Senate Newsletter UCLA ACADEMIC SENATE CHAIR'S MESSAGE
Dear Colleagues, As I settle down in my new role as resident éminence grise, I look back with satisfaction at the Senate accomplishments of the past year and a deepened appreciation for all those unsung colleagues, staff and administrators who helped realize them. My term as Senate chair and spokesman has been a very fascinating, challenging, and rewarding one. In fulfilling my responsibilities, I benefited immensely from the insights, guidance and assistance of past chair Adrienne Lavine, current chair Elizabeth Bjork, and Senate CAO Jaime Balboa. Equally valuable was my ready access to the wisdom and efforts of my colleagues on the Senate Executive Board and the various Senate committees. Our distinctive system of shared governance afforded me a very effective framework to work closely and cooperatively with the executive branch of our university leadership, initially with Acting Chancellor Norm Abrams, and subsequently with Chancellor Gene Block and Acting Provost Scott Waugh. The 2006-2007 year has been a particularly productive one for the Senate and I would like to highlight undertakings of particular interest. Holistic Admissions By enthusiastically embracing the “holistic review” methodology developed by CUARS (Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools), our faculty made a substantive move towards making UCLA more accessible to the most qualified and academically competitive students. The new comprehensive review approach will ensure that each applicant’s academic achievements are considered in a broader context. The new comprehensive approach reaches beyond quantitative academic achievement to include consideration of the distinctive talents and experiences that will make for valuable citizens of our campus and society. The Senate is very grateful to CUARS chair Jenny Sharp, past senate chair Adrienne Lavine, Acting Chancellor Norm Abrams, and VC Janina Montero for their stewardship of this policy and its rapid implementation. Animal Rights Extremists Faced with the distressing attacks by misguided animal rights activists, the Senate worked closely with Acting Chancellor Abrams to organize an orchestrated institutional response. The university taskforce, chaired by Jonathan Varat, provided a list of recommendations that are being implemented by the university. The Senates’ stance, strongly reinforced by the Chancellor's office, has been that the university has an obligation to protect and support its faculty members in their scholarly pursuits. A tangible result has been the appointment of a high-level point person for all issues related to animal activism and who is on call 24/7 to coordinate the response to any such incidents. UCLA campus police now respond to incidents at faculty members' homes and patrol some neighborhoods previously outside their jurisdiction. Additionally, the university has paid for various security measures at some faculty members' homes. The Senate’s continual condemnation of the criminal and deplorable tactics employed by the animal rights extremists culminated in a “sense of the senate ” resolution (passed unanimously at the November 1, 2007, LGA) supporting our colleagues targeted by these attacks and reaffirming our fundamental commitment to an academic environment where scholarship and enquiry can flourish without fear of censorship or attack. Restructuring of Senate Operations A major thrust of the past year has been the incorporation of technology to streamline Senate operations. With the enthusiastic participation of the Senate staff and facilitated by IT consultants, we analyzed how our work documents were generated, identified best practices and designed model templates and uniform file-archiving and retrieval protocols. Our integrated IT system will allow all Senate documents to be stored and processed electronically, minimize repetitive data entry, and facilitate easy retrievability and ready analysis of information. The “paperless” archiving elements of the new IT infrastructure will allow content (Senate memos, resolutions, actions, etc.) to be readily available to Senate members at all times. We anticipate that the “bottom-up” operational improvements will help the Senate achieve higher levels of productivity and user-friendliness in the coming years. Senate Web Page Concurrent with the restructuring, we have accomplished a complete overhaul of the Senate’s archaic website that had developed by a process of accretion over the years. Our new website is more dynamic, readily updatable, and extends our IT restructuring by making Senate and academic information easily accessible to faculty. Issues and initiatives under consideration are now readily accessible to the faculty through our website along with archived minutes of most senate committee meetings.    Eventually, the Senate’s website will incorporate the functionality of the Dossier Tracking (DAT) System currently under development and allow individual faculty to track the progress of their academic dossiers, and receive related emails reminders. I encourage you to access our webpage regularly and use it as a medium for participating in shared governance.    http://www.senate.ucla.edu IRB Operations Oversight Committee (IRB-OOC) The senate, with the cooperation and support of VC Peccei, established a faculty committee to provide local campus oversight of UCLA’s IRB operations and help implement the recommendations of the University Committee on Research Policy (UCORP)   The UCLA IRB-OOC, chaired by Andrew Leuchter, provides a mechanism by which the Academic Senate and the faculty are informed about the operational aspects of  UCLA’s Office for Protection of Research Subjects (OPRS) and works closely with the Vice Chancellor for Research to sustain and enhance the administrative functioning of the OPRS. More details on the composition and charge of the IRB-OOC are available on our website. I am also pleased to report that the web-based IRB system requested by the senate has now been purchased and is being implemented by OPRS in closed consultation with faculty focus groups. The web-based system will greatly facilitate the online submission, review and tracking of IRB documents and eventually, provide faculty with a streamlined IRB processing system. Fiscal Impact Statements Concerned about the regular requests for review of proposed UC policies or proposals that were devoid of any discussion regarding potential budgetary implications, the UCLA division took the lead in articulating the requirement for an accompanying fiscal impact statement. At its July 25, 2007 meeting, the Academic Council unanimously adopted, as an internal regulation of practice, the following UCLA-sponsored statement: Whenever practicable, all policies or proposals submitted to the Academic Council should be accompanied by an estimation of fiscal impact. We anticipate that this requirement will lead to a more informed consideration of proposed policies and programs that come before the Council and individual divisions. <O7-08 Fiscal Impact Statement> Expansion of CAP   The Senate worked with VC Rice to expand the membership of the Council on Academic Personnel (CAP) to help meet the greatly increased workload created by the rapidly growing numbers of faculty in the clinical compensated series (i.e., medical and dental schools). Thanks to the institutional support provided by Acting EVC Waugh, we have been able to augment the Senate’s CAP with an ad hoc committee (ClinCAP), that focuses on the clinical compensated series. The four member ClinCAP functions as a subcommittee of CAP and is made up of 3 former members of CAP and chaired by a fourth member who is currently a member of CAP. The augmentation will allow the Senate and the university to support the efforts of our health sciences colleagues to recruit and retain preeminent clinician-scholars through timely academic reviews. Academic Receivership A Senate-administration taskforce, chaired by Elizabeth Bjork, was instrumental in developing a consistent rationale and guidelines for placing a department or discipline into “Academic Receivership.” Beyond providing a framework for proceeding with this extreme, and sometimes necessary, administrative intervention, the taskforce helped align the academic receivership process to campus Appendix V actions (e.g., procedures for the transfer, consolidation, disestablishment, and discontinuance of academic programs and units). The recommendations of the taskforce will have system-wide applications, given the general lack of clarity across divisions about what constitutes “Academic Receivership” and the absence of guiding principles for this intervention. I thank the members of the taskforce (Elizabeth Bjork, Roger Savage, Judi Smith and Chris Waterman) for their efforts. The changes recommended by the taskforce were incorporated into Appendix XVI that guides Academic Program Reviews and ratified by the LGA on November 1, 2007. Concordance of FEC Bylaws Faced with a spate of bylaw related issues, the Senate appointed an ad hoc committee to review the governance structure and bylaws of our schools. The committee (Robin Garrell, Harold Monbouquette, Andrew Leuchter, and Tom Schwartz), assisted by Robin Fisher, worked with individual FEC’s to identify and correct FEC bylaws that were inconsistent with divisional bylaws. Thanks to their efforts, we now have greater concordance in the bylaws of our component faculties. The improved consistency in governance principles and practices across the campus will greatly benefit our distributed system of shared governance. Healthcare The Senate, aided by our Faculty Welfare Committee (FWC), made a special effort to improve communications and forge a closer working relationship with the Medical Center leadership. The results of the first faculty survey conducted by our FWC clearly indicated healthcare access as one of the key concerns of the faculty, both general campus as well as Medical Center based. The FWC took the lead in communicating these faculty concerns and worked closely with Medical Center executives (Drs. Sibert and Feinberg) on initiatives to facilitate faculty access to our medical center and its physicians. Additionally, FWC served as an advocate for our medical enterprise during the recent health benefit negotiations conducted by the President’s office with potential plan providers. Through Shane White’s (Chair – FWC) active participation on the UC Human Resources and Benefits Team, we were able to assist the negotiating team select providers whose care benefits package were linked to fair reimbursements for participating physicians and institutions. Absent equitable reimbursements for services provided, our colleagues in the medical center would have been put in the unenviable position of having to subsidize each clinician encounter with UCLA faculty. To build on the growing collaborations, the senate leadership conferred frequently with the Medical Center’s Council of Clinical Chairs (Chair: John Mazziotta) and have instituted a regular meeting with the clinical chairs to inform the senate leadership of faculty issues unique to our medical enterprise.	Campus Childcare The lack of adequate and affordable childcare was a constant theme of our regular meetings with the chancellorial team. Thanks to the assistance of Vice Provost Becerra, the Senate was able to address the inequitable distribution of the available childcare slots.  In parallel, the FWC’s Childcare Subcommittee, chaired by Avanidhar Subrahmanyan, worked on solutions to slot allotment issues as well as affordability issues and continues to work on alternate solutions that would meet the pressing need for affordable and easily available childcare for the campus community. Although more child care slots have been made available with the opening of the Krieger Child Care Center; however, affordability and accessibility issues continue to dominate the discussions. Plans are underway to form an enduring joint Senate/Administrative campus advisory taskforce to address the complex issues of childcare. University Recreation Advisory Board (URAB) With the assistance of VC Janina Montero, the Senate reactivated the functioning of the dormant URAB, a faculty/staff/student board formed to give direction to UCLA Recreation staff on matters regarding development, utilization, and management of UCLA recreation facilities, services, and programs. The URAB provides faculty a mechanism to express ideas and concerns involving the UCLA Recreation program and facility operations and respond to proposed changes. Because a large segment of our faculty and their families are active users of the recreational facilities, the formalized arrangement will allow for a greater faculty involvement in programmatic issues, capital planning and shaping programmatic development. I encourage you to channel your insights and concerns about UCLA Recreation through the faculty representatives on URAB. A tangible expression of the senate’s efforts to expand recreational facilities for faculty families was the implementation of the Bruin Swim Club for the children of UCLA faculty, staff and students. The swim club has rapidly evolved into a successful “after school” activity for UCLA families and is being used as a model for other team sports directed towards the UCLA community. University Service The promise of our distinctive system of shared government can only be fully realized through broad participation of all faculty in shaping policies and decisions that affect the mission and operation of our university. Over the past year, the Senate has developed several strategies to expand Senate and university service beyond the core group of “good citizens” who consistently give freely of their time and efforts. One approach was to develop a PowerPoint Presentation explaining the Senate's role in shared governance. Variants of this presentation were used to inform faculty across campus about the nature of their stake in institutional governance. Working in concert with ConC, we initiated an “observer” program directed towards junior and new faculty. The observer program allows faculty unfamiliar with the role of the Senate to participate in select Senate committees as their schedule allows. It will expose them to the workings of shared governance, enable them to develop anchoring campus relationships that extend beyond their departments, and help them recognize that Senate involvement can be an important and rewarding element of their academic career at UCLA. Additionally, based on the premise that university service is not an altruistic act but a responsibility of campus citizenship, plans are underway for the formation of a taskforce to work with VC Rice to refine the language in the UCLA CALL to express the importance of university service. Concomitantly, the senate is developing systems that will track the participation of individual faculty in the governance and common good of their department, the campus and the university. A senate-administration workgroup will soon begin developing the criteria for evaluating local university service and elevating its importance to that of research and teaching.  Technology Infrastructure Fee (TIF) The transition from telephone line to a FTE-based TIF to support campus IT network and connectivity was a source of faculty consternation and considerable discussion at the LGA. Although segments of the faculty benefit from the new arrangement, the TIF results in a cost shifting that is disproportionately borne by several, self-supporting research programs. Through the TIF resolution passed at the LGA meeting of June 2007, the faculty expressed their general sentiment that a commensurate IT infrastructure is a prerequisite for a research-intensive university and that the costs of developing and maintaining a facilitative IT infrastructure be met through a combination of general funds and Facilities and Administrative costs (e.g. indirect costs) negotiated with the Federal government. Given the complex ramifications of the issue and the fiscal imperative to implement it, acting EVC Waugh has proposed a trial implementation of the TIF with a reevaluation of the fee model in 2 years. The senate leadership will continue to work with the chancellor’s office to determine a final resolution to this contentious issue.  <TIF Frequently Asked Questions> Faculty Salaries Strong advocacy by the UC Senate, along with the diligent efforts of its component University Committee on Faculty Welfare (UCFW) and University Committee on Planning and Budget (UCPB), led to the UC Board of Regents approving a four-year plan for faculty salary adjustments that would begin to restore compensation parity with our peer institutions. The campus owes a special thanks to the tireless stewardship of Susan French who served as UCFW chair and as a member of the Salary Scales Workgroup that worked on the parity proposal. I leave my position as Senate Chair greatly enriched by the experiences. My vantage point in this position gave me unique insights into the complexities of running a large public university like UCLA, and a renewed appreciation for the unique group of individuals who work quietly in the background to make it function. I was fortunate to have the assistance of an excellent cadre of Senate staff who enthusiastically accepted every challenge that I steered towards them and helped me meet the goals I had set for my term. Despite the leadership transitions, the executive branch always engaged the senate leadership in a direct and prominent role in developing and advising on institutional issues and policies. Both through words and actions, the chancellorial team reinforced to the Senate leadership that shared governance is not adversarial but a strong and precious tradition of mutual helpfulness and collaboration. I owe a special word of appreciation to acting EVC Scott Waugh who is responsible for many important areas of policy that affect faculty. I found him forthcoming and responsive to the Senate, willing on several occasions to discuss important matters with Senate committees and to report regularly to the LGA. Equally gracious and responsive to senate viewpoints were the members of his administrative team including Assistant Provost Maryann Gray, VCs Steve Olsen, Sam Morabito, Jim Davis, Rosina Becerra, Janina Montero, Claudia Mitchell-Kernan and Roberto Peccei.   Acting Chancellor Norm Abrams was a great collaborator whose institutional insights and deft leadership allowed for an easy partnership in addressing the numerous issues and challenges that we confronted over the year. My early impression of our new chancellor, Gene Block, is an experienced scholar/administrator who combines idealism with a pragmatic approach to issues. Chancellor Block has quickly taken to our unique system of shared governance, engaging the senate as an ally in institutional governance and decision-making. His vision of UCLA as a transformational institution and his articulated institutional priorities of academic excellence, diversity and community engagement resonate greatly with the senate and we look forward to helping him realize these goals.   On a personal note, my term as senate chair has been one of the most gratifying phases of my professional life. Among others, it has provided me the opportunity to work closely with and learn from the numerous, civic-spirited colleagues who give generously of their time and energy in the furtherance of shared governance. To those of you who have not yet engaged in our distinctive system of shared governance, I urge you to redeem the privilege of being a professor at UCLA by seeking out opportunities to contribute to institutional excellence through senate service. I thank you all for the privilege of being your spokesperson for the past year and look forward to another year of working with chair Elizabeth Bjork and Michael Goldstein, the chair-elect, as we seek to guide the Senate and the University to new levels of accomplishment. Vivek Shetty Immediate Past Chair Academic Senate