Newsletter of the UCLA Academic Senate 

Volume 10, Number 4   Summer 2002

In This Issue:                                      previous issue

Richard Goodman  
Tom Ganz
Donna Vredevoe   

Clifford Brunk elected Vice Chair

Click here to see the budget for your academic unit ->

Professor Richard Berk's Analysis of SAT data
Commentary on the Budget Richard Goodman
Proposal for a Department of BioEngineering  
Santa Monica Hospital - Faculty Welfare Issues Susan Ettner
Graduate Students Association Honors Senate Faculty & Staff
 

Proposal:
Wyatt R. Hume Award for Distinguished Leadership
Advancing the Principle of Shared Governance

Articles from previous issue:
Semester or Quarter: defining the issues Ray Knapp
Reconsidering the SAT  
Rethinking Admissions: Comprehensive Review and SATs Ray Knapp
Links to info on the SAT 
Review of the Academic Personnel Process  Christopher S. Foote
Committee on Committees Roger Bourland
Gender Equity Anne Peplau
Gender Equity Climate Survey Judith M. Siegel
Council on Research Michael O. Hall
Academic Integrity Ray Knapp

The Senate Endowment John Edmond
Why a Senate newsletter?  Duncan Lindsey

The Senate Depends on YOU.

The Committee on Committees is currently staffing the 2002-03 Standing Committees and hopes you will complete the document provided here. Additional committee information can be found in each committee directory.

Budget Workshops: Have you seen the budget?
The Academic Senate is engaged in a broad effort to advise faculty of current and pending budget issues. The Senate Leadership has organized numerous budget workshops to provide each Faculty Executive Committee with the basic budget information required to permit constructive involvement in academic planning and budget issues in their respective units. If you are concerned with budget issues in your academic unit you might wish to consult with your Faculty Executive Committee. Listed below are the Chairs of each of the Faculty Executive Committees. UCLA is your university; we encourage you to be informed and involved. 

Click your School for 00-01 Budget Information

Budget Update from UC President Atkinson

Faculty Executive Committees

College of Letters and Science  FEC  
Strategic Planning for the College
Humanities Karen Rowe
Life Sciences  Barney A. Schlinger
Physical Sciences  Robin L. Garrell 
Social Sciences 

Health Sciences
Hospital 
School of Dentistry  Haake, Susan
School of Medicine  FEC   Tomas Ganz 
School of Nursing  Linda Sarna 
School of Public Health  Thomas R. Belin

Professional Schools 
Anderson Graduate School of Management  Donald G. Morrison
School of the Arts and Architecture  FEC  Peter Nabokov
School of Engineering and Applied Science FEC  Kung Yao
School of Law  David Sklansky
Graduate School of Education and Information Studies  Christine Borgman
School of Public Policy and Social Research  James E. Lubben
School of Theater, Film and Television FEC  Janet Bergstrom

Letter from the Senate Chair

Dear Senate Colleagues:

At the first Legislative Assembly meeting this academic year, I included two comments related to the Senate’s visibility and vitality. On visibility, it seems only a few involved faculty colleagues can appreciate the work undertaken by the Senate in any one year. I indicated we planned a brief newsletter to all Senate faculty, highlighting current issues on which the Senate is working. It soon became apparent it costs money to print and mail newsletters, thus we elected to communicate electronically as a virtual Voice of the Faculty. The feedback from our first issue was quite positive. Many of the chairs of key Senate committees have contributed articles on issues under active discussion; I thank them for this extra effort. We hope you will contact us to communicate your opinions or insights. We will be including a “letters to the editor” section in the future newsletters on matters importance to our faculty.

We are taking stock of the State’s budget predicaments as they unfold. In the mid-90’s I was Chair of the Council of Planning and Budget at the time of the Professional Schools Restructuring Initiative (PSRI). This was an experience not to be forgotten, but hopefully one where we would be wiser as a result. I decided then that if I ever ran for election as Chair of the Senate, I would I would attempt this when the State was flush with money and the University would be in a position to invest in promoting and expanding its central mission. I was no sooner elected than the dot.com world collapsed, then came the electricity crisis, and then a State budget deficit of unprecedented magnitude. Déjà vu all over again, with the twilight-zone of a state election year as a distraction from reality. We shall see!

The aforementioned commentary brings me to my second point above - the vitality of the Senate. Although, we do not know exactly what to expect, it is clear future budget news is likely to be bleak in the short-term. In negative budget times, it is my expectation that the role of the Senate will be respected and productive, and the Senate must rise to the occasion. We have made progress in this objective and I shall elaborate on how the senate is preparing itself.

Over the last three years there has developed a respectful, and in general, productive relationship, with the senior academic administration, principally through the leadership and vision of former Executive Vice Chancellor W. Rory Hume. The vision for effective joint-governance has never been better, or more opportune, than today. We have made significant progress in promoting effectiveness and vitality. The key to this objective has begun through our hosting of “budget workshops” that involve the Faculty Executive Committees (FECs) of each school. This approach developed from meetings of the Council of Faculty Chairs, comprised of all FEC chairs on campus. Out of conversations within this group it became clear there was a need for FEC members to be better informed about the budgets of their schools. For example, it was a disadvantage to the effectiveness of elected Senate faculty to have to ask their dean for basic budget information before being able to get into a discussion about academic priorities and how they are supported. It is important the elected representatives engage their Deans by opining on the academic mission, academic priorities, suggesting alternative plans if appropriate, and understanding how the budget supports these academic priorities and plans within their schools. The purpose of these workshops is to provide information about the budget process, specific budget information, to allow the FEC to have a productive liaison with their academic leadership, that is, their Dean or Provost. The intent is to empower the faculty to engage in productive dialogues with their Deans. However, it is important to appreciate that it is the Dean or Provost who ultimately makes the decisions. Out of these conversations there is likely to be a better position, better understanding, and most important, opinions of elected representatives of the faculty were part of the process.

I envision a much better informed Senate, from within units up and through to our Senate leadership as we complete these budget workshops, and well equipped to play our part through the expectation of a proactive engagement through our joint governance paradigm.
I wish to thank our Council on Planning and Budget members, who are integral to these budget workshops, and CPB Chair Dick Goodman. Thanks also to Vice Chancellor Steve Olsen and Assistant Vice Chancellor Glynn Davies for their considerable efforts, assistance, knowledge and participation. Duncan Lindsey and I thank all the FEC chairs and their members who have willingly engaged. It is important that all FEC’s become more deeply engaged in the planning process. In this way, faculty have a voice in the future of this wonderful campus.

Best wishes.
John Edmond
2001-02 Divisional Chair