UCLA Engineering: UCLA Engineer Magazine

Shaping UCLA: Academic Senate Leadership

Academic Senate Chair Adrienne Lavine.

UCLA Engineering faculty members have long helped shape the focus and direction of the campus. This year, faculty from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have assumed several key leadership roles in the Academic Senate.

Mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Adrienne Lavine is chair of the 2005-06 UCLA Academic Senate, after serving last year as vice chair.

“The Senate chair serves as the liaison between the faculty and the administration. This aspect of the position is particularly important since the effective working of shared governance depends on a respectful and collaborative relationship between the Senate and administration,” explained Lavine. “Engineers bring a useful perspective to the Senate because we tend to approach issues analytically, which can enhance the discussion of any topic.”

Through the Academic Senate, UCLA faculty participate in a system of shared authority and responsibility in which they exercise direct control over academic matters, and consult with the administration on the budget, the organization of the university, and faculty promotions and appointments.

Also playing key roles this year are chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Jane Chang, chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Admis-sions and Relations with Schools, and mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Ajit Mal, chair of the Committee on Committees and vice chair of the Council on Research.

“The Academic Senate gives me the opportunity to interact with the vast and very distinguished community of teachers and scholars outside the School, and to participate in shared governance, a defining and highly valued characteristic of the University of California,” said Mal.

“I was the chair of the Council on Planning and Budget (CPB) in 2003-04 when the university had to deal with large reductions in its State budget for the third year in a row. The CPB, under my leadership, was instrumental in providing valuable faculty perspective into the administration’s decision to allocate a smaller proportion of the budget reduction to the academic units.”

This year, thirteen other engineering faculty are members of the Academic Senate, serving on academic personnel, planning and budget, graduate, and undergraduate councils, and the teaching and privilege and tenure committees, among others.

- Marlys Amundson

Photo: Reed Hutchinson