To: Academic Senate Faculty
Dear Colleagues:
As the end of the school year approaches, I write to express my thanks to all of you who have participated in Academic Senate service this year: as members of standing committees and councils, as department representatives in the Legislative Assembly, as part of school/ college Faculty Executive Committees, as Senate appointees to various ad hoc committee, task force or workgroup, or as representatives of UCLA in the systemwide Senate. The time and effort you put into Senate service is essential for fulfilling our institutional role as stewards of the academic mission.
This year, UCLA’s Academic Senate advised on over thirty issues including about shared governance and administrative accountability and transparency. To learn more about the breadth of Senate work, please visit the Issues web page on the Senate website.
Shared governance is more critical than ever as we confront the likelihood of dramatically diminished federal support for research. The Senate continues to participate in planning for challenging scenarios that may lie ahead. We also continue to advocate for budgetary transparency and responsible fiscal management. The Executive Board recently wrote a letter to Chancellor Frenk and EVCP Hunt expressing urgent concerns about the diversion of campus resources to offset increasing deficits by the Athletic Department. They also endorsed a letter from the Undergraduate Council advising on the preservation of undergraduate education funding. The academic mission must remain our single top priority.
We face threats beyond lost resources, as academic freedom and faculty control of the curriculum are under attack at Harvard and elsewhere. I would like to draw your attention to a recent statement on The Centrality of Academic Freedom in a Moment of Crisis written by our Committee on Academic Freedom and endorsed by the Executive Board.
To end on happier notes, I am very pleased to announce that Immediate Past Senate Chair Andrea Kasko is a recipient of the systemwide Senate’s Award for Mid-Career Leadership. Please join me in congratulating Professor Kasko on this well-deserved honor. I am also happy to welcome our 2025-26 Vice Chair/Chair Elect, Professor Tim Groeling of the Communication Department, to the Senate Leadership Team.
Sincerely,
Kathy Bawn
Chair, Academic Senate
Academic Senate Updates
May/June 2025
In this issue:
- Academic Senate Election Results
- Academic Senate DEI Award Recipients
- Recent Senate Funding Support for Faculty Research
- UC Academic Senate Mid-Career Leadership Award Recipient
- Systemwide Informational Session on Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
- Your Academic Senate
Academic Senate Election Results
We have completed the Academic Senate annual elections. Thank you for your interest, nominations and votes for candidates for the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect, Committee on Committees members and at-large members of the Executive Board. Tim Groeling, Professor of Communication, was elected to the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect. See the full Election Results on our website.
By now, your department should have completed election by secret ballot of its Legislative Assembly representatives. If not, please work with your department chair and colleagues to do so immediately.
Academic Senate DEI Award Recipients
Earlier this year, the Senate invited nominations from the UCLA community for the 2024–25 Academic Senate DEI Awards. These awards honor faculty who have demonstrated a strong commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through their work. Congratulations to the following award recipients:
Faculty Award for Career Commitment to Diversity
Veronica Santos, Professor and Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Faculty Affairs, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Faculty Award for Research on Diversity
Matthew James Mimiaga, Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Epidemiology
Recent Senate Funding Support for Faculty Research
Academic Senate leadership and the Council on Research awarded $156,000 in research funds to faculty members severely impacted by the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
Over $250,000 has been awarded to 250 faculty this past year to support conference travel. Conference Travel Grants support domestic and international travel to conferences of recognized scholarly societies for the purpose of presenting results of original research and/or creative activity.
UC Academic Senate Mid-Career Leadership Award Recipient
The Academic Council of the UC Academic Senate selected Immediate Past Chair Andrea Kasko (Professor of Bioengineering) as a recipient of the 2025 UC Systemwide Academic Senate Awards for Mid-Career Leadership. This award is presented every other year to honor Academic Senate members with mid-career status whose records demonstrate an outstanding ability to work effectively with different University constituents and exceptional promise for further service to the Senate.
Systemwide Informational Session on Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
Scheduled for 12 to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, this session will address questions and concerns related to EDR implementation, particularly as it relates to academic work and privacy.
The panel discussion will feature Anthony Joseph, Chancellor's Professor at UC Berkeley in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science; Stefan Savage, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego; and Giovanni Vigna, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Computer Science at UC Santa Barbara. This session is hosted by Van Williams, UC Vice President of IT, and moderated by Monte Ratzlaff, UC Systemwide Chief Information Security Officer. Common questions will be incorporated into the existing EDR FAQs.
This session will be recorded. Please register to attend or receive the recording: Webinar Registration - Zoom. You may contact Kate Miffitt, Chief Digital Experience & Engagement Officer, with questions about the webinar: Kate.Miffitt@ucop.edu.
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 or on Bluesky @uclasenate.bsky.social.
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