Past initiatives

The Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost routinely commissions small task forces and working groups to study and develop solutions to various campus issues or pursue strategic priorities. Current and past initiatives of this sort are listed below - click each section to learn more about it.

Past initiatives:

Academic Advisory Committee on Social and Ethical Implications of Computing and Data Science (2023)

A committee to advise campus leadership on how Berkeley can best invest in research and teaching related to the social and ethical implications of computing and data science.

Key Documents:

The Joint Academic and Administrative Work Group on the University Library (2023)

The Joint Academic and Administrative Work Group on the University Library, a working group convened to examine the University Library and devise a set of readily deployable recommendations that capitalize on the 2013 Report of the Commission on the Future of the UC Berkeley Library to submit a to plan for implementing recommendations in fiscal year 2024.

Key documents & links:

Spring 2023 Post Strike Implementation (2023)

Following the conclusion of the 2022 UAW contract negotiations, the campus established several workgroups to begin the process of rebuilding and managing post-strike recovery efforts. The workgroups included: financial planning, academic & instructional planning, faculty experience and campus climate and healing.

Key links: Working Groups, Reports, and Message Archive

Working Group to Analyze Enrollment Scenarios (2022)

Analytic work group to assess scenarios for increases in enrollment at all levels (undergraduate, freshmen and transfer students; academic masters; professional masters; doctoral degrees) with consideration of in-residence in Berkeley and online, or offsite residency.

Key links: Charge Letter - May 6, 2022

Proposal Committee for the formation of a Department of Neuroscience (2022)

A committee to submit a proposal for the formation of a Department of Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, within the College of Letters & Science (L&S) Division of Biological Sciences..

Key links: Charge Letter - April 15, 2022

Proposal Committee for the formation of a Department of Data Science  (2022-2023)

A committee to draft a proposal for the formation of a Department of Data Science within the future College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS)

Key documents & links:

Working Group on Student Housing Strategic Plan Update (2022)

A working group to provide high level advice regarding what project sites and capacities the campus should prioritize for feasibility study.

Key documents & links: Charge letter - April 18, 2022

Remote and Hybrid Education Program Development and Instructional Resilience (2019-2021)

Instruction Planning: COVID-19 Recovery (2020-2022)

The Instruction Planning committee’s objective was to consider guidance and recommendations about academic policies and instructional strategies, in response to the changing conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with the Academic Senate, the Division of Undergraduate Education, the Graduate Division and many other divisions and offices, the committee  developed plans for instructional activities in remote, in-person, and flexible modes spanning the fall 2020, spring 2021, fall 2021, and spring 2022 semesters. 

Key Documents:

Academic Finance Reform (2018-2021)

The Finance Reform Leadership Committee has been tasked with recommending a new campus policy on the strategic issues and priorities related to the finance reform initiative. Three working groups have been tasked to offer recommendations on key areas of finance reform including academic funding, common good funding, and revenue sharing.

Key Campus Documents:

Divisional Initiatives documents:

Joint Senate-Administration Task Force on the First-Year Undergraduate Academic Experience (2021-2022)

The Joint Senate-Administration Task Force on the First-Year Undergraduate Academic Experience was charged with providing recommendations on how to ensure that every entering first-year student is able to enroll in a set of courses that will enable them to make timely and meaningful progress towards their degree.

Key Documents:

Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (2018-2020)

On November 1, 2018, Chancellor Carol Christ and EVCP Paul Alivisatos announced the creation of a new interdisciplinary division provisionally named the Division of Data Science and Information. This new division will be the centerpiece of a novel, dynamic, and adaptable organizational structure that will enable Berkeley faculty and students to work together across boundaries and to explore the foundations, applications, and implications of data science, information, and computation in a way that serves the interests of the public, the campus, and its academic community through a new teaching and discovery environment.

Key documents:

Faculty Housing Strategy Working Group (2018)

The Faculty Housing Strategy Working Group has been tasked with exploring how the campus might address the increasing pressures it faces with respect to faculty housing, particularly with regard to recruiting young faculty and retaining those who may be struggling to purchase reasonable housing.

Key documents:

Campus Policy Governing PDSTs for Concurrent Degree Programs Working Group (2018-2019)

The Campus Policy Governing PDSTs for Concurrent Degree Programs Working Group has been tasked with recommending a new campus policy governing how PDST is assessed for students enrolled in concurrent degree programs. 

Key documents:

Executive Education Working Group (2017-2018)

The Executive Education Working Group has been tasked with developing guiding principles, processes, tools, and infrastructure to ensure the financial and programmatic success of UC Berkeley's executive education offerings.

Key documents:

Campus Commercial Advertising Policy Working Group (2017-2018)

The Campus Commercial Advertising Policy Working Group was charged with evaluating current university policies relating to advertising and commercial activity on campus.

Key documents:

Joint Administration-Academic Senate Task Force on Self-Supporting Graduate Professional Degree Programs (2016 - 2018)

The Joint Administration-Academic Senate Task Force on Self-Supporting Graduate Professional Degree Programs was designed to recommend new guidelines for these campus programs so that Berkeley can meet rising need while maintaining a commitment to excellence, rigor, and access.

Key documents:

Data Science Planning Initiative (2015-2017)

The Data Science Planning Initiative was an effort to develop integrated plans for data science teaching and research appropriate to the diverse interests and strengths of the Berkeley campus, and to recommend structures that would coordinate data science campus-wide.

Key documents:

Enrollment Management Working Group (2016)

The Enrollment Management Working Group has been tasked with creating a strategic, meaningful approach to both short and long-term enrollment growth for the UC Berkeley campus.

Key documents:

Housing Initiative (2016)

In the Fall of 2016, then-Chancellor Nicholas Dirks charged the Housing Master Plan Task Force to create a long-term plan to address the need for affordable, convenient housing for undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral scholars and faculty.

Work in this realm began under then-EVCP Carol Christ and is now led by the chancellor's office under Christ's leadership. More information can be found on the chancellor's site at https://chancellor.berkeley.edu/task-forces/housing-initiative.

Incentives Working Group (2016-2017)

The Incentives Working Group is exploring how best to provide incentives for units to raise funds for faculty positions, how to ensure units maintain a fiscally and pedagogically responsible mix of types of faculty members, and how we can improve campus strategic planning and budgeting processes.

Key documents:

Public and Common Good Working Group (2017)

The Public and Common Good Working Group intends to assess the current state of and make recommendations about funding for public and common goods (enterprise administrative services, information technology services, etc.) on the Berkeley campus.

Key documents:


For inquiries related to these task forces and working groups, please contact evcp@berkeley.edu.