Academic Senate Updates
Oct. 28, 2026
In this issue:
- Message from the Senate Chair
- Joint Academic Senate & Administration Budget Town Hall
- AI Principles
- Results of 2026 Senate Faculty Survey
- Instructional Resources
- Systemwide Senate Review of Report and Recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Clinical Faculty Representation in Governance
- New UC Systemwide Senate Newsletter
- Participate in Your Academic Senate
Message from the Senate Chair
Dear Senate Faculty:
Now that the 2026-27 school year has begun in earnest, I want to update you on the status of several issues, developments, and an upcoming event of interest to our faculty.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the university’s budget crisis continues to be an ongoing area of concern for the Academic Senate. The continued unsustainable budget deficits on core funds not only threaten our long-term status as the #1 public university, but also cause other problems throughout the university. While a variety of one-time measures made this year’s deficit appear less severe than predicted, the underlying deficit in core funds continues to be alarming.
While the budget picture is still ominous, we are heartened the past year has improved the clarity of that picture for the Senate. As I said in my previous newsletter, we are getting much better information about the current budget situation. The Senate now has sufficient access to high-quality budgetary information to enable us to perform our consultative role.
Relatedly, CFO Hanna-Harwell will be co-presenting with CPB Chair Andrea Kasko at a Joint Senate and Administration Budget Town Hall on Thursday, October 29, 2026, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Zoom event will feature updates and discussion of the current budget picture and how it has evolved, but will mostly be devoted to Q&A. As is our usual practice, we will alternate between live questions and those pre-submitted as part of participants’ registration for the Joint Town Hall. We encourage all Senate faculty to attend this event.
One of the key areas of budgetary concern for the Senate in recent years has been Athletics. The Senate has expressed concern for several years about increasing athletics deficits, and the negative impact of that spending on UCLA’s core mission. The Senate appreciates the new leadership in Athletics and notes several hopeful signs of progress on the revenue side of the equation. Nonetheless, the sheer scale of the problem remains daunting. In Executive Board’s June 10, 2026, letter to the Administration, we requested a “Concrete plan to meaningfully reduce or eliminate Athletics department spending from the central budget” and have been told that such a plan (with specific deliverables and timetables) will be provided to us this quarter.
The Senate held a Special Legislative Assembly meeting to discuss the recently announced closure of the two remaining Early Care and Education centers on campus in June 2027. The body overwhelmingly passed a Resolution Against Closing Early Care and Education (ECE) & University Parents Nursery School (UPNS) proposed by voting Legislative Assembly members. The Senate has conveyed the resolution to the Administration and continues to advocate for child care as a vital enabling benefit for faculty. The Senate’s Faculty Welfare Committee has recommended (and Executive Board has endorsed) conducting a survey of faculty regarding child and family care (based on an earlier 2021 survey). In addition, the Executive Board voted to create a Senate task force on child care that will consider several recommendations from the Faculty Welfare Committee regarding these issues.
Speaking of surveys, Speaking of surveys, please see below for a summary report of our annual survey of faculty (conducted last month). The survey repeats many of the questions we asked last year, so we are able to present not only the current faculty sentiment on most issues, but also the change in that sentiment in the past year. The survey results showed some areas of statistically significant improvement (e.g. fewer faculty indicated they were considered leaving UCLA, and increases in the perceptions of senior administrative leaders and shared governance), but the levels of distrust in the administration in general and on specific topics or activities remains high. We appreciate this valuable feedback, which informs our strategies and our priorities for the coming year. Thank you to all the faculty who took the time to complete it!
Best regards,
Tim Groeling
Chair, UCLA Academic Senate
Joint Academic Senate & Administration Budget Town Hall
A reminder that Senate faculty are invited to attend a virtual town hall on the UCLA budget on Thursday, October 29, 2026, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Senate faculty will have an opportunity to hear from Interim Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Reem Hanna-Harwell and Council on Planning and Budget Chair Andrea Kasko. Academic Senate Chair Tim Groeling will moderate the discussion. Register for the
Joint Town Hall by noon on Wednesday, October 28.
AI Principles
A reminder that the Graduate and Undergraduate Councils adopted a set of AI Principles to help faculty consider the impact of artificial intelligence on teaching and instruction. The Principles were developed with broad input from Senate committees and councils, as well as the College and School Faculty Executive Committees.
Results of 2026 Senate Faculty Survey
The Report on 2025 & 2026 Senate Survey Results provides information about two surveys of UCLA Senate faculty conducted by the UCLA Academic Senate in September 2025 and September 2026. It includes a brief summary of trends followed by comparison charts for each question and a summary of the themes from the 2026 open-ended responses.
Instructional Resources
The Senate website now features a collection of Instructional Resources, including AI Principles, an updated course syllabus policy, and guidance for departments to authorize emergency remote teaching. Additional resources will be added as they become available.
Systemwide Senate Review of Report and Recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Clinical Faculty Representation in Governance
All divisional Senates are currently reviewing this report. Individual faculty may submit comments directly to the Office of the President’s Systemwide Academic Personnel office at SystemwideAP-PolicyReviewComments@ucop.edu. Review materials are available on the Academic Senate website in the Under Review section.
New UC Systemwide Senate Newsletter
The systemwide Academic Senate office issued its first newsletter, Faculty News & Views from the UC Academic Senate. Topics discussed include new proposed guidelines on faculty expressive activities, standardized testing in UC admissions, and the role of clinical faculty in UC governance.
Participate in Your Academic Senate
The Academic Senate is only as strong as its engaged faculty. We encourage you to volunteer for Senate service, contact your Legislative Assembly representatives, reach out to your Faculty Executive Committee Chairs, visit the Academic Senate website to learn about current issues, and follow us on X at @UCLASenate or on Bluesky @uclasenate.bsky.social.
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