Responding to Faculty Needs: Changes in the Senate’s Chancellor’s Funds
The UCSF Division of the Academic Senate is pleased to announce its 2019 Senate’s Chancellor’s Funds Awards are open for application as of January 22, 2019.
Since 2015, Chancellor Hawgood has provided $500K, generally known as the Senate’s Chancellor’s Funds, to the UCSF Academic Senate to use in support of faculty. These funds are derived from the Campus Core Fund and are generated from a portion of assessments on gifts and endowments. They are intended to be renewed annually and expended within the fiscal year in which they are awarded.
Since its creation, these funds have been split between funding pre-existing campus units and sourcing individual faculty awards. Some examples of campus units the Senate has funded include emergency backup child, elder, and dependent care, open access/open science fund, and the Healthforce Center to fund two cohorts of C-Flex.
The individual awards have typically been divided into four pathways:
- Community Service & Volunteering - reimbursing faculty for non-academic, non-clinical volunteering efforts in the community.
- Enrichment Awards – funding non-academic items or opportunities, such as software or training in public speaking.
- Learning & Development Awards – funding academic opportunities for individual faculty that will directly benefit their School, Department, or Division, including “train the trainer” initiatives. Some School Faculty Councils also support travel within this pathway for attendance at conferences; check with your respective Faculty Council to verify.
- Travel Grants – registration and travel (flight/hotel) funds for faculty giving presentations at conferences (Education Curriculum- or Research-focused)
Because of the great interest of the faculty in support of their academic travel, the Senate has allocated a larger proportion of the funds to travel grants and have added support for elder, child, or dependent care costs during the conference, and a second round of funding, to cover conferences in the fall.
For all conference travel grants, a presentation must be given. Travel grant award opportunities include the following:
- Education curriculum-focused Travel Grants
- Approved through the Committee on Educational Policy.
- Research-focused Travel Grants
- Approved through the Committee on Research.
- Dependent Care Faculty Travel Grants [not open to SOM Faculty]
- Approved through the Committee on Faculty Welfare.
- Covers child, elder or dependent care for faculty giving podium presentations at a conference.
- The Senate has provided the SOM portion to that School’s Dean’s Office to cover additional faculty applying for that school’s Elder, Child, and Dependent Care Faculty Travel Awards .
- Fall Travel Grants (education curriculum, research, or clinical care conference training) – opens September 1, 2019.
- The Senate recognizes that travel grants offered in winter do not address the need for similar funds for conferences in the fall. This new opportunity provides funding for faculty in those situations.
The Academic Senate also emphasizes that Learning & Development Awards should support “train the trainer” opportunities wherever possible. In the past the Senate has sourced new mentorship programs within departments, as well as diversity trainings within the Schools through these awards. The Senate Office looks forward to supporting similar opportunities in 2019, and strongly encourages faculty to submit such applications via the Senate Service Portal (MyAccess single sign-on).
Under UC Regents Bylaw 40, the Academic Senate is empowered to exercise direct control over such academic matters as the conditions for admission, certificates, and degrees, and the supervision of all courses and curricula. In all other areas of University affairs, the Senate exercises an important advisory role. Its aims are to provide the faculty a structure in which to contribute to the governance of the University and a mechanism to ensure their advancement and well-being.
For more information on participating with the Academic Senate, please respond to our Call for Service. If you’d like additional information about any of the Senate’s Chancellor’s Funds, click here.