Dear Colleagues,
 
Welcome to the fall quarter of the 2024-25 academic year. I hope the summer provided you with opportunities to engage in activities you enjoy and that you had time to recharge. I echo Chancellor May’s excitement in his fall welcome. I am elated to see our faculty and students return to campus.
 
Leadership Updates
I am very happy to share that we officially welcomed Tom Smith as dean of the School of Education on June 1 and Jessica Berg as dean of the School of Law on September 1. William Garrity was named University Librarian and Vice Provost of Digital Scholarship in May after serving as interim in the role for nearly a year. We are continuing the recruitment process for a new dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and I am very grateful that Helene Dillard agreed to continue leading CA&ES as its dean until her successor arrives.
 
I also welcome Kadee Russ, professor of economics, to her new role as chair of the Davis Division of the Academic Senate, and Daniel Potter, professor and chair of the Department of Plant Sciences, as vice chair. My sincere thanks to Ahmet Palazoglu, distinguished professor of chemical engineering, for his time as Academic Senate Chair over the last two years. I congratulate him on his new role as vice chair of the UC Systemwide Academic Senate.
 
Progress on START and Upcoming Town Halls
In my update in June, I shared that the Student Success and Equitable Outcomes Task Force delivered its recommendations, and that outstanding items are being transferred to members of the Sustaining Teaching and Research Task Force (START). START committees continued to meet over the summer, and several are now preparing recommendations for consideration.
 
On the START website, you can review task force, committee and working group members, submit your feedback and ideas, and learn about the recommendation review process. As you will note, recommendations will, when appropriate, go through the Academic Senate’s Request for Consultation process. Once a committee’s recommendation is approved by the task force and me, it will be posted on the START website for review and feedback.
 
I want to acknowledge the energy, creativity and determination of the START Task Force, committees and working groups. Many of those involved worked through the summer to maintain momentum and advance solutions to the issues identified by our faculty and staff. You will have the opportunity to learn more from committee co-chairs during four virtual START town halls this fall. You can register via the Zoom links sent to your UC Davis email. I hope you will join us.
 
In early 2025, look for a second town hall hosted by the Increasing Our Research Excellence Committee and a first town hall with the Improving Campus Support Services Committee. Details on those events will be sent out once they are finalized.
 
Campus Budget
We shared updates on the budget in April, June and July, communications that can be found on the Budget Framework webpage. I am very grateful to all of you for the dedication you continue to demonstrate to upholding our critical education, research and service activities at UC Davis. I recognize the difficulties that compounded budget reductions represent for our programs, operations and our morale. The decisions we have to make around budgeting at every level are neither simple nor easy. Unfortunately, the state cannot fund the university to the extent that it could in the past. We must evolve and operate more efficiently by prioritizing activities and identifying potential opportunities for generating new streams of revenue to address our core funds deficit and balance our budget.
 
Free Speech 
I invite you to visit our Free Speech website and review its resources for students, faculty and staff. You’ll find policies and resources there related to freedom of speech and political statements. The website hosts important information, including links to relevant federal and state laws, UC Davis’s policy and guidelines, and a recently adopted UC Board of Regents policy on discretionary statements from academic departments. 
 
Support Resources
I want to share a reminder of the many campus resources available to our faculty, staff and students. We are all doing our best to juggle responsibilities at work, at school and in our personal lives. Similarly, we often don’t know the challenges others are facing, so please give yourself and one another grace, and please be patient and kind. You can reach out anytime to the Academic and Staff Assistance Program (ASAP) for mental health support and the Ombuds Office for assistance with problem-solving and conflict management.

If you interact with a student who needs mental health support, please guide them to the Aggie Mental Health website. Should they need other resources, such as housing, food or financial assistance, Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center is ready to help. Additionally, Health 34’s mobile unit is available 24/7 to assist during non-emergent situations with mental health and medical support.

Thank you again for dedicating your time to teaching, research and public service. UC Davis continues to be recognized as one of the best public universities in the nation because of all you do. There is so much we can achieve when we work together. Go Ags!
 
All the best,
Mary

Mary Croughan
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor