Launched in June 2023, the Sustaining Teaching and Research Task Force, or START, will assess challenges, prioritize strategies and recommend specific actions to bring about substantive improvements to our education, research and service models, thereby enhancing our ability to fulfill our mission at the highest levels of achievement.

The Future of Graduate Education Committee will assess current and future challenges in providing excellent graduate education; develop new education and enrollment models; and improve the structure and funding models for graduate students, department-based graduate programs, and graduate groups.

The committee's members are:

• Co-Chairs
• Jean-Pierre Delplanque, Vice Provost and Dean, Graduate Studies
  Cynthia Schumann, Professor, Cell Biology and Human Anatomy
• Members
• Erum Abbasi Syed (Staff), Executive Assistant Dean, Graduate Studies
  Alisha Bartolomucci, Graduate Staff Advisor, Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology
  Michael Brown (Ex-Officio), Past Provost and Executive Vice President, UC Office of the President
  Richard Corsi, Dean, College of Engineering
  Janet Foley, Professor and Agronomist, Medicine and Epidemiology
  Ben Rui-Lin Fong, President, Graduate Student Association
  Brian Gaylord, Professor, Evolution and Ecology
  Pamela Jennings, Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, UC Office of the President
  Jim Kelly, Executive Assistant Dean, College of Letters and Science
  Anita Oberbauer, Distinguished Professor and Executive Associate Dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
  Nicole Rabaud, Executive Director, Student and Postdoctoral Support
  Jeffrey Schank, Chair, Graduate Council
  Rao Unnava, Dean, Graduate School of Management
  Michael Ziser, Associate Professor, English

Working Groups

The Future of Graduate Education Committee has formed working groups that will focus on specific topics and address the full range of questions submitted to START. The working groups, their conveners, and members are:

• Graduate Education Financial Support
• Convener: 
  Jean-Pierre Delplanque, Vice Provost and Dean, Graduate Studies
  Members:
  Alisha Bartolomucci, Graduate Staff Advisor, Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology
  Rachel Chen, Professor, Graduate School of Management
  Jasmine Durias Bonite, Director of Policy and Programs, Graduate Studies
  Eleonora Grandi, Professor and Chair, Biophysics Graduate Group
  Beth Greenwood, Associate Dean for International Programs and Director of LL.M. Programs, School of Law
  Jim Kelly, Executive Assistant Dean, College of Letters and Science
  Jeffrey Schank, Chair, Graduate Council
  Rao Unnava, Dean, Graduate School of Management
• Graduate Groups
• Convener:
  Cynthia Schumann, Professor, Cell Biology and Human Anatomy
  Members:
  Janet Foley, Professor and Agronomist, Medicine and Epidemiology
  Anita Oberbauer, Distinguished Professor and Executive Associate Dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
  Nicole Rabaud, Executive Director, Student and Postdoctoral Support
  Woutrina Smith, Professor, Agronomist, and Associate Dean for Global Programs, School of Veterinary Medicine
  Dean Tantillo, Professor, Chemistry
  Duncan Temple Lang, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Graduate Studies
  Michael Ziser, Associate Professor, English
• Doctoral Enrollment
• Conveners:
  Jean-Pierre Delplanque, Vice Provost and Dean, Graduate Studies
  Cynthia Schumann, Professor, Cell Biology and Human Anatomy
  Members:
  Aldrin Gomes, Professor, Neurology, Physiology, and Behavior
  Steven Albrecht, Director, Student Financial Support, Graduate Studies
  Richard Corsi, Dean, College of Engineering
  Ben Rui-Lin Fong, President, Graduate Student Association
  Brian Gaylord, Professor, Evolution and Ecology
  Ellen Hartigan-O'Connor, Associate Dean for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars, Graduate Studies
  Pamela Jennings, Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, UC Office of the President
  Erich Muehlegger, Professor, Economics
  Menesh Patel, Professor, School of Law