UC Davis Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan launched the Sustaining Teaching and Research Task Force, or START, in June to assess challenges, prioritize strategies, and recommend specific actions to bring about substantive and transformative improvements to our education, research and service models, thereby enhancing our ability to fulfill our mission at the highest levels of achievement.

Composed of academic, administrative and staff members from across campus, START will spend the next 18 to 24 months developing informed initiatives and action plans to reimagine how the campus can more effectively fulfill its education, research and service missions. Recommendations also will include new operating models that are financially sustainable and maintain or increase the campus’s commitment to excellence while attaining our goals. 

Professor Emeritus Michael T. Brown, who served as provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University of California from 2017 through 2022, will serve as convener for the task force. Prior to joining the UC Office of the President, he held several administrative positions during his 30 years at UC Santa Barbara and was a professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology. Brown also served as vice chair and chair of the systemwide Academic Senate, vice chair and chair of the Academic Senate’s Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools and was a faculty representative to the Board of Regents.

“I would like to thank the Academic Senate for their partnership and support and express my gratitude to Michael and members of this task force for stepping up to take on this important work,” Croughan said. “UC Davis is steeped in excellence across our departments, divisions, schools and colleges. We are a leader in social mobility and discovery, yet we can always improve. This task force will develop action plans that will meet challenges head on, fulfill our mission and achieve our goals in a financially sustainable manner.”    

START’s initial committees will focus on graduate education, undergraduate education, research, sustainable faculty workloads, facilities use and support services. Details on the committees can be found on the START webpage. 

START will complement the work of other campuswide groups, including the Revenue Generating and Institutional Savings Task Force and the Student Success and Equitable Outcomes Task Force. Members are serving as liaisons between the task forces, and all will support the group charged with preparing for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation visit in fall 2024.

Members of the UC Davis campus community are invited to submit specific issues of concern or topics you would like to see the task force address through an online form on the START webpage.

Updates on START’s progress will be shared with the campus on a monthly basis and quarterly town halls will be held for further input and insights.