ACADEMIC SENATE: SAN DIEGO DIVISION

January 21, 2026

MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE, SAN DIEGO DIVISION

Dear colleagues,

I hope that Winter Quarter is off to a good start for everyone.

When I became Senate Chair in September, the University of California was reeling from the sudden freezing of federal grants and the leveling of a billion dollar fine against UCLA. Administrators were gaming out worst-case scenarios should something similar befall our campus. The dust from that initial shock has settled, and the worst has not come to pass. But there are many caveats. A U.S. District court ruled the actions against UCLA unconstitutional, but the Trump Administration has recently appealed the decision. Most of the promised federal grant monies for FY2025 was ultimately paid out, but researchers in certain areas have been defunded, and the harm to federal agencies has been severe.

The overall financial picture is also less dire than feared. Congress has pushed back against the draconian cuts to federal agencies that Trump demanded, and it appears that IDC rates may not be slashed to 15%. On the state level, tax revenue is coming in stronger than expected. Governor Newsom recently announced his proposed budget, which includes a total of $5.2 billion in State General Fund support for the University of California: this represents a 7% increase from our current funding. (The proposal includes $254.3 million to fulfill the 2026-27 Compact base budget increase of 5%, plus an additional $96.3 million to partially fulfill the deferred Compact funding for 2025-26.)

The proposed 7% increase is definitely something to celebrate. But here again, there are reasons for concern and caution. The state budget does not include any money for capital improvements that are badly needed on many campuses. The governor’s proposal is also based on what may prove to be rosy revenue projections; a significant downturn in capital markets could yield a less favorable outcome when the budget is finalized in June. Moreover, even a 7% increase does not fully meet the state’s promised Compact funding, though the UC has held up its side of the bargain by enrolling more students in 2025-26 than ever before, breaching the 300,000 threshold for the first time. UC San Diego added over 800 more students, second in growth only to UC Riverside. Our combined undergraduate/graduate enrollment now stands at some 45,000.

The UC has received no new demand letters from the federal government, but investigations and in some cases enforcement actions are proceeding at all ten campuses. In many ways, it feels like we remain in a defensive crouch. The political pressures of the moment have influenced how we think and speak about our mission. As a campus and a system, we have not effectively countered the demonization of “DEI” by publicly defending successful initiatives that fall under its rubric. And for reasons that are easy to fathom, our public relations efforts have focused mainly on lifesaving medical breakthroughs and other outcomes that yield clear and concrete benefits. Of course we all value these things. But to remain a university in spirit as well as name, we must also robustly defend less tangible aspects of our educational mission – learning to think abstractly and critically; to value art, literature, and other cultures; to perceive issues from multiple vantage points; and to seek and defend what is true.

Finally, it must be said: pursuing our mission of teaching, researching, and service is challenging when events beyond the university constantly intrude, each more precedent defying than the next. While braced for the next shoe to drop (will we invade Greenland?), it is difficult to think expansively, to embrace and pursue bold ideas, to be creative and visionary. And yet, this is what the moment demands of us. The tectonic plates beneath the research university are shifting. The model of research funding, the structure of our graduate programs, and how we teach our undergraduates have all been longstanding areas of concern. Now a host of political, economic, and technological developments are converging to demand that we think in new ways. Faculty must be at the forefront of how we navigate these challenges.

Support for California Senate Bill 895

One concrete thing that faculty can do in the coming months is advocate for SB 895, a proposed bill that would allow Californians to vote on a $23 billion bond measure to create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research. It would be something like a combined NSF and NIH, but on the state level. The Foundation would fund and coordinate research in areas like biomedical science, climate impacts on health, emerging diseases, climate science, and product safety, with a focus on replacing research dollars lost due to federal cutbacks. SB 895 would also expand California’s existing CalRx program so that the state could directly partner with grantees to develop, produce, and distribute medications and provide vaccine access for public and private health providers at a discount. An important precedent is the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), founded when Californians passed a $3 billion bond in 2004 and a subsequent bond measure for $5 billion in 2020, following the George W. Bush Administration’s restrictions on the use of stem cells in research. Scientists may want to consider signing this petition. I will provide updates on advocacy opportunities in future newsletters.

Ongoing Divisional Senate Concerns

Gen-AI and Academia: We were thrilled with the turnout for our first Academic Senate Seminar in our series on Generative AI in December, which drew an audience of nearly 150. Particularly telling was the fact that, even after the 90-minute session ended, some 40 attendees stayed on the Zoom for an additional 15 minutes to continue the conversation. This speaks to the widespread interest in the topic and the urgency with which faculty are seeking answers on how to deal with the possibilities and disruptions that AI presents, especially in regard to teaching. Following up, Vice Chair Rona-Tas and I are requesting that faculty fill out this brief form to provide us with a clearer sense of the kind of guidance people would like from the Academic Senate in this area. (I know, I know – another blasted survey! But please do weigh in.)

We will be continuing our conversation on AI in Winter and Spring. Please keep your eye out for an announcement on our second Academic Seminar. We are in collaboration with Associated Students about the possibility of featuring a panel of students who could discuss how they and their peers are using AI and how they perceive its effects on learning and cognition.

In February, Senate Council will discuss both our divisional Senate-Administration Workgroup Report on Gen-AI in Research and a new systemwide report by the UC Academic Senate Workgroup on Artificial Intelligence. The latter strongly echoes the former in recommending a center-periphery approach. It urges campuses to “provide a central framework that is flexible and capacious enough to accommodate discipline-specific practices emerging from divisions and departments,” noting that “Such practices may range from active and thorough incorporation of AI tools to their outright prohibition, depending on pedagogical goals and disciplinary norms.”

Math preparedness and admissions. In December, Senate Council completed its review of the Senate-Administration Workgroup report on Admissions, unanimously supporting its recommendations, with some additional comments and recommendations on how to proceed. Since then, Divisional Senate leadership has met several times with systemwide Senate leadership and the Chair of BOARS (Board of Admissions at Relations with Schools, the systemwide committee overseeing admissions at the UC.) Together with some faculty who served on the Workgroup, we are now meeting regularly with EVC Simmons, Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Jim Rawlins, and Executive Director of Undergraduate Admissions Blia Yang to determine how to apply a Math Index to first-year applicants who want to pursue math-intensive majors. The goal is twofold. First, we want to ensure that students will be able to succeed in their desired majors. Second, we seek to return the number of incoming students requiring pre-college math to a level that will allow the Math Department to prepare them for success while also fulfilling the other elements of its mission.

Systemwide Developments

Faculty Discipline: On Thursday, January 15, the Academic Assembly voted to approve new revisions to the Faculty Code of Conduct (APM 015) and University Policy on Faculty Conduct and the Administration of Discipline (APM 016). The history of the issue is complicated, but in simplified form can be related as follows. In late January 2025, the Board of Regents requested that the University undertake a comprehensive review of the policies and procedures governing the faculty disciplinary process. The Regents expressed displeasure over the time it took to resolve cases, criticized inconsistencies across the system, and voiced interest in centralizing the disciplinary process. A joint Senate-Administration Workgroup, whose leaders met periodically with a subset of the Regents, put forward proposed revisions in June 2025, which became effective as interim policy in Fall 2025. The interim policy included a proposal to establish a systemwide Network Privilege and Tenure (P&T) Committee that would take over cases if campus-based hearing committees could not be established within 14 calendar days of the disciplinary charge.

The interim policy then went out for systemwide review and was extensively criticized by Divisional Senates, including ours. Broadly speaking, faculty defended the campus-based disciplinary process, pointed to logistical problems with some of the proposed changes, and voiced concerns related to academic freedom, free speech, and shared governance. An updated version of the revisions was then presented in response to Senate feedback, which is what Academic Assembly approved. Instead of a systemwide Network P&T Committee, the UC will establish a Reserve Pool composed of faculty with the experience and knowledge necessary to conduct a P&T hearings.

The end result is regarded by our systemwide Senate leadership as a significant win for shared governance – a view that I share. In addition to retaining local control of the disciplinary process, the new policy will also help to protect faculty from inordinately long investigations. Henceforth, the administration will have to complete any investigation of an alleged policy violation and bring charges to the Committee on Privilege and Tenure within roughly six months of the reported violation. This has not always been the case on our campus.

Bargaining Updates: UC is actively bargaining with UAW on new systemwide staff contracts for Research and Public Service Professionals (RPSP) and Student Services and Advising Professionals (SSAP). UC and UAW are also actively bargaining a successor agreement for the Academic Student Employees and Graduate Student Researchers (BX/BR bargaining unit). Bargaining continues through January. On January 12, UAW announced a strike authorization vote commencing February 5 through 13. We are actively monitoring these developments and impacts to academic and instructional continuity if negotiations stall after January. I encourage you to review UC’s labor news and bargaining updates to stay informed and also to attend our upcoming budget town hall.

Upcoming Senate Events and Reminders

Academic Senate Town Hall on the Budget: The Senate is hosting a virtual town hall on Monday, January 26 from 10:30 a.m. to noon with Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla to discuss the financial challenges we are facing as a campus. Chancellor Khosla and Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Budget Operations Mercedes Muñoz will review our current and forecasted fiscal situation and offer an update on campus budget plans. Executive Vice Chancellor Elizabeth Simmons, Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences John Carethers, and Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences Meenakshi Wadhwa will provide updates on how the FY26 budget cuts impacted their respective areas and planning for next fiscal year. Following their presentations, we will open the floor for questions. Register here using an authenticated UCSD Zoom account (ucsd.edu email address). You may submit a question for the town hall when you register or during the event; we will do our best to get to as many as possible.

Lunch at the Faculty Club: Our Winter Quarter lunch at the Faculty Club will take place on Wednesday, February 11, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. We especially encourage assistant professors to join us. Sign up soon, as spaces are limited.

Happy Hour at the Faculty Club: Please join us for Happy Hour at the Faculty Club on March 19 from 4:30-6:00 p.m. The last event was great fun, and we are hoping for an even larger turnout this time around. Drop by to unwind and bring your friends and colleagues along. No sign up required.

Faculty Coffee Chat: Our Winter Quarter Faculty Coffee Chat on Academic Personnel will feature Phil Roeder and Christina Schneider, both from Political Science. Professor Roeder, who co-chaired the Senate-Administration Workgroup on Academic Peer Review Process, will present on the report’s findings and recommendations. Professor Schneider, who is currently serving as Chair of the Committee on Academic Personnel (CAP), will speak about the importance of peer review and address common misunderstandings and frustrations with the process. All those who hope to better understand the academic review process are strongly encouraged to attend. A notification will be sent out once the date and time are finalized.

We are fast approaching February 2, the deadline to submit nominations for the Academic Senate’s Distinguished Teaching Awards. Please take the time to complete submissions for your dedicated colleagues who excel in the classroom. In addition to the Distinguished Teaching Award for Senate members, the Committee on Senate Awards also reviews nominations for the Barbara and Paul Saltman Distinguished Teaching Award for Non-Senate Members and the Barbara and Paul Saltman Excellent Teaching Award for Graduate Students. Please consult this announcement for further details.

The Academic Senate’s Donald F. Tuzin Distinguished Service Awards recognizes colleagues whose exceptional leadership and exemplary service have advanced the success and academic excellence of UC San Diego and the broader community. All Senate faculty are invited to attend the 2025-2026 Donald F. Tuzin Distinguished Service Award Ceremony on March 2 from 3-5 p.m. to honor this year’s recipients, Professor Olivia A. Graeve and Professor Emeritus Robert Horwitz. RSVP here.

Other Announcements

Emeriti Association: If you are retiring or are retired, please consider remaining a part of the campus community by becoming a member of the UCSD Emeriti Association. It provides an opportunity to maintain contact with colleagues via various social and intellectual activities, including a lecture series and book club, and to continue supporting students via mentorship opportunities. The Emeriti Association also determines recipients of the prestigious Dickson Award and nominates people for the systemwide Panunzio Award. If you have any questions, please reach out to emeriti@ucsd.edu.

Annual Future of Academic Affairs Forum: The EVC’s Office will be hosting its Annual Future of Academic Affairs Forum on January 29 from 9:30-11:00 a.m. Topics to be addressed include: efforts to make course materials more affordable for students; strategies for supporting students experiencing academic difficulties; the creation of a statewide testing center network; and faculty career advancement and leadership development. You can register at the linked webpage above.

Vice Chair Akos Rona-Tas and I have enjoyed our visits to departments and are eager to do more. Please encourage your Chair to reachout if you would like us to come to one of your department meetings. In terms of hearing faculty’s perspectives and understanding how the myriad issues facing our campus affect different schools and departments, there really is no better forum.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading — and for all that you do!

Rebecca Jo Plant
Chair, Academic Senate, San Diego Division