People

 Chair

Jessica R. Cattelino
Professor Anthropology jcattelino@senate.ucla.edu (310) 825-4400

SUMMARY OF SERVICE

Senate Service

Graduate Council, Member (2014-15), Vice Chair (2015-16), and Chair (2016-17), plus Committee on Fellowships and Assistantships, Administrative Committee, Committee on Degree Programs, Committee on Graduate Student & Postdoctoral Fellow Welfare. Executive Board of the Academic Senate (2016-17). Self-Supporting Graduate Professional Degree Programs Advisory Committee (2020-). UC Systemwide Academic Senate Assembly (2018-).

Administrative Service

Center for the Study of Women, Associate Director (2015-17, 2020-) and Senior Faculty Research Associate (2017-20). Post-Pandemic Research Visioning Working Group, Co-chair (2020-), and Research Continuity Working Group member (2020-), under the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force. American Indian Studies Center Director search committee, Chair (2014-15). Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Initiatives on Coastlines and People (2019). Executive Committee, Institute of American Cultures (2017-19). Committee on Educational Initiatives in the Social Sciences (2010-11). Various departmental committees including Awards, Standing Review, Diversity, Admissions, Graduate Curriculum, Graduate Student Wellbeing.

Service to the University

Offsite (2017-) and onsite (2020) selection, UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. UCLA NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) Committee (2014-2019). Chancellor’s Campus Expansion Taskforce (2017-18). UCLA Enrollment Planning Task Force (2016-17). Undocumented Graduate Student Working Group (2017-18). External reviewer, UC Berkeley Department of Anthropology (2019). Faculty Advisory Committees of the American Indian Studies Center (various; Chair 2014-15, Publications Committee Chair 2017-), American Indian Studies Interdepartmental Program (various), and Center for the Study of Women (various; Chair 2015-16).

STATEMENT

As UCLA navigates the pandemic, campus re-opening, and broader changes in higher education, we should be guided by core values and committed to the institutions that sustain them. These include faculty governance, for which the University of California is a standard bearer. Through service as Chair of the Graduate Council and member of the Executive Board, as well as in cross-campus interdisciplinary research collaborations, I have embraced not only the goal but also the everyday practice of working with faculty across the disciplines. Building on experience as co-chair of the Post-Pandemic Research Visioning Working Group (under the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force), I aim to collaborate in shaping a post-pandemic campus that preserves the best of pre-pandemic UCLA while embracing the transformative potential of this moment. We must address core Senate issues, including unevenly distributed faculty research loss and other inequities laid bare, pedagogical change, remote work, budgetary impacts on academic programs and student support, and the possibilities for long-term creative reconfigurations of research and community. I would add to Senate leadership the perspective of teaching in the College. In advancing shared governance, I would be honored to listen to, amplify, and safeguard the voice of the faculty.

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect 

Andrea M. Kasko
Professor Bioengineering akasko@senate.ucla.edu (310) 825-3851

SUMMARY OF SERVICE

Senate Service

UC Systemwide Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs (CCGA)(2019-present, Vice Chair 20-21, Chair 21-22); CCGA representative on the Council of Graduate Deans (2020-2021); UCACC (2020-2021); Academic Assembly (2021-2022); SSGPDP joint workgroup of UCPB and CCGA (2019-2021, co-chair 2020-2021). UCLA: Academic Senate Graduate Council 2016-2021 (Vice Chair 2018-2019; Chair 2019-2021); Executive Board (2019-2021); Legislative Assembly Department Representative (2018-2021); SSGPDP Ad Hoc Advisory Committee (2020-present).

Administrative Service

Member: UCOP Executive Budget Committee; Academic Planning Council (APC, 2021-2022); APC subcommittee on the Review of Master’s degree programs (Co-chair, 2021-2022) UCLA: COVID-19 Pandemic-Specific Service: UCLA Research Ramp-up subcommittee (2020); UCLA CRRTF Education Working Group (2020-present); UCLA CRRTF Research Continuity Group (2020-2021); various departmental committees including faculty search, graduate admissions, graduate curriculum.

Service to the University

UC Hispanic Serving Institution Doctoral Diversity Initiative Review Committee (2020-2022) UCLA: Learning Management System (LMS) Transformation Committee (2021-2022); Professional Standards and Ethics Training (PSET) Programmatic Sub-group (2021-2022); Post-Pandemic Research Visioning Working Group (2020-2021); Mentoring and Evaluation of Graduate Academic Progress (MEGAP) Implementation Workgroup (Co-chair, 2019-2021); UCLA Chancellor’s Award for Postdoctoral Research Selection Committee (2019, 2021); Gold Shield Prize Committee (2019); Schmidt Fellows Committee (2019); UCLA Faculty-in-Residence Fall (2011-2017); Reviewer, Amgen Scholars Program (2013-2017); Reviewer, UCLA Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (2013-2020); CNSI Building Use Committee Member (2008-2016); UCLA Regents Scholars Committee (2015). School of Engineering: UCLA Samueli Standing Committee on Diversity (2021-present); Diversity Council Representative (2017-2021); Faculty Executive Committee (2017-2022, Vice Chair 2018-2020); UCLA HSSEAS Diversity Committee (co-chair) (2015); Faculty Advisor, Society of Women Engineers (2008-2012); Bioengineering Department Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (Chair, 2021-present).

STATEMENT

The pandemic has posed challenges to higher education we never imagined, and quickly transformed our personal and professional lives. Faculty, administrators, staff and students have struggled to keep UCLA operational while keeping ourselves healthy and safe. As we return to campus, old challenges remain as critical new challenges emerge. The core mission of UCLA – research, education and service – is unchanged, yet the pandemic has exposed a transformative opportunity to rethink higher education. UCLA’s strong tradition of shared governance ensures that faculty voices shape the future of the institution. In the past five years, I have immersed myself in the UCLA and Systemwide Academic Senates, and am well-versed in many issues facing UCLA, including questions surrounding pedagogy, access and equity in the distance education landscape; the long-lasting (and uneven) impacts of the pandemic on faculty research and career progression; uncertainties about the transition to the new Bruin budget model; and the future of remote work and its impacts on the campus community. As a member of Senate leadership, I am committed to representing faculty voices as we work in partnership with the administration to make strategic decisions for the campus while maintaining our collective commitment to academic excellence.

Immediate Past Chair

Shane White
Professor Dentistry      swhite@senate.ucla.edu
(310) 825-3851

SUMMARY OF SERVICE

Senate Service

Vice-chair and chair of the Academic Senate of the University of California, 2016-18. Vice chair & chair of the University Committee on Planning and Budget (UCPB), 2014-16; the University Committee on Faculty Welfare (UCFW), 2008-10; UCFW's Task Force on Investment and Retirement (TFIR), 2011-13. Chair, UC Non-Discrimination in Health Care Task Force, 2019. Ex-offico membership of all systemewide standing committees, 2016-18. Representative UCLA Senate service includes: Faculty Welfare Committee (FWC) 2004-2011, four-time chair; Executive Board 2007-09; CPB 2011-14; CAP 2018-19. Representative UCLA School of Dentistry Service includes chair of APA and MILA promotion committees, and the Curriculum Committee.

Administrative Service

Member: UCOP Executive Budget Committee 2018-19; President Napolitano’s Advisory Group (PAG) 2018; Task Force on Health Sciences Conflict of Interest Policy 2017-18; UC Budget Framework Initiative (BFI) Workgroup (BFI) 2016-18; Systemwide Library & Scholarly Information Advisory Committee (SLASIAC), 2016-18; Innovative Learning Technology Initiative (ILTI) Steering Committee, 2016-18; Academic Planning Council (APC) 2015-18; Technology Transfer Advisory Committee (TTAC) 2014-16; UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) Governing Committee 2014-16. UCLA School of Dentistry Section of Endodontics, chair 2002-04.

Service to the University

Faculty Representative to the Board of Regents, 2016-18; member of Academic & Student Affairs Committee, Compliance & Audit Committee, National Laboratories Subcommittee, Finance and Capital Strategies Committee, Public Engagement and Development Committee, Investments Subcommittee. Senate representative to President Yudof's 2009-2010 Task Force on Post-Employment Benefits (PEB), President Napolitano's 2015-16 Retirement Options Task Force (ROTF), and President Napolitano’s 2018 Retiree Health Working Group. Vice chair and chair of the UC Retirement System Advisory Board (UCRSAB), 2011-15. Service separately provided to institutions of The State of California.

STATEMENT

Challenging times place a premium on knowledge of the institutional environment, its values, history, policy and process. UCLA’s challenges are the Senate’s challenges. A recently completed a term as UC systemwide Senate chair has given me the necessary insights and relationships to help optimally position UCLA in a time of leadership transition, future budgetary uncertainty, and controversy. The Senate must effectively provide its unequaled expertise and experience to the administration. While shared governance is a distinctive and successful part of UCLA culture, it must be actively and collegially engaged with transparency, through consensus-building, and with the maintenance of trust. To maximize institutional quality and advancement, the campus must be united. The chair and vice chair must facilitate and promote the incredible talents of the entire Senate body to best address the future. Since being a 4-time UCLA Faculty Welfare chair in the 2000s, I have been one of the UC Senate’s leading voices on faculty welfare and budgetary issues – our lifeblood. Service on UCLA’s FWC, CPB, CAP, Assembly, and its Executive Board, etc., have provided broad institutional knowledge. As systemwide Senate chair, I worked successfully to achieve the largest increase to the salary scales in a quarter century; maintain threatened active and retiree benefits; increase faculty diversity; improve admissions processes through the work of BOARS; and provide stability during crisis. As Senate chair and Faculty Representative to the Board of Regents, I engaged the Board and the leaders of the State, linking our institution to the public good. I am committed to working in partnership with the administration to make difficult strategic decisions to improve access and increase quality in our teaching, research and service. UCLA is the Nation’s preeminent public research university campus; my feet are firmly planted on UCLA’s ground as a teacher, scholar, servant, and graduate.