD report).

The next step involves a discussion of ARO principles including best
practices and implementation processes at other universities, with the
objective of determining what they should recommend to the campuses.
Workgroup staff have put together an outline of an initial report, and in
our future meetings they will be focusing on the remaining parts of the
charge.



*Workgroup 3 – Academic Program Planning, Evaluation and Alignment*



This workgroup has identified a set of key questions, beginning with a
review of the conditions under which a campus might consider resizing,
restructuring, or reorganizing an academic unit or degree program, and the
criteria that would distinguish short-term disruptions from long-term
disruptions. The group is also exploring opportunities to strengthen the
interaction, collaboration, and financial resilience of departments and
programs between UC campuses.



To support the committee in exploring these issues, the working group has
asked executive vice chancellors, Divisional Senate chairs, and the University
Committee on Planning and Budget
<https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/committees/ucpb/index.html> (UCPB)
for input and insight on prior periods of academic restructuring at UC
and/or illustrative examples of current academic models.



*Workgroup 4 – Instructional Opportunities and Course Offerings Across
Modalities*

A four-part framework described in the previous update (assessing types and
impact of disruptions; leveraging a department approach to instruction;
developing flexible instruction models; clarifying the role of UC Online)
structures the work of this group.

Progress to date on developing materials and recommendations for the four
sections of the report that the workgroup anticipates producing includes:

1.      Defining the types of disruptions to the teaching mission that are
possible, including short-term events (earthquake, fire) and longer-term
events, and providing suggestions for tracking and documenting disruptions.

2.      Increasing the resilience of the teaching mission by creating a
culture of shared responsibility for instruction at the department level
and leveraging a collective approach that includes how best to share online
course materials.

3.      Developing flexible instructional team models that are more
resilient to disruption.

4.      Outlining the roles of UCOP (including UC Online), the systemwide
Senate, campus administration, and Divisional Senates in addressing
disruptions.

*Workgroup 5 – The Future of Graduate Education*



This workgroup has been collecting data from UC campuses about key graduate
education practices:

·        Admissions for both PhD and other graduate education programs

·        Retention and time-to-degree

·        Mentoring and research supervision

·        Academic program reviews for graduate programs



Variation across the system and by discipline has become a central theme,
with efforts to understand where systemwide support may be helpful and
where campus or even school/college/department/program level innovation is
more appropriate. The workgroup aims to understand how groups are
responding to current pressures, and some of the impacts of recent changes.
They are also gathering information on costs and cost projections for
graduate education.



In addition, the workgroup is collecting best practices and program- and
campus-level innovations to share broadly, especially where greater
visibility could lead to wider adoption. They are also identifying ideas
that may merit pilot funding. The workgroup chairs regularly meet with the
Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs (CCGA
<https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/committees/ccga/index.html>) and
the Council of Graduate Deans (COGD
<https://www.ucop.edu/graduate-studies/information-resources/index.html>)
to ensure input from these important groups is recognized appropriately in
their deliberations. Finally, based on feedback from the community, the
group added a member to ensure faculty representation of the humanities.



*Update on the Administration Transformation Taskforce*



Administrative and finance leaders appreciate the efforts that are being
considered for academic transformation and feel a collaborative sense of
urgency to identify strategies to build institutional resilience – both
administrative and academic. From taking new approaches to expense
reimbursement, to examining routine approval processes, to exploring
regional partnerships among campuses, the group is examining a wide range
of areas that could reduce administrative burdens and increase resilience
across individual campuses and the UC system. Campus leaders also noted
that the academic enterprise appropriately represents a significant portion
of their budgets but recognize that the current cost structure is not
sustainable if funding continues to be constrained and the University is
unable to grow alternative revenues. Administrative and finance leaders
look forward to continued partnerships with the UCAD Plus Joint Task Force
and the academic community to develop holistic solutions that best support
our campuses.



*******************



With thanks to all the people who are giving so generously of their time
and ingenuity, we will provide our next update in early spring.



Cordially,



Katherine S. Newman

UC System Provost and

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Sociology & Public
Policy



Ahmet Palazoglu

Chair, Academic Council

Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, UC Davis



Hal Stern

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

Distinguished Professor of  Statistics, UC Irvine

Convener, Council of Executive Vice Chancellors (COVC)
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