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July 23, 2026
Yvette Gullatt
Vice President for Graduate and Undergraduate Affairs Vice
Provost for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Re: Recommendations for UC Online
Dear VP Gullatt:
At the June 24, 2026 meeting, the Academic Council endorsed
recommendations developed by the University Committee on Educational Policy
(UCEP) regarding the governance and oversight of UC Online. Background
Council’s endorsement follows several discussions this year regarding UC Online’s
evolving role, services, and governance. In March, Council met with UC Online’s
associate vice provost to discuss the unit’s strategic direction and the
broader context for its work, including persistent challenges related to
cross-campus enrollment, course articulation, funding models, data, and
operations. In April and June, Council considered UCEP’s analysis of deep
concerns about UC Online’s transparency, the availability of data detailed
enough to allow meaningful assessment of its services and outcomes, the lack of
independent advisory oversight, and the need for greater Senate consultation
and involvement in UC Online initiatives at both the systemwide and campus
levels. These discussions informed the recommendations in this letter.
Council recognizes that UC Online can play an important
role in supporting faculty, students, and cross-campus educational
opportunities. However, as online and hybrid instruction becomes more
widespread at UC, the Council is extremely troubled that longstanding issues
identified by UCEP and in prior external reviews have not yet been resolved.
These include unanswered questions about UC Online’s costs and deliverables,
and especially its relationship to the Senate in terms of the faculty’s
authority over academic programs and courses. Council views these as structural
and governance problems, not simply matters of communication. They call for a
much stronger and more structured partnership between UC Online and the Senate
to clarify responsibilities, address recurring problems, and better align UC
Online with UC’s educational mission.
Request for Comprehensive Assessment of UC Online
Council recommends that the Office of Graduate,
Undergraduate and Equity Affairs (GUEA) initiate a comprehensive assessment of
UC Online or conduct a formal external audit. It should examine the unit’s
organizational structure, budget and expenditures, services to faculty and
students, and active course offerings. It should also analyze data sufficient
to understand how UC Online is being used, including the number and types of
active courses; the academic credit students receive and requirements those
courses satisfy; course-level patterns of cross-campus enrollment, including
the factors driving growth and areas that may warrant review; and the
distribution of UC Online’s services across campuses and student populations.
The assessment should do more than restate issues
identified in numerous previous reviews. It should identify the corrective
actions needed to address ongoing problems, including those related to course articulation,
data reporting, funding flows, and evaluation of educational outcomes, and the
offices responsible for carrying them out, and a timeline for doing so.
Advisory Oversight and Reporting Council also recommends restructuring the UC
Online Advisory Council to ensure it has sufficiently independent leadership
and a defined responsibility for more objective review and oversight. The
Advisory Council should serve as a forum for regular, two-way communication
between UC Online and Senate representatives, with an established process for
considering Senate concerns and priorities.
An independent advisory structure would help ensure that the
council can provide meaningful advice regarding UC Online’s strategic
direction, performance, and relationship to broader UC educational initiatives.
In addition, Council recommends that UC Online address the inadequacy of its
current documentation by committing to providing significantly more complete
and accessible information about its activities on a regular basis. This should
include substantive annual reports with relevant data, analysis, and
evaluation; an up-to-date catalog of active course offerings; a detailed
organizational chart with specific roles and areas of management; and a
user-friendly navigation dashboard with clear descriptions of both the services
available to faculty and students and how to access them. These resources
should be made available to enable campuses, faculty, and students to
understand what UC Online offers, how to access its services, and how its
activities contribute to the University’s educational mission.
Shared Governance
Council recommends that GUEA establish clearer processes for
partnering with the Senate on educational initiatives that involve UC Online,
particularly as UC Online is increasingly asked to support initiatives beyond its
original role in online course development and cross-campus enrollment. Some
recent initiatives, including the Global Language Network, the National
Education Opportunity Network dual enrollment pilot, and cross-segment online
course development efforts, lacked the necessary Senate consultation. These
examples illustrate the need for clearer roles, timelines, and collaborative
processes.
While the initiatives may advance legitimate educational
goals and provide opportunities for UC Online to offer valuable operational
support, they also raise questions about course development, instructional
standards, credit and articulation, and faculty participation in the
development and delivery of courses and programs, all of which require early
and sustained engagement with the Senate. While Council does not aim to direct
UC Online’s administrative operations or limit its capacity to support
systemwide initiatives, it does seek to ensure that initiatives affecting
academic programs, course development, instructional standards, credit,
articulation, or related educational policy are initiated only after timely and
substantive faculty engagement.
Early consultation would allow UC Online to contribute its
operational expertise while ensuring that initiatives appropriately reflect
Senate authority, campus processes, and faculty perspectives.
Ongoing Assessment of UC Online
Finally, Council recommends that UC Online, with guidance
from GUEA, develops a more systematic approach to assessing outcomes. Relevant measures
should include student and faculty experiences with UC Online, course
completion and subsequent academic performance, the effectiveness of
instructional and technical support, and the costs and educational benefits
associated with cross-campus course offerings. These assessments should inform
strategic planning efforts and provide a sound basis for future decisions about
UC Online’s role and resource needs.
Council also recognizes that the Senate has work to do.
Council will ask UCEP, in consultation with Senate leadership and Senate
divisions as appropriate, to identify relevant Senate policy questions, gather
campus-level information about the use and impact of UC Online, and recommend
any Senate processes needed to support more effective oversight, and online and
cross-campus instruction. The Academic Council appreciates the work of GUEA and
UC Online in advancing educational access and innovation.
We share these recommendations to foster a productive
conversation and subsequent action so that UC Online can better serve faculty
and students while operating within a transparent and effective shared
governance framework. Council requests that GUEA and UC Online develop a
concrete plan for resolving these issues and report back to Council within the
next academic year. Council expects the plan to be developed in
consultation with appropriate Senate bodies. We welcome the opportunity to
discuss these recommendations with you in more detail and identify immediate
next steps.
Sincerely,
Ahmet Palazoglu
Chair, Academic Council
cc: Academic Council Provost & Executive Vice President
Newman, Associate Vice Provost Moe, Senate Division Executive Directors, Senate
Executive Director Lin
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Curious about the image above? Today's online education had a predecessor: College education for credit on TV in the 1950s:
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