University of California San Francisco

Summer 2021 - Issue 7

Chair Majumdar’s Remarks

Dear Academic Senate Colleagues, Senate Staff and UCSF leaders

I write this last missive as Academic Senate Chair to express my gratitude to all of you for your participation in Senate activities, your collaboration and of course, your support. I came into the Chair role not anticipating the pandemic and the immense flurry of issues of supreme importance to all our missions that we would have to face. Indeed, it goes without saying that both our society and institutions are under stress and influx as we respond to the tremendous changes in the world that we live in. I can say without a doubt we have all learned an amazing amount - about our abilities, resilience, and most of all, the extraordinary engagement that senate faculty can have, and have had, in the shared governance of our great institution over these past two years.

With your participation and help, we have accomplished a great deal [INSERT LINK TO ‘Committee Achievements for 2020-2021 Academic Year’ IN NEWSLETTER]. The last year of my term has been characterized by Senate efforts to combat institutional racism, an enduring pandemic; and ongoing concerns about UC systemwide inequities between ‘Senate’ (e.g., Clinical X, In-Residence, Ladder-Rank) and non-Senate faculty (e.g. Adjunct, HS Clinical). Although all faculty are part of the UCSF Academic Senate¹, we have long endeavored to address these inequities. These systemwide differences do have bearing, and directly and indirectly affect UCSF faculty in a multitude of ways. Indeed, consistent with ‘Disrupting the Status Quo,’ a September 2020 special report from UCOP’s UC Health Sciences Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force, we have noted both locally and at the systemwide level that under-represented minority and women faculty are over-represented in the non-Senate series.  At the systemwide level, the UCSF Senate was successful in raising these issues to the systemwide Academic Council, and received an agreement to form a Task Force to address this.

The diversity and equity issues of faculty are of core importance at UCSF and our leadership and will remain a focus for the ensuing years, and I am sure our new Chair and Vice Chair will be closely associated with UCSF leadership to forge changes. Indeed, UCSF has used all academic series to appoint URM faculty, and in doing so, promoted greater diversity on campus. That said, we have advocated for a number of actions at the systemwide Senate’s Academic Council, which are consistent with efforts of UCSF’s leadership and the Division, in order to improve diversity in the Senate series. These include, but are not limited to:

1. Increasing Change-in-Series (CIS) Actions:  When appropriate, Health Sciences divisions should be encouraged to work with their local administration, School Deans, and department chairs to encourage appropriate CIS actions.
2. CIS Search Waiver:  Support and encourage departments to utilize the new search waiver when initiating CIS actions for faculty moving to a Senate series, as long as the employee’s original search included the Senate series for which they are now being proposed (regardless of rank). Such CIS actions may be processed without conducting a new search, and instead an indefinite search waiver may be processed by the VPAA (Academic Recruitment Specialist).
3. Outreach:  Related to the above recommendation, outreach to individuals who may have been placed in a series that is not the best fit may be appropriate at times.
4. Education:  It is emphasized that all criteria for the series be explained to the incumbent, throughout their career. Academic requirements are usually well articulated but criteria for appointment, departmental policies with regards to finances, etc. should also be provided.
5. Academic School Dean Input on New Appointments:  Departments should be encouraged and supported to reach out to their respective academic deans for input on the most appropriate series for new faculty appointments.

While somewhat distinct from the issues articulated above, the UCSF Senate has also been keen to expand shared governance for clinicians both locally and across the UC. Beginning during the term of my predecessor, David Teitel, UCSF established and hosted an ad-hoc systemwide Clinical Affairs Advisory Group (CAAG), which was envisaged as a precursor to a formal systemwide clinical affairs committee, and largely fashioned upon our Divisional Clinical Affairs Committee. For the past couple of years, the CAAG has been tirelessly led by in-coming CAP Chair Steve Hetts, who has recently also been appointed as our Divisional Vice Chair [INSERT LINK TO LEADERSHIP STORY]. On that score, I am pleased to report that we reached an agreement with both systemwide Senate Chair Mary Gauvain and UC Health Executive Vice President Carrie Byington to establish a UC Health Special Committee on Health Sciences and Clinical Affairs, which will begin meeting soon. Locally, the Senate has supported and maintains communications with a UCSF Physician Engagement Representation Work Group, a grass-roots group created by clinicians and health practitioners who desire greater collaboration and shared governance with UCSF Health. Both groups will, among other things, facilitate fora for faculty engagement and input, particularly for those faculty who are not part of the systemwide Academic Senate, and thus, have no formal governance structure. Indeed, the significant percentage of URM faculty in the Adjunct and HS Clinical series was a major driver in our efforts  in this area. Relatedly, I am quite proud of our Executive Council, which recently strongly endorsed the recommendations of the UCSF Task Force on Equity and Anti-Racism in Research [INSERT LINK TO ‘Anti-Racism In Research’ IN NEWSLETTER].

The impact of the pandemic on our faculty has received considerable attention at UCSF, with many efforts by our leadership providing grants supporting faculty and staff during this time. Our Committee on Faculty Welfare (CFW) has been a leader on this front. With respect to direct support to faculty, CFW secured funding from the Senate’s $500K Chancellor’s Fund for COVID Relief Awards of $500 to faculty who have suffered in various ways during the pandemic. Originally offered in the spring, we are reopening this fund for additional grants this fall. However, the impact of COVID 19 is likely to plague us for a much longer term, and with this in mind, CFW advocated for, and was successful in establishing a special Joint Senate-Administrative COVID Faculty Support Committee. This group has just begun meeting, and will partner with EVCP Lowenstein to address COVID’s disparate deleterious impacts across academic personnel advancement and promotion, research, teaching, and broad faculty support. Relatedly, I continue to serve on the systemwide Committee on Mitigating Covid-19 Impacts on Faculty, which will in part inform the recommendations coming out of our local group.

We, as a Senate, have also engaged actively in several other issues over the past two years, including affiliations with healthcare providers, IT security, Human Resources, the Zakheim Murals, and many more. Despite our active engagement and rapid response, not all of these topics are fully addressed. Many, if not all, of these issues will no doubt be part of the next Chair’s term and agenda.

As my partner in this two-year adventure, I thank all of you for your engagement, without which, this would not have been possible. Last, but really not the least, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Todd Giedt, our Director, and his able staff, who were the only reason we as a Division were as effective and responsive as we have been. With that, I leave you in the most capable hands of Steven Cheung to continue to participate in the unique partnership we have with our leadership and Administration in this unique model of Shared Governance.

1 See UCSF Academic Bylaws Appendix IX, Standing Rule 1.0 & 1.1.

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Interview with Incoming UCSF Divisional Academic Senate Chair Steven W. Cheung

Steven W. Cheung, MD, Professor, Department of Otolaryngology learned early in life to look for ways to make a difference in matters where we can act. As incoming Chair of the San Francisco Division of the University of California Academic Senate, Dr. Steven Cheung approaches this new role as a continuation of his lifetime of engagement. Drawing upon his experiences as an under-represented minority (URM), one of his goals as Chair of the UCSF Senate is to support URM and dependent-caregiver faculty and campus-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Early Life Experience
Steve Cheung grew up on the lower east side of Manhattan after his grandfather petitioned for the family to emigrate from British Hong Kong to the United States. It was a difficult time to be growing up in New York City in the 1970s. It often felt like “being in a fox hole” with the pervasive sense of economic suffering and crime on the rise during the oil crisis. Living in public housing, Steve learned to be scrappy. He would help his family by earning money working odd jobs, washing dishes at restaurants, cutting pipes for plumbing, or bagging garments.

Reflecting on the anti-Asian racism he encountered at that time, Steve said it has been painful to see its resurgence coupled with violence. Recently, while outside the clinic at Mt. Zion, he was called the same racial slur that he used to hear on the streets of New York more than forty years ago. “It seems that it never went away, that it just resurfaced.”

He said he sees an opportunity for the campus to expand its role addressing racism. Rather than programs and initiatives that react to events, the campus could make a broader and more proactive effort to combat racism and promote civility.

Education & Training
Steve knew he was interested in research when he enrolled at Dartmouth College. He started his scientific education studying physical chemistry, particularly bulk properties. While some of his classmates were drawn to investigate reductionist problems, Steve wanted to understand whole systems which lead him to study thermodynamics and ultimately brain function.

Dartmouth in the 1980s provided him with both an excellent academic and a social education. Steve recalls that Asian students accounted for less than .05% of the population (6 in a class of 1062).

Steve found his time attending University of Pennsylvania Medical School to be an exceptionally tough experience. With a background in the physical sciences, Steve observed that the instructors in medicine at the time were not at all quantitative. “This influenced why I left medicinal chemistry-related sciences in search of equation-filled physiological disciplines.”

His first foray into neuroscience began in medical school when he studied histology under Louis Barkhouse Flexner,¹ who pioneered biochemistry of memory in the brain. Steve struggled during the basic science years, but Flexner encouraged him. Flexner graduated near the bottom of his class at Hopkins and told Steve that distinction never got in the way of success. Steve then spent 9 months in the auditory lab with the support of the department chair, and, as a trainee without funding, was amazed when the department paid for him to travel to an academic meeting. This experience impressed upon Steve the importance of departmental support, particularly funding career development opportunities, for students and trainees.

At Parnassus, Steve’s training involved two years of general surgery as an intern and resident, four years in otolaryngology as a resident, and an additional year as a clinical fellow. During the fellowship, Steve connected with his main research mentor Michael M. Merzenich, PhD Professor Emeritus of Otolaryngology. This launched his research career in the direction of “brain plasticity” and Steve has continued to investigate the mechanisms by which the adult brain can change with learning and experience. Merzenich taught his fellows not to be too fearful of failure, an approach which has long aided Steve in how scientific inquiries are explored. “Mike made progress because he was not paralyzed by the last one percent of the evidence.”

Steve was hired by UCSF and -- after an initial success with an NIH grant -- changed series from adjunct to in residence. While academic achievement continued, after having children, his career began to slow down. He noticed that institutional support for caregivers was lacking. The climate today is much more supportive for faculty with caregiving responsibilities than three decades ago.

“It has been a positive structural change. We have a much healthier view of faculty.” Today there are opportunity grants and transfer funds available to struggling faculty. However, that doesn’t mean the Senate shouldn’t continue to be a force for change. Steve recognizes that deceleration is a painful experience for any member of the faculty. The Senate will continue to discuss with leadership about promoting and developing a culture of support.

Steve said he feels strongly that senior faculty have a duty to look after those junior faculty who are struggling and to provide support. Senior faculty can help junior faculty during this critical stage in their career by helping identify smaller, executable projects that will springboard to extramural funding.

The role of mentors continued to be a vital aspect of Steve’s career. Steve was influenced by Lawrence H. Pitts, MD Professor Emeritus of Neurosurgery, who was willing to train and view Steve as a mentee. Pitts served as UCSF Academic Senate Chair from 1999-2001 and UC Provost from 2009-2012. Pitts’ dedication to the Academic Senate sparked Steve’s curiosity and led to his participation with the UCSF Divisional and systemwide Senate.

Senate Service
Steve said he views his career as both an academic in a medical school, and as an engaged participant in the governance of a great university. “Being part of the Senate is one vehicle to be a part of this great University.” He expressed passion about working with people across departments and schools and participating in systemwide discussions with people from different campuses.

Steve served on the Committee on Academic Planning and Budgeting during a time when the University was facing fiscal distress due to the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession. That experience gave Steve insight into “the gears that keep the University running financially.” He learned about funding relationships among the UC Office of the President, the campuses, and the University of California Retirement Plan.

On Senate committee service Steve has been undaunted by disagreement and loves to hear other viewpoints, believing in the power of rational discourse. On all committees, members learn the mechanics, context, and materials relevant to a particular area of university governance and contribute to develop real-time solutions to situations affecting faculty. The chair of each committee has a fair amount of responsibility to ensure that the committee is engaged and responsive to faculty needs.

Steve described his time on the Committee on Faculty Welfare (CFW) as highly impactful. In particular, he is proud of the accomplishments of CFW as much of its work addressed issues for caregivers and childcare. Still, there is more work to be done. He said he would like to see Senate committees consider salary scales and examine equity within and across the departments and schools.

Embarking on Senate Service
Asked what advice he would give to a junior colleague interested in Senate service, Steve said the faculty member should answer two questions: “First, what am I passionate about? Second, is this commitment realistic?”

Early in his Senate career, Steve joined a committee at the insistence of his department chair despite having “no idea” about the context of that committee. “I was a terrible member!” he confessed. Senate engagement and committee contributions, Steve has learned, improve greatly when you have members who self-select based on their own interest and capacity.

During his time as Chair of the Committee on Committees, the Senate introduced the use of new technological platform to communicate with faculty during the committee recruitment and appointment process. “The process has improved greatly”, according to Steve, with the Call for Service initiated by the Senate Committee on Committees and the use of the Senate Service Portal.

Views on Shared Governance
Steve remarked that UC’s model of shared governance is the envy of many faculty outside the academic system. That said, Steve admitted that “shared governance is not easy. Some may even call it inefficient. By-and-large you get a much better decision at the end of it.”

For example, in the face of economic uncertainty or fiscal constraints, it remains very important to have faculty engaged in discussions about changes to compensation.

Steve expressed sensitivity to the idea that Senate goals must be at once aspiration and realistic for Senate representation to have a meaningful effect on shared governance. “When we take positions that are not at all practical or not at all acceptable, our influence diminishes.”

Concerns for UC
As California recovers from the pandemic, there will be much brighter days ahead. Steve said he is optimistic about the future of shared governance under the leadership of UC President Drake.

Steve said he foresees a much greater voice for our clinicians with Steve Hetts, MD, serving as UCSF Academic Senate Vice Chair. He hopes to see UCSF continue to advocate for engagement on the clinical side, especially as UC Health grows. While the Senate does not have purview over UC Health, “it is in our ethos to represent our faculty interests.”

Still, he said he does have his concerns about critical issues facing UC, especially about divestment from higher education, access, and admissions policies.

While UC has been successful despite divestment, Steve is of the opinion that the state legislature and The Regents should reexamine what the University achieves as an engine of economic mobility within California. “It takes commitment by all parties to embrace shared governance as the vehicle to work together and find nuanced solutions to the challenges we face,” Steve advised.

Steve said he sees the issue of admissions policies at UC as fundamental to faculty interest and shared governance. Concerned that instructors could be responsible for remedial education – instruction that should have been mastered at the high school level – he said he is worried about faculty retention and the University’s mission.

“Access to higher education is intertwined with funding. California is growing. However, UC enrollment is hindered because the staff and faculty are overburdened. These issues impact opportunities particularly for the low-income students.”

Goals as Senate Divisional Chair
Steve’s overarching objective as Chair of the UCSF Academic Senate will be the advancement of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). He said he sees this is a multi-dimensional project. It can be about space. It can be about hiring. It can be about retention. It can be about access.

Steve said he supports the work being done by the schools and the Chancellor and does not think the Senate should have its own initiative considering its fixed resources. Rather, the Senate should be supportive of the campus initiatives and engaged in discussions around DEI.

“Now is the time to talk about work life issues, and particularly the disproportional effect of the pandemic on URM faculty and those with dependent caregiving responsibilities,” Steve said. Working with the Vice Provost of Academic Affairs and the Chancellor, the Senate aims to be persuasive in favor of redirecting and prioritizing the budget to help faculty in those transitions.

¹ Louis Barkhouse Flexner was the grandson of the Abraham Flexner author of the Flexner Report which greatly influenced medical education in the United Stated with its publication in 1910.

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Committee Highlights of 2020-2021

In any given year, the Senate’s sixteen different faculty-led committees and four school councils conduct a myriad of business that addresses concerns brought forth by individual faculty, and those issues already pressing and known. The below highlights speak to key areas of interest to faculty this past academic year.

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Anti-Racism Efforts

The UCSF Academic Senate recently approved with overwhelming endorsement the recommendations of the UCSF Task Force on Equity and Anti-Racism in Research. The Task Force was charted in December 2020 by EVCP Daniel Lowenstein with the purpose of developing recommendations for UCSF to implement with a specific focus on anti-Black racism. The group further worked on behalf of the Office of Research to align, amplify, and endorse other anti-racism and equity initiatives that were in process across the UCSF Research and campus community. The Task Force was comprised of 24 deeply committed individuals from across the UCSF community and led by a core group of 5 faculty members who were instrumental in developing the Proposal for the UCSF Research Response to Racism, including Co-Chair Monica McLemore: “There is a great need to move beyond statements and platitudes, toward real action and investment. It is necessary to acknowledge that we will not shift the intergenerational impacts of racism over the last 400 years without bold vision and courage. I look forward to engaging in accountable anti-racism work at UCSF.”

At its July 2021 Executive Council meeting, Task Force Co-Chairs Monica McLemore, Tung Nguyen, and Sun Cotter provided the Senate with a comprehensive summary of the group’s activities and outlined four urgent top-line recommendations for UCSF

1. Establishing an accountability system for ongoing implementation and sustained progress on anti-racism and equity goals for UCSF research;
2. Promote & support UCSF anti-racism Scholarship;
3. Diversity UCSF Research Workforce; and
4. Support for Community Engaged Research Infrastructure. Reflecting on his work with the Task Force, Co-Chair Tung Nguyen shared, “We are at an inflection point in this country and at UCSF when it comes to race, racism, and equity in research. It’s been gratifying to work with the Task Force to identify solutions with the support of institutional leaders. It is time to implement them—our patients, staff, faculty, trainees, and communities deserve no less.”

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In-coming Senate Leadership

Every two years, starting September 1, 2021, the UCSF Academic Senate leadership changes. This upcoming September, the new Senate Divisional Chair is Steven Cheung, MD, and incoming Vice Chair is Steve Hetts, MD. The Senate’s Secretary remains Pamela Ling, MD and incoming Parliamentarian is Kathy Yang, PharmD. The Senate thanks exiting Chair Sharmila Majumdar, PhD, for her superb leadership and looks forward to working with faculty leaders in the upcoming academic year.

• Each fall the UCSF Academic Senate receives $500k from the Chancellor's Office to put towards faculty life. This is usually divided between direct transfers -- to support Childcare Services or the Anti-Racism Initiative -- or as direct awards to faculty for specific projects or travel awards. This past academic year, the Senate also offered COVID Relief Awards of $500 to faculty who applied.
• During the 2020-2021 academic year, the Senate received less requests than usual. As such, we're offering a second round of awards with the Call for Applications being launched September 1, 2021.
• It will remain open until October 1, 2021. Committees will review and award within October/November 2021. All remaining funds will be released to faculty awardees within December 2021. For more information about the respective awards available to faculty, please review the Academic Senate's Chancellor's Fund webpage.
• If you're a faculty member who was awarded during the spring 2021 cycle, and you've still not provided us with your COA information, please provide and we'll transfer funds promptly.

Commencing in August 2021, the Academic Senate has convened a COVID Faculty Support Committee which will discuss a myriad of topics during the upcoming academic year to resolve COVID-related issues that have arisen for faculty, both known and currently unknown. With faculty representatives from all schools and numerous divisions as well as campus administrators, the committee with focus at the start on insuring no disruption in faculty academic personnel matters involving advancement and promotion, as well as examining in detail the impact on URM and female faculty of the work-from-home/quarantine situation. Faculty interested in having a particular topic examined can route their concerns to Executive Director Todd Giedt (todd.giedt@ucsf.edu <mailto:todd.giedt@ucsf.edu> ) to insure it is on the agenda.

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Created by UC Board of Regents Standing Order 105, the UC San Francisco (UCSF) Academic Senate is empowered to exercise direct control over such academic matters as admissions for degrees and curricula, which are of central importance to the University. The UCSF Division of Academic Senate provides an independent forum to discuss faculty-related campus wide academic concerns. In other areas, the Senate exercises an active advisory role. The Academic Senate works within the larger body of UCSF, a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

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