SUBJECT:

Executive Vice Chancellor – Academic Affairs, Suresh Subramani

Executive Vice Chancellor Suresh Subramani has informed me of his decision to conclude his tenure as EVC this summer, culminating six years of exceptional service in this role.

Since my arrival in August 2012, the EVC has been an invaluable partner in the development and subsequent implementation of the first ever campuswide Strategic Plan. I have depended on his counsel on numerous other issues, including thought leadership to identify new areas for investment in our research enterprise, and retooling of the campus administrative structure. Over the last year Dr. Subramani has led, in partnership with the Academic Senate, a broad based, multi-faceted initiative to maximize the potential of all students for academic and post-graduate success, engaging and aligning the efforts of academic and administrative leadership from the General Campus, Student Affairs and Academic Affairs. These efforts will ensure we deliver on our promise to be more student centric.

Appointed Acting SVC-AA in October 2010, then UC San Diego’s first EVC-AA in March 2011, EVC Subramani serves as UC San Diego’s chief academic officer, responsible for oversight of academic programs, the recruitment and advancement of faculty, and for driving academic, student support, and research initiatives impacting the entire campus. His portfolio includes the Vice Chancellor areas of Research Affairs, Student Affairs, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The seven general campus divisions and schools, the Graduate Division and Undergraduate Affairs, six undergraduate Colleges, the University Library, University Extension also fall within his purview. Together this represents oversight of a budget in excess of $750M, 2.7M ASF, and more than 13,500 academic, staff and research employees.

Taking the helm following one of our nation’s most severe economic downturns and considerable cuts to the university’s budget, EVC Subramani’s primary goal was to protect and enhance the distinction of UC San Diego, helping to focus its research and scholarship in unique ways that will have significant societal impact and ensuring that students leave the campus prepared - technically superior in their majors, and equipped with the knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to be successful in an increasingly diverse world. By all measures his tenure has been enormously successful. A few of his accomplishments are:

· Championing and investing resources to restore faculty growth. Among the more than 240 outstanding new faculty appointed during his tenure as EVC there has been a measurable increase in the number of women and underrepresented minorities;

· During his tenure, the campus has received numerous academic accolades, including six years as the nation’s premier ranking by the Washington Monthly and averaging more than $1B/yr in contracts and grants activity.

· Launching new multidisciplinary research initiatives in Quantitative/Systems Biology, Advanced Energy and Design; and leading the development of the four research themes of our Strategic Plan.

· Implementing the Graduate Student Growth and Excellence Initiative to grow and improve the quality of our graduate programs;

· Establishing the Teaching + Learning Commons (and its Centers for Engaged Learning and Engaged Teaching) – a collaborative which, though nascent, has already begun to transform education at UC San Diego;

· Consolidating several disparate institutional research activities, in order to develop a more sustainable and robust decision-support capability.

EVC Subramani has strongly advocated equity, diversity and inclusiveness as essential to UC San Diego’s academic excellence. He has added gender and ethnic diversity to his leadership team, established the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and two new campus community centers – the Black Resource Center and La Raza Resource Centro, and required continuous improvement in faculty recruitment and selection practices, investing in professional development to improve the ability to recognize and manage implicit bias.

He has worked persistently to reward and retain our excellent faculty, developing and advocating system wide for a General Campus Negotiated Salary Program (called GCCP locally), and he has conceived and deployed a multi-pronged approach to address pay inequities. To build leadership capacity among the faculty, Dr. Subramani initiated the Associate Professor Leadership Development Program, currently in its third year, which provides newly tenured faculty with management and leadership skills relevant in their roles as faculty and in service to the campus. And he has provided resources for mentorship opportunities.

I am deeply grateful for EVC Subramani’s partnership in our efforts to keep UC San Diego at the forefront of education and research, building on our academic strengths and maintaining the excellence of our academic core. Please join me in offering our most heartfelt thanks to Executive Vice Chancellor Subramani for his exemplary service. We are fortunate that he will continue to be deeply engaged with UC San Diego upon his return to teaching and research as a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology, following a well-deserved period of sabbatical.

In the coming months, we will launch an international search to identify a replacement; an interim EVC will be announced shortly.

Pradeep K. Khosla Chancellor