January 2024 News Archive

The future of Wikipedia in an era of AI

Maryana Iskander, Chief Executive Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation, is the featured speaker at this year’s Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture on Thursday, February 22, at the Cowell

Important Update on Preferred, Primary, Lived, and Legal Names in MyUCSC

We are excited to share important updates regarding the implementation plans for the UC Gender Recognition and Lived Name (GRLN) Policy announced on December 12, 2023, by CP/EVC Lori Kletzer.

Crafting smiles and setting records on the track: An alumnus’s unique dual-pursuit

Alumnus Leo Merle is juggling two major life goals: graduate from the University of Michigan with a doctorate in dentistry, and be the first American with cerebral palsy

UC Santa Cruz provides international travel support to campus community

UC Santa Cruz is now providing expanded services to faculty, staff, and students traveling

A new cohort of drone pilot students start in the 2024 CIDER Drone Pilot Training Program

The CITRIS Initiative for Drone Education and Research (CIDER) welcomed its 2024 Drone Pilot Training Program cohort in an orientation session on January 8.

2023-24 CITRIS UC Santa Cruz Tech for Social Good Program's student project teams kick off

The 2023-24 CITRIS Tech for Social Good program at UC Santa Cruz started in January with kick-off meetings with the winning technology development track teams.

We are all in this together: Favianna Rodriguez and the ecology of social movements

The redwood trees that tower over the UC Santa Cruz campus are glorious manifestations of an ecosystem built on symbiotic relationships. The mighty redwoods, the iconic banana slug,

Guide to 2024-2025 continuing undergraduate student housing

On Monday, January 29, all undergraduate students currently living in university housing received this email update about the 2024-25 continuing undergraduate student housing process. This email includes information about housing information sessions, the application period, the housing waitlist, and off-campus housing resources.

Faculty and staff invited to attend a student housing webinar on Feb. 7

Dave Keller, interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Colleges, Housing and Educational Services invites all faculty and staff to attend a housing webinar at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 7. The webinar will provide updates about the continuing student housing process.

Renowned Sitarist Nishat Khan playing at UC Santa Cruz

The classical Indian musician will play at Music Center Recital Hall along with tabla player Nitin Mitta. The two are internationally recognized musicians. We will be welcoming Khan

Music Professor Russell Rodriguez wins the Américo Paredes Prize

The American Folklore Society awarded UC Santa Cruz professor Russell Rodriguez the annual Paredes prize in recognition of his work in the arts with the local community and

Preparing for storms on Wednesday and Thursday

Over the coming days, we expect a major winter storm to affect Santa Cruz County alongside much of California.

The Center For Public Philosophy garners national recognition for its unique Outreach Invitational High School Ethics Bowl

UC Santa Cruz's Center For Public Philosophy is being honored for its Outreach Invitational High School Ethics Bowl program, which has received the Prize for Excellence and Innovation

Do tree-planting campaigns follow best practices for successful forest restoration?

Environmental Studies Professor Karen Holl's latest research reviewed publicly available information to see if there have been improvements in recent years in whether tree-planting organizations apply best practices

Add/Drop/Swap and Undergrad Part-Time Deadline Extended

Demonstration at the base of campus today

UC Santa Cruz is anticipating a demonstration at the base of campus from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today (Friday, January 26).

Coastal Science & Policy Program celebrates five years at UC Santa Cruz

Coastal Science and Policy Program Director Anne Kapuscinski reflects on the last five years and looks ahead to the future.

Planning for possible disruptions on Friday

There have been several posts on social media calling for a demonstration at the base of campus from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday. While we do not know how the event will unfold, blocking entrances is disruptive activity and not legally protected speech or sanctioned labor activity.

Institute of Arts and Sciences announces new interdisciplinary initiative on climate change

A new multi-year initiative will bring together arts and science to start a conversation about marine biology and the effects of climate change. The new exhibit is set

National Endowment for the Humanities gives $60,000 award to two UCSC faculty members

The National Endowment for the Humanities included two UC Santa Cruz professors in their most recent round of grants and awards. Drs. Jennifer Derr and Stacy Kamehiro are

Renowned chef, food activist Bryant Terry to deliver keynote address at 40th Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation

Acclaimed chef, author, and food justice advocate Bryant Terry will deliver the keynote address at UC Santa Cruz’s 40th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation. The event, which

Important updates regarding 2024-25 continuing student housing process

Tech insider Guy Kawasaki to moderate panel featuring Jeremiah Owyang and Luca de Alfaro

“Artificial Intelligence in the Academic and For Profit Environments” will be hosted at UC Santa Cruz’s Silicon Valley campus on Jan. 30, beginning with a reception at 5:30p. The panel will start at 6p. More details are available here.

Information security statement on generative AI

Although AI offers new and powerful capabilities for research and education, it also poses a potential risk to institutional data that UC Santa Cruz is legally and ethically obligated to protect.

Section of Hagar Road closed

A section of Hagar Road between Steinhart Way and just above the East Remote Parking Lot will remain closed until further notice. The heavy rain appears to have caused damage to the road.

Institute of the Arts & Sciences announces inaugural artists in the Coha Nowark Art + Science Residency Program

Innovative PET technology will enable precise multitracer imaging of the brain

UC Santa Cruz Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Shiva Abbaszadeh is developing technology that will enable precise multitracer positron emission tomography imaging of the human body’s

Three historians to share their insights on slavery’s origins in America at on-campus panel discussion.

Next week’s on-campus panel discussion, “What Actually Happened In 1619,” will provide a deeper understanding of the year 1619 as a turning point in slavery’s history. This talk

Terrie Williams honored with 2024 National Academy of Sciences Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal

The National Academy of Sciences will honor 20 individuals with awards recognizing their extraordinary scientific achievements in a wide range of fields spanning the physical, biological, social, and medical sciences. Among the esteemed awardees is Terrie M. Williams, a comparative ecophysiologist from the University of California, Santa Cruz, who will be honored with the 2024 NAS Award in the Evolution of Earth and Life - Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal.

Call for participation: Campus roads Bike and Pedestrian Safety Study

The University of California, Santa Cruz has recently launched the Campus Roads Bike and Pedestrian Safety Study to identify safety enhancements and develop conceptual street designs for key campus corridors.

Duke University Press publishes Arts Dean Celine Parreñas Shimizu’s new book: The Movies of Racial Childhoods

UC Santa Cruz’s Dean of the Arts Division, award-winning filmmaker and author publishes her fourth sole-written book, exploring contemporary representations of Asian American

Resources supporting community during Israel-Hamas War

Last quarter our UC Santa Cruz community was deeply affected by the conflict in Israel and Palestine. With the violence continuing, we anticipate that our students, instructors and staff will continue to be impacted by these events. A number of resources are available on campus to our instructional community and students to support trauma-informed and inclusive teaching and learning and to uphold the health and well-being of our community members.

Historian Benjamin Breen explores the troubled birth of psychedelic science in acclaimed new book, Tripping On Utopia. 

UC Santa Cruz Associate History Professor Benjamin Breen will read from his new book about the fraught history of Cold War-era psychedelic science at Bookshop Santa Cruz this

UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience partnering with EY on Open Science Data Challenge on Coastal Resilience for students

Climate change is here, and so are its impacts on our communities. Globally, coastal hazards produce increasing costs, often to the most vulnerable populations. That’s why UC Santa

UC Santa Cruz will lead development of next-generation telescope alignment system

The National Science Foundation recently awarded $3.9 million to researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz as the lead institution for the development of a next-gen telescope

Students search for hidden black hole activity

When stars get too close to the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies, the black holes shred them apart in a process called a tidal disruption

Insights from UCSC-made COVID-19 tracking tool will guide the future of studying pathogens in real time

A new paper by a team of UCSC pathogen genomicists offers guidance for the future of web tools for tracking pathogen

Smarter Balanced Unveils Initiative with IBM Consulting to Promote Responsible Use of AI in Educational Measurement

Today, Smarter Balanced announced a new initiative to develop measurement-focused principles and guidelines for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in educational assessments. With experience creating scalable, trustworthy

Invitation to the SAB Virtual Winter Forum on January 31, 2024

The purpose of the SAB-supported forums is to provide staff with an opportunity to ask questions of campus leadership.

STEM Education Central Coast Conference connects teachers with each other and a wealth of local resources

UC Santa Cruz faculty and staff helped to organize an upcoming conference that will share strategies for student success in STEM and connect teachers from 11 local school

On the frontlines of change

David B. Goldberg solidified his passion for organizing at UC Santa Cruz. Now, he is the president of the California Teachers Association, the largest teacher’s union in the

Alumni and professor authors return to UCSC

Ten alumni authors and two former professors will be featured in the Creative Writing Program’s Living Writers Reading Series in Jan. through March.

UC Santa Cruz Humanities Division secures $1 million grant for Employing Humanities initiative

Investment from the Mellon Foundation will propel new program focused on experiential learning and career readiness for humanities

Leading the Change: Call for Interdisciplinary Proposals

I write to invite you to apply for the Leading the Change Collaborative Series. This series will support approximately two events per quarter from Spring 2024 through Winter 2025 that provide opportunities for collaborative, interdisciplinary conversations.

Training program helps prevent harassment in fieldwork environments

Fieldwork often puts researchers and students in remote environments that have unique challenges. The unusual setting of fieldwork can make sexual harassment and assault more likely, and it also calls for distinct approaches to prevent and respond to it. To address this systemic problem, University of Santa Cruz scientists developed a sexual harassment prevention and awareness training program specifically tailored to fieldwork environments.

New director of Athletics and Recreation

Chris Spells has been named UC Santa Cruz’s new director of Athletics and Recreation. He brings a depth of experience overseeing daily athletic operations for NCAA varsity sports and recreational programming.

Sage Michaels (Rachel Carson, ‘22, Intensive History) is sharing her passion for history

Sage Michaels discovered her passion for history while taking Humanities courses at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Now she works as an interpretive guide at two

Search launches for new AVC for budget analysis and planning

Finding her voice: Farnaz Fatemi's poetry explores language, borders and selfhood with an emphasis on her Iranian American identity

Farnaz Fatemi (Porter ’91, American studies), UCSC alumna, Lecturer in Writing, and Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate for 2023 and 2024, talks about embracing her identity, her career

Plan for Summer this Winter

UC Santa Cruz Summer Session offers courses spanning various disciplines each summer. The various sessions run from June 24 through August 30 and attract a diverse community of continuing students, visitors, and high school students. Explore the available summer courses at summer.ucsc.edu now and prepare for open enrollment starting on May 1.

Transfer Summit will convene to discuss transfer student experience

You are invited to attend the 2024 Transfer Summit on Friday January 12 from 2-5 PM at the Stevenson Event Center. The goal of the summit is to create a high-level shared understanding amongst faculty and staff of the many aspects of the transfer student experience.

UC Santa Cruz Division of Undergraduate Education appoints Soraya Murray as new Provost of Porter College

The Division of Undergraduate Education at UC Santa Cruz is pleased to announce the appointment of Soraya Murray as the new Provost of Porter College, effective July 1,

UC Santa Cruz Division of Undergraduate Education appoints Shelly Grabe as new Provost of Rachel Carson College

The Division of Undergraduate Education at UC Santa Cruz proudly announces the appointment of Shelly Grabe as the new Provost of Rachel Carson College, effective July 1, 2024.

Global study shows extreme short-term drought has even greater impacts on grasslands and shrublands than previously thought

UC Santa Cruz scientists supported a new global study showing that the effects of extreme short-term drought have been greatly underestimated for grasslands and

Pioneering perspectives

UCSC alumnus Bob Dodge belonged to the inaugural graduating class of UC Santa Cruz. He attests that the time he spent at UCSC was among the most transformative