April 2005

NOTES FROM THE ACADEMIC SENATE CHAIR

GEORGE BLUMENTHAL

Dear Colleagues,

 

Recent actions at the March 9 meeting of the Assembly mark important progress made this year in the Senate’s business and its focused initiatives. First of all, I am very pleased to announce the Assembly’s election of John Oakley, Professor of Law at UC Davis, as the 2005-06 Vice Chair of the Assembly. Professor Oakley, who is currently the Chair of the Universitywide Committee on Faculty Welfare (UCFW), will succeed to the Chair of the Assembly and of the Academic Council in AY 2006-07, and will be more fully introduced in our Senate publications at the beginning of next year. Next, a significant policy was put in place with the Assembly’s approval of a set of Guidelines that will provide future Senate leaders with direction on the Senate’s role in the academic and physical planning of a new UC campus, as well as regularizing the process for granting divisional status to a new campus. These guidelines and procedures are based on historical precedents set in the development of the San Diego, Irvine and Santa Cruz campuses, and draw heavily on the Senate’s more recent involvement in the planning for and establishment of UC Merced. Also approved by the Assembly this month were amendments to Senate Bylaw 336, which clarify the statute of limitations on initiating disciplinary cases. These bylaw changes are intended to avoid situations in which faculty would not have an adequate defense against charges for events that took place in the distant past. The change is effective immediately, and I have asked Divisional Chairs and the Office of the President to notify faculty and administrators of this change.

 

In the January Senate Source, I outlined the Academic Council’s proposal to introduce state legislation that we believe will help focus the attention of policy-makers on the critical importance of graduate education to California. Since then, the California State University (CSU) Senate has joined with UC in this effort, resulting in a joint draft Resolution on Graduate Education. At the March 9 meeting, the Assembly approved a supporting resolution that calls upon the Chair of the Senate and the President of the University to take whatever actions necessary to have this proposed legislation introduced in and passed by both houses during the 2005-06 legislative session. Recently, the CSU Senate leadership and I presented the joint resolution to key legislators in Sacramento, and I am optimistic of receiving a commitment of sponsorship soon.

 

With a large number of bills being introduced in the Legislature this year, the Senate office is gearing up for a busy legislative season that will continue into the summer. We will be soliciting comments from Senate members, submitting responses on proposed legislation that has an impact on UC faculty, students and curricula, and reporting on significant issues. One such item - the proposed amendment to the Education Code that would allow CSU the authority to independently grant doctoral degrees - is updated in this newsletter. We are also closely monitoring recent bills relating to public pension reform that would eliminate defined benefit programs for public employees, including UC employees, hired after July 2007. The Senate is opposed to this legislation and has submitted comments pointing out the financial health of the UCRS and its defined-benefit component, and the advantages of a defined benefit plan for recruitment and retention of quality faculty. In his recent testimony before the state Legislature, Gerald Parsky, Chairman of the UC Board of Regents emphasized the role our current plan plays in making UC competitive in the national labor market and the need for UC to have flexible compensation packages.

 

So far this year, the Academic Council has held lunchtime discussions with several UC Regents as a part of our monthly meetings. In February we had the pleasure of talking with both Student Regent Jodi Anderson and Student Regent-Designate Adam Rosenthal, whose interests reflected a full range of policy issues affecting students as well as the faculty, the staff and the university at large. I find these informal exchanges to be an effective and engaging way to hear the thoughts of individual Regents and to give them insight into the workings and views of the Senate. Visits with other members of the board are scheduled for the coming months. Also coming up is the biannual joint meeting between the Academic Council and the Council of Executive Vice Chancellors, which will be held on March 31. This agenda concentrates on two items: graduate education and diversity within the UC, and I will report on any significant outcome in the next newsletter.

 

As always, I am happy to hear your comments.

 

-George Blumenthal