In 2024, UC Berkeley received the SEA Change Bronze Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
UC Berkeley and four other UC campuses are among the first ten institutions of higher education in the country to receive this major institutional award.
About SEA Change
As a program of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS), SEA Change empowers institutions to create supportive environments for STEMM faculty and students by identifying and addressing barriers to retention, fostering resilience, and aligning with each institution's unique mission and goals.
In 2022, the University of California became the nation’s first university system to join the program.
In order to be awarded the Bronze Award, SEA Change member institutions must show evidence of thorough self-assessment using qualitative and quantitative analyses, clear identification and prioritization of key issues, and define actions planned to address key issues and carry the institution forward.
UC Berkeley SEA Change Initiative
The UC Berkeley SEA Change Initiative was guided by several strategic decisions:
- Broader than STEMM. While careful attention is paid to STEMM disciplines, the scope of the initiative will include all academic fields, with the goal of achieving transformation across the entire institution.
- Sustainable structural change. The initiative is focused on sustainable structural changes, rather than one-off programs.
- Synergistic but not duplicative. Many initiatives aimed at institutional transformation are already underway on campus. This initiative will focus primarily on new areas and building upon existing efforts.
- Faculty focus for institution-wide impact. The action plan is oriented toward actions involving faculty, with impact on students (for example, through faculty teaching pedagogy) and the campus broadly.
- A new approach to demographic data. UC Berkeley used an intentional, novel approach to race/ethnicity data compilation, better recognizing the diversity of our academic community.
Institutional Self Assessment and Action Plan
UC Berkeley conducted a two- year, comprehensive institutional self-assessment following the AAAS SEA Change guidelines. After several rounds of consultation with academic and administrative campus leadership, eleven action items were selected because of their likelihood to:
- Have significant impact
- Show success or major progress in the five-year action plan implementation period
- Be feasible given financial and staffing resources
The actions were classified into four broad themes (shown in the graphic below) and further defined into 11 projects.
The SEA Change action plan will be coordinated out of the Office for Faculty Equity & Welfare in the Vice Provost for the Faculty division, with the Associate Vice Provost serving as the campus program lead.
