SUBJECT:  UCSD Gender Equity Initiatives

In March 2001, a task force was convened to conduct a study of gender equity among UCSD ladder-rank faculty (LRF). In March 2002, the Gender Equity Task Force issued its report. After extensive collaboration with the Academic Senate, deans, and department chairs, I am writing to apprise you of the initiatives we have adopted in response to the report.

Based on the statistical analysis of salary data conducted by the task force, many ladder-rank women faculty were identified for examination of the appropriateness of their rank and step. Departments were then asked to conduct integrated reviews for a sub-set of these cases. The statistical analysis will be conducted periodically to identify additional cases requiring such review.

In addition, a new policy was adopted to permit all Senate faculty to periodically request a special review to determine whether they are correctly calibrated in rank and step. Senate faculty may initiate such career equity reviews (CERs) via written requests at the time of their regular, on-cycle reviews. The guidelines for these special reviews may be found at

http://adminrecords.ucsd.edu/Notices/2003/2003-7-7-1.html

To better inform faculty of salaries in their departments or disciplines, data on average and median salaries by rank were distributed to General Campus and Scripps Institution of Oceanography departments in September 2002 and will be made available to all faculty each fall.

The School of Medicine has completed a gender equity study of its own that includes all faculty (Professor, In Residence, Clinical Professor, Professor of Clinical X, and Adjunct Professor series), Research Scientists, and Project Scientists for a five-year period. The final report on this study is expected soon.

In order to better understand the reasons why ladder-rank faculty leave the General Campus, exit interviews of those who separate will be conducted beginning with the 2003-04 academic year.

A new campuswide mentoring program was implemented in 2002-03 whereby senior women faculty serve as mentors in a confidential manner to women in departments other than their own.

In order to assist departments with the recruitment of women faculty to the General Campus, a pool of women faculty has been created to meet with female candidates during their recruitment visits to the campus.

Plans are under way to make UCSD's family-friendly policies more flexible. Women who bear children will, upon notification to their department chairs, be automatically granted an extension of the tenure clock. A brochure is being developed to clarify family-friendly policies for deans, department chairs, and faculty. A building program has been authorized to expand the Early Childhood Education Center in order to serve more families.

A Partner Opportunities Program has been established to enhance recruitment and retention of ladder-rank faculty. The program's objectives are to assist spouses and partners of General Campus faculty candidates and appointees with employment searches and to establish a Southern California Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), a network of University of California campuses and other colleges whose goals include creating a higher-education employment Web site.

In order to share and discuss "best practice" recruiting strategies, the director of the Office of Academic Affirmative Action (OAAA) meets with search committee members as well as department chairs. The director provides data to deans, department chairs, and search committees encompassing availability pools, utilization statistics, and specific unit hiring trends. "Best practices" guidelines now recommend that at least two search committee members review all application materials, and it is expected that any member of a department has the option of reviewing all applications for faculty positions.

Efforts to ensure equal opportunity in recruitment have become a specific component of the annual review of each dean's performance.

In fall 2002, a proposal was submitted to the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Award program for an Academic Culture Transformation (ACT) Center to increase the recruitment, retention, participation, and promotion of women faculty in science and engineering. The proposal did not succeed, but we are preparing to resubmit it. As an outgrowth of this effort, we have formed an advisory committee to the senior vice chancellor to advance UCSD's academic culture with respect to gender-related issues.

As a follow-up to the above actions, and as part of UCSD's efforts to recruit and retain women faculty, a special conference on gender issues is being planned for the winter quarter of 2004.

The campus has made outstanding progress toward achieving true gender equity. I am grateful for the participation of so many colleagues in this important endeavor.

                                                Marsha A. Chandler
                                                Senior Vice Chancellor