Davis Faculty Association

The Chair of the DFA, Ian Kennedy, and Board member Lyn Lofland, met with the Chancellor – at his request – to discuss shared governance and the Provost search in particular. We offered our opinion of the recent Provost search and advised the Chancellor that we were very disturbed by a process that did not permit any faculty input to the final decision. We advised him that there was a concern on the part of many faculty members that shared governance was not working well in other areas of the University.

by Lyn Lofland, DFA representative to the Nash Prize Committee

I wanted to let you all know that the deadline for RSVPing for the Nash Prize dinner has been extended to this Friday, April 18.  Attendance is looking good (nearly 70 at this point) but we’d very much like to reach 80 (that’s the maximum occupancy allowed by the fire department).

An Academic Senate reminder memo, similar to the DFA one you received yesterday, will be sent today or tomorrow.  Since you’re all members of the Senate, you’ll be getting this one too.   Sorry about the duplication.

by Lyn Lofland, DFA Representative to the Charles P. Nash Prize Committee

Below is another copy of the invitation to the Nash Prize Dinner on April 28.  Please do try to join us.   The DFA is an equal partner in all aspects of the Nash Prize and it is important that our organization make a good showing at the dinner.

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To Members of the Davis Faculty Association, Davis Division of the Academic Senate, and UC Davis Academic Federation:

Please join us on Monday April 28, 2008 for the inaugural Charles P. Nash Prize Award Dinner to recognize the achievements of the first recipient, Adjunct Professor Catherine VandeVoort.

The Charles P. Nash Prize, funded by the campus community and Charlie’s family and friends, is awarded by the Davis Faculty Association, Davis Division of the Academic Senate, and UC Davis Academic Federation to celebrate both Charlie Nash’s exceptional achievement and commitment to promoting shared governance, and advocating for faculty interests and welfare and the dedication and achievements of each year’s recipient.

Event Information
Monday April 28, 2008
The University Club Conference Center, Lounge Room
6:00 PM: Soft Bar
6:30 PM: Dinner
$35.00 per person for dinner

RSVP by 5:00 PM, Monday April 14, 2008
To Bryan Rodman (530) 752-3920
<mailto:bdrodman@ucdavis.edu>bdrodman@ucdavis.edu
Please send your check (payable to the UC Regents) to: Bryan Rodman, Academic Senate Office – 402 Mrak Hall.

Include:  # of persons attending ____; name of each attendee and entrée choice; and your phone number or e-mail address.

Please select one:

________Entrée 1:  Brandy Peppercorn Chicken
________Entrée 2:  Mediterranean Veggie Lasagna

Sincerely,

The Charles P. Nash Prize Committee:
Mrs. Charles P. Nash, representing the Nash Family
Distinguished Professor Alan Balch, representing the UC Davis Academic Senate
Research Professor Lyn Lofland, representing the Davis Faculty Association
Director Barbara Goldman, committee chair representing the UC Davis Academic Federation

Students for California’s Future is planning a statewide protest of proposed cuts to education on the morning April 21. Locally, this will include a 9 am march from Raley field in West Sacramento to the steps of the Capitol where a 10:30 am rally and press conference will be held.

Already 400 students from CSUS and 900 students from UCB and San Francisco have arranged for busing to the Sacramento event. Other rallies will be held in Los Angeles and San Diego.

We have not been able to learn how involved UCD’s students are likely to be for this event, but we thought it might be useful for you to know that you may experience unexpected absences on the 21st, or there may be other disruptions on campus related to this event.

More information about the planned protest is available at: www.studentsforcalifornia.org

If any of you are interested in participating in this event we highly encourage it and recommend you e-mail Eric Hays at info@cucfa.org to coordinate your participation.

by Joe Kiskis, CUCFA Vice President for External Relations

On April 7th CUCFA officers, including Eric Hays, Joe Kiskis and Ian Kennedy of the DFA, spent a day personally delivering a faculty perspective on the higher education budget to the state capitol. We met with Lieutenant Governor Garamendi, Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee), and higher education specialists on the staffs of Assembly Speaker Nunez, Assemblymember Julia Brownley (chair of the Assembly Education Finance Subcommittee), and Senator Denise Ducheny (chair of the Senate Budget Committee).

It was very encouraging that all of the people with whom we spoke had a good general understanding of what is at stake for higher education in the current budget discussions. The long-term, comprehensive perspective and analysis that CUCFA contributes was appreciated and well-received.

Our meeting with Lieutenant Governor (and UC Regent) Garamendi was especially gratifying. He has already been speaking out in a very positive way on the big issues associated with funding higher education. The meeting led to a plan for further actions to frame the budget discussions so that they are more likely to result in reforms that will benefit UC, higher education, and more generally all the areas of public investment that are important to Californians.

CUCFA will be following up on these meetings and will send additional reports as things progress in the coming months.