Successor to UCAD

Remember the unfortunately-named UCAD (UC Adaptation to Disruptions)? The disruptions to which the name referred weren't protests. They were fiscal disruptions caused by budget troubles related to the state and to the dispute with the feds.

According to an email circulated earlier today, UCAD is being followed with UCAD-Plus. (I guess they liked the name so much that it continues.)

...UCAD Plus will focus on strategies to maintain UC’s position as the nation’s leading research university in light of resource constraints. Building on UCAD’s interim report, the task force will prioritize recommendations for sustaining the research enterprise and restructuring and resizing academic programs that require coordinated Academic Senate and administrative action. The five primary focus areas are listed here with specific goals for each area identified below.

1. Research activities and infrastructure: Addressing both broad and targeted budget cuts and grant interruptions with a direct impact on UC’s research mission, as well as follow-on impacts on research infrastructure due to changes in IDC (Indirect Cost) rates.

2. Academic personnel evaluations: Assessing how changes in the research funding landscape will impact UC faculty’s ability to conduct their research and to progress in their careers.

3. Academic program planning, evaluation, and alignment: Assessing financial limitations and seeking ways to ensure program sustainability while maintaining academic quality at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

4. Instructional opportunities and course offerings across modalities: Preserving course availability and instructional continuity amid both short-term disruptions and longer-term resource pressures.

5. The future of graduate education: Assessing the structure, delivery, and support systems for graduate education across UC.

UCAD Plus is expected to approach issues analytically, using data whenever possible. It will contribute ideas for near-term academic and operations restructuring, as well as recommendations for long-term planning. The Task Force will draw on the expertise of Academic Senate and administrative leaders and consider a broad array of perspectives through timely consultative outreach and engagement beyond its membership, as needed... 

Full memo at https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/committees/council/ucad-plus-charge-membership-10-2025.pdf.