The UC Davis Academic Senate is working more closely with the administration on issues like the budget and shared governance, say faculty leaders.

"The provost has been more willing to work with the Senate on budget priorities," said Senate chair Dan Simmons at the quarterly meeting of the Senate's Representative Assembly. The session was held in the Moot Courtroom at the law school.

"This is a positive story — I am very pleased," he said, noting that this was a step in the right direction with more work to be done.

Simmons, a law school professor, explained that a Senate committee on budget planning had provided significant consultation to administrators on the development of the upcoming campus budget. Earlier this year the Senate produced a report, "Mending the Wall, that included recommendations to enhance shared governance between the faculty and administration.

At UC, the concept of "shared governance" means that no single campus constituency has total authority over everything that happens within the university. The faculty makes the final decisions on admissions, courses and curricula, and graduation requirements; the administration has authority over resources. But on everything related to these and other matters, the two entities must consult.

The Senate also announced the recipients of the Distinguished Public Service Award: Randi Hagerman, the medical director of the M.I.N.D. Institute; Patricia Gándara, an education professor; Jeff Mount, a geology professor; and John Whitaker, a professor emeritus of food science. (See the complete story on the recipients in this issue.)

In addition, the Senate also revised two bylaws aimed at making the body more efficient. One involved moving the due date for annual reports from the standing committees to Aug. 31 from the current spring quarter deadline. The other clarified criteria for exofficio membership — narrowing the definition of who qualifies — in the Senate. Other changes are being discussed in various colleges and schools and could be ready for discussion and voting in June, Simmons added. He said, "These are revisions to the way we work in the Senate" with the goal to improve operations."

Due to time, the senate deferred a number of proposed bylaw revisions and may attempt to call a special session meeting in May to vote upon the recommendations, said Gina Anderson, executive director of the Academic Senate.

Michael Buck, the chair of the Staff Assembly, spoke to the group and noted the difficulty in making the Staff Assembly a strong and vigorous body. "It's a major challenge to keep Staff Assembly going" in light of rising union membership on campus and the lack of employee salary increases at a time when workloads are increasing.

Buck highlighted areas where faculty and staff have worked successfully together. For example, he said, a faculty-staff transportation and parking committee has slowed parking price increases on campus.