To: Academic Senate Faculty
Dear Colleagues:
As has become the tradition for the outgoing Senate Chair, I would like to offer thoughts on the state of shared governance and related issues during the past year. We have made progress since the beginning of the 2025–26 academic year, which offers hope for a productive year ahead.
In 2024–25, we saw significant challenges with shared governance, as described in Chair Bawn’s August 2025 letter. She noted a lack of meaningful consultation on the budget, workgroups without Senate representation, instructional modality decisions during emergencies, and some lack of consultation in “time-sensitive” areas. While challenges still exist, progress has been made in these areas that improve meaningful participation in shared governance. There were several reasons for this progress, including Senate faculty responses to surveys and requests for town halls and Senate meetings to advocate for administrative accountability and communication. The Legislative Assembly (LgA) resolutions have had a significant role in getting us to this point, so I thank LgA members for their engagement and commitment. These sustained Senate faculty efforts have moved the needle. I am hopeful that these gains will not only be upheld but built in the years ahead. Specifically,
- Budget: Over the course of the academic year, Administration shared more budgetary information with the Council on Planning and Budget (CPB). This information has included both written documents (overall budget pictures, unit level budgetary information, etc.) and productive conversations with interim VC/CFO Reem Hanna-Harwell and others. Senate Leadership and EVCP Hunt developed a Budget Transparency Protocol that describes expectations for sharing budget information to support Senate consultation. An inaugural annual
budget retreat with Senior Administrators and CPB/Senate leadership is scheduled for September that will allow a retrospective of the past year and to plan for a productive year ahead. In these times of fiscal strain, it is imperative that the CPB is engaged in these difficult deliberations to fulfill its advisory role, which we will continue to emphasize. - Instructional Modality During Emergencies: The authority over instructional modality resides within the Academic Senate. Building on progress made in 2024–25, the Academic Senate further updated its protocols to provide rapid and informed decisions to administration during emergency situations. Announcements to the campus community have been clarified as well. We developed some refinements to the protocols through simulated emergency events during the year in partnership with the office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus and Community Safety. This preparation has left us better positioned to consider effects on the academic mission when emergency situations arise.
- Workgroups without Senate Representation: Chair Bawn noted in her letter last year that some workgroups lacked sufficient Senate representation, one of which was the graduate education task force. In the Spring, workgroups from the task force issued white papers on graduate education that resulted in substantial Senate faculty concern. Following Senate review, a Senate faculty discussion, and other input, Administration significantly revised these Graduate Student Employment and Doctoral Education White Papers to address many of the
concerns. A similar situation occurred with the OneIT initiative, which rapidly unfolded last summer without meaningful Senate consultation. This year, the Committee on Data Information, Technology and Privacy (CDITP), LgA resolutions, and faculty advocacy brought about changes to the OneIT plan and rollout, which is now happening with Senate consultation. We hope that early Senate consultation in the future will reduce similar issues that may arise when the Senate is excluded from planning, particularly with respect to academic issues. This year, EVCP Hunt encouraged administrators to use “one-pagers” to begin this process of consultation, which was employed in library planning and IT. The Senate continues to advocate for early involvement and note the difference between discussions/conversations and consultation, which is the formal Senate process through which feedback is sought.
As I began my term as Senate Chair, I was concerned with the state of shared governance and communication with Senate faculty, and how to maintain and strengthen the academic mission. My experiences this past year reaffirmed that the Senate Chair’s best intentions and efforts are only a small part, and the involvement of the Senate committees and councils, and the Senate faculty as a whole, are key to progress. The Senate committees and councils provide careful analysis and consideration in their recommendations or decisions, and these are invaluable for shared governance. Further, this year has shown that faculty advocacy and involvement, in the form of LgA resolutions, requests for Senate faculty conversations and meetings, and input, have enormous power to bring us together and address issues that concern us. I want to thank all of you that have participated in strengthening shared governance. There has been progress, and the Senate community is largely responsible for these steps forward.
Thank you to Senate faculty. Thank you to Senate staff. Thank you to everyone for your partnerships and hard work. I appreciate all of you!
Megan McEvoy
Chair, UCLA Academic Senate
Academic Senate Updates
August 2026
In this issue:
- Rising Star Award Recipients
- EVCP Shared Revised White Papers on Undergraduate and Graduate Education
- UC Senate Chair Statement on BOARS Undergraduate Admissions Review
- UC Senate Recommendations for UC Online
- Participate in Your Academic Senate
Rising Star Award Recipients
Congratulations to the 2025–26 recipients of the Rising Star Award: Leisy Abrego, Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies, and Scott Brandenberg, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The Rising Star Award celebrates and recognizes UCLA Senate faculty who are in the early stage of their Senate service and have demonstrated a noteworthy contribution to the Academic Senate. A noteworthy contribution may include activities such as consistent and meaningful participation in committee or council meetings or projects; effective chairship of a subcommittee, special committee or task force; championing shared governance; or demonstrating Senate leadership potential.
EVCP Shared Revised White Papers on Undergraduate and Graduate Education
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Hunt shared revised white papers on undergraduate and graduate education in response to extensive divisional Senate feedback. The revised white papers are posted on the Senate’s homepage.
UC Senate Chair Statement on BOARS Undergraduate Admissions Review
Systemwide Academic Senate Chair Palazoglu issued a statement on BOARS undergraduate admissions review, sharing that the University of California’s Academic Council directed the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) to oversee a faculty-led, evidence-based review of the use of standardized testing in undergraduate admissions.
UC Senate Recommendations for UC Online
The Systemwide Academic Senate’s Academic Council endorsed the University Committee on Educational Policy's (UCEP) recommendations on the governance and oversight of UC Online.
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.