Dear Colleagues and Friends,
¡Buenos dias! With peace and purpose, I am now about half-way through my term as Chair of your Senate. There has been much learning for me during the past five months. The visits I've completed to the departments, mostly during Fall quarter, with some final ones happening this quarter, have been enlightening. I have learned that my colleagues in the arts, humanities and social sciences, have an amazing capacity to recognize the signs of things to come, and not over a one- or two-year time frame, but over decades. I have a newfound respect for their opinions and insights. On the other hand, my STEM colleagues are always eager to develop solutions to more immediate and medium-term problems, including technologies to improve health, to mitigate climate change, to explore the universe. Thank you, my colleagues, for being who you are!
I feel as if, for a completely ordinary person, I have had an extraordinary life. I grew up in a house without running water. I managed to be educated in some of the best K-12 schools in Tijuana because of the commitment of many people that provided me both financial and emotional support, especially my mother who is an extraordinary person.
I managed to then come here to UC San Diego and get an excellent undergraduate education, and then an excellent graduate education at UC Davis. All of this with support from the federal and state governments through need-based and merit-based scholarships and loans. I also received support for participating in research as an undergraduate through the McNair program and through various National Science Foundation programs. The better angels in this great nation, the United States of America, made this happen. And now here I am, doing my best to be your Senate Chair, here to listen, and here to serve.
Student Support
In my January letter, I described efforts to support undocumented students. Our campus is very well positioned to do so through the Undocumented Student Services office. For those interested in learning about this office, there is a Triton Time workshop taking place on April 10 at 10:00 a.m. that will describe their work in greater detail. Our campus has a strong commitment to this effort. Inform yourself and join the effort! Important to note that USS has a variety of resources to equip us with tools and information in support of members of our undocumented and mixed-status community.
Today, I also highlight the great efforts of the LGBT Resource Center. The Center supports the academic mission of the University by engaging with students to address policy, practice and structures for deeper inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people. In addition, our campus has made a commitment and has programs in place to support gender affirming care through UC San Diego Health and through our STRIDE Program. This office offers support to Trans, Intersex, and Gender Diverse undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.
Finally, in support of students in distress, our campus recently established Triton CORE (UC San Diego's Compassionate Response Team). If a student appears distressed or expresses emotional struggles, Triton CORE can help. This is a team of licensed mental health professionals that responds to behavioral health crises anywhere on campus. Students can still meet with clinicians at Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Urgent Care, but if unable to do so, can receive immediate, on-campus support from this team.
Academic Matters
UCSF Memorials to expand Academic Senate membership
I have several updates to provide regarding academics on our campus and systemwide. Firstly, I remind you that we have a Representative Assembly meeting on February 18, where we are scheduled to vote on the two UCSF Memorials to expand Academic Senate membership. Thank you to all that participated in the two Town Halls we had on this matter. One Memorial is on the inclusion of Adjunct faculty, and the other is on the inclusion of Health Sciences Clinical faculty (both with 50% or higher appointments) in the Academic Senate. Each Memorial will be voted on separately.
Discussion on a transition to a semester schedule
There has been recent chatter regarding a transition to a semester schedule for all UC campuses. The website describing this effort shows that we have Senate representation in these discussions. The amazing Karen Oegema from Biological Sciences is there to represent us. I am gathering comments and concerns from faculty regarding this matter, with the intention of forwarding them to Karen for presentation to the workgroup. If you would like your concerns included in my letter, please email me at senatechair@ucsd.edu. The charge of the workgroup is to collect information on how different calendars and calendar features can advance the mission of the UC. The workgroup is also identifying the opportunities and challenges associated with any conversion to a common calendar, including estimated costs and resources required for any change. This is a fact-finding exercise, not one where the workgroup is recommending one calendar over another. Any kind of implementation, if a decision is ever made to proceed, will take years and will require future workgroups. Let us keep this in mind as we proceed through the process of providing comments. If any of you prefer to provide comments to the workgroup directly, you can do so by emailing calendar@ucop.edu.
Uncertain times in academia
With the purpose of keeping the UC community informed, the Office of the President has established a website that provides federal updates on a variety of topics, including research funding. There have also been communications from President Drake and Provost Newman that provide details of the UC response to the recent federal mandates.
There are many good people on our campus and UC-wide working hard to define responses and protect the mission of the University of California. Please give us all grace as the Administration and your Senate leadership collaborate and do the work of interpreting and communicating information that seems to change by the minute.
In these uncertain times, I do not know where we are going as a nation. Nobody does. With such uncertainty, let us strongly and assuredly express to each other, in the hallways, in our classrooms, in our offices, at faculty meetings, that despite what some people may say, "there are more of us". As a Star Wars fan, this is one of my favorite lines in Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. There are more of us that care, there are more of us that value truth and justice, and there are more of us that value dignity for all. Let us come together, as the good people we are, and show the world that there are more of us, that we are not afraid. Because, indeed, at UC San Diego we are not afraid.
If you have ideas on how we may respond as a Senate to these difficult issues, please email me. I would be delighted to hear from you and would like to use this information to develop a Senate response strategy. As always, I can be reached at senatechair@ucsd.edu. I am here to listen, and I am here to serve.
