To: Academic Senate Faculty
Dear Colleagues:
We are coming to the end of a difficult year, for our campus and for all of higher education, and prospects for 2025 are (at best) unsettling. The leadership role research universities have played in society is under attack; for many, unease pervades expectations for the coming year.
As UCLA faces the challenges that the coming year will surely bring, it is more important than ever for faculty voices to be heard — in Schools/College, on campus and at systemwide. Our academic mission — our commitment to teaching, research and service — must guide how we respond to political, financial and other threats. Actions and decisions of institutional leaders must be driven by how those actions and decisions impact teaching and research. But UCLA’s size and complexity can leave institutional leaders disconnected from those who carry out the academic mission on a day-to-day basis – professors in the classroom, PIs in the lab, scholars at work all across campus.
Shared governance is our best hope for keeping university leadership connected to the academic mission. Shared governance is how we as a faculty explain the stakes of the academic mission to the administration, the Regents, the state government and the broader world. Shared governance at UCLA is effective because of strong institutions, but also because of our strong culture of participation. This year, more than 500 UCLA Senate faculty (more than 1 in 8) are serving on Academic Senate standing committees, including School and College Faculty Executive Committees, divisional committees and councils, the Legislative Assembly and in the systemwide Senate. Many others are representing the Academic Senate on various ad hoc committees and work groups as well.
Shared governance at the University of California means that faculty set policy regarding curricula, admissions and the review of academic programs, that faculty advisement is prominent in promotion, tenure and disciplinary decisions, and that faculty provide deliberative input on all major aspects of university policy. Senate committees this Fall gave guidance to the administration on vision and governance for the UCLA Research Park at the former Westside Pavilion. The Graduate and Undergraduate Councils developed protocols to prevent unwarranted declarations of remote teaching, as occurred last Spring, as well as the new syllabus policy linked below. The Senate negotiated an MOU with the administration to ensure that self-supporting degree programs contribute to the academic mission and do not drain resources (including faculty time) from state-supported degree programs. We provided extensive feedback on the interim Time, Place and Manner policies, underscoring the importance of freedom of expression in a university setting, and will continue to do so as needed. We advocate for transparency and institutional accountability in all areas. These are but a few examples of routine ways in which Senate committees ensure that university policy and practice is informed by faculty values, judgement and expertise. Through many decades of deep engagement with day-to-day issues, the Senate is well-equipped to keep the academic mission as the top priority as we confront the challenges ahead.
To those of you currently participating in shared governance: Thank you for finding time to support the university and the academic mission in the midst of ever-increasing demands. Your efforts make a difference. To those of you not currently participating: The Academic Senate needs your energy and welcomes your voice as we engage with the formidable challenges looming ahead. Please sign up to volunteer for Senate service.
Sincerely,
Kathy Bawn
Chair, Academic Senate
Academic Senate Updates
December 2024
In this issue:
- New Syllabus Policy Effective Fall 2025
- Information on Academic Freedom Grievances for Non-Senate Appointees
- Your Academic Senate
New Syllabus Policy Effective Fall 2025
The Undergraduate and Graduate Councils recently approved a new policy on course syllabi. Effective Fall 2025, a syllabus will be required each time an approved class is offered, including undergraduate tutorials, independent study courses and graduate research courses. Please visit the Senate website for details. In addition, the Graduate Council also approved a guidance on graduate directed studies courses.
Information on Academic Freedom Grievances for Non-Senate Appointees
The Academic Senate Grievance Overview page now includes a form dedicated for use by non-Senate faculty and non-faculty academic appointees who want to file a grievance that their academic freedom rights may have been violated. Under systemwide policy APM-011, because “the Academic Senate has sole authority to adjudicate violations of academic freedom as defined in APM-010,” these employees have the right to file a grievance for matters that involve “teaching, research, scholarship, or the public dissemination of knowledge.” The Committee on Privilege and Tenure (P&T) will follow the same systemwide Senate Bylaw 335 procedures as they do for Academic Senate faculty grievances. As a reminder, a grievance is not against someone, but rather seeks a remedy for the alleged violation of rights. See the Grievance Overview for more information.
Your Academic Senate
The Academic Senate is only as strong as its engaged faculty. We uphold the principle of faculty governance in higher education only when faculty exercise their governing authority. We welcome you to volunteer, contact your Legislative Assembly representatives, reach out to your Faculty Executive Committee Chairs who serve on the Council of Faculty Chairs, visit the Academic Senate website, and follow us on X at @UCLASenate.
Download this BruinPost PDF here.
