Weekly Keynotes
- December 15, 2015
50th anniversary brought focus, collaboration for the future
By Susan Gillman and Tyrus Miller, co-chairs of the 50th Anniversary Campus Coordinating Committee – The planning process for the 50th brought the campus to a new level of coordination and sophistication. Moving forward, we believe UC Santa Cruz will continue to benefit from thinking and acting in these collaborative ways.
- December 07, 2015
Cool Campus Challenge is just the beginning
By Sarah Latham, Vice Chancellor, Business and Administrative Services – UC Santa Cruz, one of the smaller campuses, has had great participation in the Cool Campus Challenge with more than 1,400 people signing up.
- October 27, 2015
New guidelines being implemented for gender inclusive facilities
By Ashish Sahni, Associate Chancellor, and Sarah Latham, Vice Chancellor, Business and Administrative Services — UC Santa Cruz is strongly committed to building and maintaining a campus environment that supports and values all members of our community including visitors.
- October 13, 2015
What is accreditation?
By Herbie Lee, Vice Provost Academic Affairs — UC Santa Cruz is an accredited university, but what does that really mean? Accreditation is a system of quality assurance where the campus defines educational goals and shows that students progress to achieving those goals.
- June 22, 2015
Summer projects support our mission
By Sarah Latham, Vice Chancellor, Business and Administrative Services – With the start of summer comes the launch of many campus facilities projects, from construction of an important new building to resurfacing the bike path. While this work may cause temporary disruptions, it is critical to our ability to support and advance the UC Santa Cruz mission and to provide a safe, efficient, and functional campus.
- June 08, 2015
Celebrating outstanding teachers
By George Blumenthal, Chancellor – Eight faculty members have earned distinction for outstanding teaching this year, receiving accolades for instruction in fields as diverse as introductory computer programming, documentary film production, and physics for non-majors.
- June 01, 2015
What's new in academic programs and online education
By Herbie Lee, Vice Provost Academic Affairs – Every year, faculty add, update, and occasionally discontinue academic programs to ensure our students get the best possible education. This year, we are making changes to the graduate and undergraduate curriculum, as well as to our online offerings.
- May 22, 2015
Celebrating Slug success
By Richard Hughey, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education — Spring quarter always has a focus on accomplishments – commencements and other ceremonies, of course, but also Student Achievement Week, our recognition of undergraduates who take particular advantage of the opportunities here to engage in research, projects, and performance.
- May 18, 2015
New center will bolster support for innovation and entrepreneurship
By Sue Carter, Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development — One of the most exciting things about working at a research university is being surrounded by great ideas. At UC Santa Cruz, we are preparing to launch a bold new suite of programs and educational services to support the entrepreneurial desires of students, faculty, and the greater Santa Cruz community.
- May 11, 2015
Serving the world through discovery
By Chancellor George Blumenthal — Even after nine years as chancellor, I find myself struck in new ways by the impact this university has on the world. Across the disciplines, UC Santa Cruz scholars are contributing to the public good.
- May 04, 2015
Spring brings campus elections
By Alma Sifuentes, Associate Vice Chancellor of Campus Life and Dean of Students — Campus elections are a hallmark spring-quarter event. Each year, hundreds of students participate as candidates, as authors of proposed referenda, and as volunteers assisting with the process. Thousands of students will participate as voters!
- April 27, 2015
Two-week Faculty and Staff Giving Drive begins Monday
By Keith Brant, Vice Chancellor, University Relations — Faculty and staff at UC Santa Cruz change the world every day. We do it through our commitment to the ideals of this university and through our work, leadership, humanity, and generosity. For many, that generosity of spirit includes being donors to UC Santa Cruz.
- April 20, 2015
Alumni Weekend: Bigger and better than ever
By Susan Gillman and Tyrus Miller, co-chairs of the 50th Anniversary Campus Coordinating Committee — At this charmed moment of springtime in our 50th anniversary year, we are looking forward to an outstanding Alumni Weekend.
- April 13, 2015
When UCSC meets Silicon Valley, great things happen
By Lynda Rogers, Dean, UCSC Silicon Valley Extension — Every day at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension, from the early morning through the late evening, the most wonderful thing happens: our students arrive.
- April 06, 2015
Who says the quarry can't rock again?
By Alison Galloway, Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor – The Quarry Amphitheater is one of the gems of this campus. Sadly, it has been closed since 2006. Now, thanks to generous donations from alumni and a truly monumental financial contribution from students, we stand on the verge of being able to reopen the Quarry Amphitheater.
- March 30, 2015
UC budget questions remain unresolved
By Alison Galloway, Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor — We are still awaiting resolution on the UC budget for academic year 2015-2016. Much will depend upon negotiations between Governor Brown and UC President Napolitano.The final budget will probably not be clear until the end of June. However, there are a few points that we can clarify.
- March 16, 2015
The heart and soul of UC Santa Cruz
By Sheldon Kamieniecki, Dean, Division of Social Sciences—In my ninth year as dean, I remain impressed by the strong commitment of social sciences faculty to research, undergraduate education, and teaching.
- March 09, 2015
Treasure hunting in the University Archives
By Elizabeth Cowell, University Librarian — If the 50th anniversary of UC Santa Cruz has made you curious about the history of this campus, you need look no further than McHenry Library to find a goldmine of historical artifacts.
- March 02, 2015
Benefits of internationalization
By Joel Ferguson, Associate Vice Provost of International Education — To borrow from President John F. Kennedy: My fellow Banana Slugs, ask not what you can do for internationalization, ask what internationalization can do for you.
- February 23, 2015
Honoring our champions of diversity
By Sheree Marlowe, Assistant Campus Diversity Officer — UC Santa Cruz has a long history of valuing and celebrating diversity and inclusion and advocating for our Principles of Community. One of our traditions is to present annual awards to students, staff, and faculty who accomplish great things as champions of diversity.
- February 13, 2015
Data Science: Beyond the hype of 'big data'
By Joseph Konopelski, Dean of the Baskin School of Engineering—These days it seems like everyone’s talking about "big data." If you google "big data in the news," you’ll find a surprisingly large number of articles published in the past few hours. But what is big data? And why, beyond all the hype, is it important?
- February 09, 2015
Focusing on adaptive change and team health to strengthen support units
By Sarah Latham, Vice Chancellor, Business and Administrative Services – Campus support units play critical roles in advancing the university mission. In doing so, these units must navigate a host of competing demands, oftentimes in the face of diminished resources. Successfully navigating this territory requires using the principles of adaptive change.
- February 02, 2015
Our vision, our goals, our future
By Alison Galloway, Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor — I am pleased to announce the finalized Strategic Plan is now available at envision.ucsc.edu. The document includes an update to our campus vision and lists the six goals derived from conversations with more than 1,200 campus constituents.
- January 26, 2015
The Practicality of the Arts
By Martin Berger, Acting Dean of the Arts — When parents quiz me on the most "practical" majors, I point out that many corporations and graduate schools today have turned away from a narrow focus on specialized skill sets to seek out applicants who display aptitude for creative thinking and problem solving.
- January 19, 2015
Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens
By Bill Ladusaw, Dean of Humanities — September 1965 was a good month for birthdays. As UC Santa Cruz opened its doors with high aspirations, on the other side of the country Congress gave birth to twins that reinforced those ideals: the National Endowments for the Humanities and the Arts.
- January 12, 2015
The library is the heart of the campus
By Elizabeth Cowell, University Librarian — The library is the heart of the campus.” I hear this a lot and often ask myself, “What exactly does that mean?” I think to a lot of people it's like New York City's ad campaign.
- January 05, 2015
Happy Birthday, UC Santa Cruz
By Chancellor George Blumenthal — Break out your skinny ties and pencil skirts, because it's time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of UC Santa Cruz.
