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Academic Senate Newsletter

Winter 2024 | Issue 12

Call to Service Extended!

Apply by February 21 to serve on an Academic Senate committee

In This Edition

Message from the Chair

Steve Hetts

Vice Chancellor Federal Research Updates

New Landing Page and Virtual Town Hall on Feb 20



Faculty Voting Rights Update

UCSF Senate members voted in favor of two Memorials to the Regents

Spotlight: Clinical Excellence

Meet the winners of the 2024 Academic Senate Clinical Excellence Awards

Impact Stories: Senate Chancellor's Fund Awards

UCSF Writing Center Feasibility Study

Faculty Time Use Study

Funding & Award Opportunities

2025 Senate Chancellor's Fund Applications

Resource Allocation Program (RAP)

IMPACT Last Mile Grant Supplement

📣 Call to Service Extended for Academic Senate

Events & Other News

Research Virtual Town Hall

Campus Climate Survey

Career Accelerator Tool — Early Adopters Needed

Video: How to Nominate for University Awards

Message from the Chair

"The news from the past couple of weeks highlights the importance of shared governance at UCSF.

We find ourselves at a crucial juncture where your involvement is more important than ever."

—Chair Steve Hetts, MD

UCSF Faculty and Shared Governance Enthusiasts,  

As I take proverbial pen to paper for my message to faculty and consider the past couple of weeks, I am reminded of Helen Keller’s wisdom – “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” It goes without saying that the policy environment, in which we all live and work, is rapidly changing. In this spirit, the Senate’s Committee on Research (COR) is working closely with the UCSF Office of Research, and especially Hal Collard, Vice Chancellor of Research (VCR), to work through the flood of executive orders coming out of the White House impacting faculty research. These include a temporary pause in communications at NIH, CDC, and FDA, two executive orders on DEI (see here and here), a 90-day pause in United States foreign development assistance, and the pause, then rescission of that pause, on federal grants and loans. With respect to DEI, and as VCR Collard noted in a recent ReSearch ReSource newsletter, it is uncertain how these executive orders will be implemented by NIH and other federal agencies; we expect to gain clarity in the coming weeks. I would also direct you to the Office of Research’s Impacts of 2025 Federal Executive Orders and Directives landing page, which will be updated as new developments emerge. 

In this vein, the Academic Senate is proud to partner with the Office of Research on a Town Hall with VCR Harold Collard and Director of UCSF Federal Government Relations Eric Anthony on February 20 at 1 p.m. This virtual town hall will discuss federal support for biomedical and health research under the Trump Administration. Register for the virtual town hall here.  

I also echo the guidance from UCSF’s Chancellor’s Office: 

1. For federally funded domestic and international grants and contracts, UCSF principal investigators should continue their work.
2. If you receive any agency notification ordering a pause, termination, or modification of your work, immediately forward it to Hal Collard, Vice Chancellor of Research, at cgawardteam@ucsf.edu. Please do not respond directly to the agency. Vice Chancellor Collard and his team will work with you on the appropriate next steps. 
3. We encourage you to continue writing and submitting federal grants. Please work with your designated Office of Sponsored Research staff to confirm any sponsor updates or other requirements. 

The news from the past couple of weeks also highlights the importance of shared governance at UCSF. We find ourselves at a critical juncture where your involvement is more important than ever. We are calling on faculty members from all schools—Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nursing—to step forward and volunteer for the UCSF Academic Senate on one of our 18 faculty standing committees. By serving, you will not only advance your professional development but also make a tangible impact on policies and initiatives that affect our entire community. This service is recognized as a significant commitment to UCSF and is valued by our leadership. 

The Academic Senate, established in 1878, is the cornerstone of faculty governance at the University of California, providing a platform where your voice can shape critical decisions at UCSF and across the UC system. We need more faculty volunteers this year to ensure equitable representation and foster a diverse, inclusive academic environment. Your participation will help us respond to our faculty’s diverse needs, enhancing our ability to advance health through research, education, and clinical care. By volunteering, you will build valuable networks, gain insights from experienced mentors, and contribute to UCSF’s mission, ensuring our university remains a beacon of innovation, equity, and excellence. Your commitment will enrich your professional journey and leave a lasting legacy for future generations of UCSF faculty. 

To submit your interest in serving on a particular committee, please visit our Senate Service Portal. You can find a list of our committees with a brief description of each here. 

Vice Chancellor of Research Updates

Resources to Stay Informed

Faculty Voting Rights Memorials Update

UCSF Faculty Vote In Favor

The UCSF Academic Senate overwhelmingly approved two proposed Memorials to the UC Regents to expand Senate voting rights and membership to Health Sciences (HS) Clinical and Adjunct faculty series systemwide.

Now, other UC campuses are voting on each Memorial. If at least two more campuses that, together with UCSF, represent 35% of the UC Senate faculty, approve, they will be voted on by all Senate faculty systemwide for potential transmission to the Regents.

Learn More

Faculty Highlights

Meet Our 2024 Winners

School of Dentistry

Junior Faculty: Jean Star, DDS, MPH

Senior Faculty: Mona Bajestan, DDS, MS

Meet the Winners

School of Medicine

Junior Faculty: Lulu Tsao, MD

Senior Faculty: Patricia Chase, MD, MPH

Meet the Winners

School of Nursing

Junior Faculty: Anna Strewler, MS, AGNP-C

Senior Faculty: Chelsea Landolin, MS, PMHNP

Meet the Winners

School of Pharmacy

Junior Faculty: Rebecca Chung-Yan Leon, PharmD

Senior Faculty: Scott Fields, PharmD, and Samantha Valle-Oseguera, PharmD

Meet the Winners

Spotlight //

Writing Center Feasibility Study

The Writing Center Feasibility Study engaged the entire UCSF community through a campus survey, along with faculty focus groups, interviews, and peer research. These efforts are part of the larger Faculty Writing Support Project, led by the Committee on Library and Scholarly Communication (COLASC) and the UCSF Library.

"The Chancellor's Fund Award allowed us to address scholarly writing support on multiple fronts across the UCSF campus simultaneously."

— Julia Challinor, Chair

Committee on Library & Scholarly Communications

Writing Center Project Background

To facilitate equitable access to publication and grant writing and to improve scientific communication and dissemination, COLASC and the Library launched a writing services project with three components:

1. A Faculty Writing Support Fund, which provided financial support to faculty for writing, publication, and scholarly communication expenses in Spring 2023.  The Committee on Research has continued to sponsor the Faculty Writing Support Fund in subsequent years; applications for 2025 are now open.
2. Two online writing courses in Summer 2023, which were transformed into a CLE course for the UCSF community.
3. A feasibility study for a centralized writing center. The feasibility study was carried out by Nicole Williams, MSW, Writing Center Project Specialist. 

This project was funded by a UCSF Academic Senate Chancellor’s Fund award to COLASC.

"We knew there was a broad need for writing support. We were surprised to learn how much variability there is in the resources available (or not available) to meet that need." 

— Chris Shaffer, University Librarian

Assessing Writing Support Needs at UCSF

Nearly 900 faculty, students, post-docs, leaders, researchers, and staff participated in a UCSF-wide needs assessment survey, faculty focus groups, and more than 15 individual interviews.

Here's What We Learned:

• Many groups report lack of access to necessary writing support and were unaware of existing resources 
• UCSF is the only UC campus without a formal writing center for students
• There is distinctive need for scientific writing support
• Early career faculty and trainees face barriers to accessing writing support, including the hidden curriculum¹ of scientific writing 
• International, underrepresented, and first-generation academics have lower confidence in their language/writing skills and reported barriers 
• Most urgently needed services were 1:1 scientific editing/writing consultation and providing a single point of contact for finding help

What's Next?

• Share report with campus community – COMPLETE
• Present writing center business plan to leadership – IN-PROGRESS 
• EVCP Catherine Lucey Presentation (Fall 2024)
• EVCP and University Librarian present to Deans (Spring 2025)
• Internal Decision-Making  
• EVCP determines whether to proceed 
• Determine funding level and source(s) 
• Identifying managing unit and select business plan
• Further analysis of assessment findings, as needed

Read the full story to learn more about the proposed central writing center. Complete this short interest form to get updates on the writing center when they are available, including implementation decisions.  

¹ “Hidden curriculum” was defined by faculty focus group participants as the unwritten rules learned over time in academia.

"The Chancellor's Fund Award made it possible to conduct the feasibility study of a UCSF Writing Center, which can benefit all members of the UCSF community and support their scientific communication and dissemination. "

— Soo-Jeong Lee, Former Chair, Committee on Library & Scholarly Communications

Source: UCSF Photography Library / Faculty Time Use Study Task Force Member Sharon Youmans, PharmD, MPH, pictured here at a 2018 Diversity Retreat.

Addressing Invisible Work and Faculty Burnout

The Committee on Faculty Welfare, with support from the Senate's Chancellor's Fund, conducted a study to measure how faculty spend their time and the impact on burnout.

The study revealed that underrepresented faculty — particularly Black/African American and women-identified faculty — are performing unrecognized, undercompensated work that is critical to UCSF’s mission.

Based on study findings, the Academic Senate has created a Faculty Time Use Study Task Force to identify concrete actions capable of addressing the negative impact of invisible work on faculty well-being and retention.

This group will gather additional data as needed and propose actionable steps to address burnout and invisible work. The Task Force will be primarily composed of faculty members, with input from relevant administrators to ensure feasibility and impact.

Get Engaged

Request study materials, presentations, and more by getting in touch:

• Faculty Task Force Chair: jenny.liu2@ucsf.edu
• Academic Senate Staff: liz.greenwood@ucsf.edu

Funding & Award Opportunities

Call to Service Extended

Volunteering on an Academic Senate committee for 2 hours each month allows you to directly impact critical academic and university issues. The Academic Senate volunteer portal remains open for faculty interested in key issues impacting the University. While service on Senate committees is one way to fulfill a UCSF promotion requirement, it is much more for many faculty members.

If you are interested in key issues impacting the University and its faculty, please complete or resubmit a Call for Service survey on the Academic Senate’s Portal page.

While there is generally some turnover in all Senate standing committees, there are a significant number of openings for the following committees: Graduate Council, Committee on Research, Committee on Equal Opportunity, and Clinical Affairs Committee.

Events & Other News

February 20

Register for Virtual Research Town Hall

Focus: Federal support for biomedical and health research

Join Vice Chancellor Harold Collard and Director of UCSF Federal Government Relations Eric Anthony on February 20 at 1 p.m. for a virtual town hall to discuss federal support for biomedical and health research.

This will be an opportunity to learn what the active research issues are at the federal level and how UCSF engages with federal policymakers to advance the priorities of our community.

Seeking Early Adopters: New Career Mobility Tool

The UCSF Talent Marketplace is seeking employees who are proactive, and eager to explore new opportunities to participate in the pilot of our career mobility hub. This exciting new Learning and Organization Development tool connects UCSF teammates with internal projects and mentorships.

If you are interested in accelerating internal mobility for yourself or your colleagues, please fill out our Talent Marketplace Early Adopters interest form to get started! For more information, please visit the UCSF Talent Marketplace or email TalentMarketplace@ucsf.edu.