BE-STEM Petition and Response

A transparent record is required to evaluate progress and establish accountability toward racial equity. This annual public report must include:

• Data that resolves the generic reporting of “underrepresented minorities” (URM), “Black/African American," and “International” for students, faculty, staff and postdocs. Specifically, it must inform on BIPOC identities including, but not limited to: American Descendant of Slavery (ADOS), African-American, Afro-Carribean, Afro-Indigenous, Chicano/a and modeled after the Graduate Division’s Program Statistics.
• Details on existing efforts that outreach to and recruit BIPOC scholars, including: conferences attended, universities visited, list of applicants (applied, accepted, and matriculated), and the list of UCSF personnel involved in recruitment.
• Statistics on the demographic enrolled in UCSF’s Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) and their matriculation into graduate programs.
• Statistics on the demographic of students participating in outreach efforts to primary schools under the umbrella of SEP.

Graduate Division Response:

Currently, each graduate program independently recruits its graduate students with the expectation that they share the Graduate Division's commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive student body. Under this system, Black candidates are underrepresented among those invited for on-campus interviews, and, in turn, are underrepresented throughout the incoming classes of most graduate programs. We ask that the Graduate Division take an active role in chartering best practices that can be implemented across graduate programs to effectively recruit and retain Black graduate students.

• Establish a paid position within the Graduate Division to develop recruitment pipelines between UCSF and national and international undergraduate and master’s degree programs in STEM that predominantly enroll BIPOC students.
• Guarantee annual visits to UCSF, which may function as a recruitment event, for students from these partnering institutions.
• Compensate UCSF graduate students for recruiting on behalf of the Graduate Division at SACNAS, ABRCMS, or any other conference.

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  Graduate Division Response:
  
  Graduate program recruitment is primarily the responsibility of individual graduate programs and is conducted by program faculty and students, who are better suited to identify and connect with students, departments, and institutions that align with each program’s scientific discipline.  

  Drs. Liz Silva and D’Anne Duncan piloted a virtual first visit for the 2020 SRTP cohort in October 2020. Students and faculty from the following basic science PhD programs participated: Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Biophysics, Tetrad, Bioengineering, Biomedical Sciences, Biomedical Informatics, Neuroscience, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics, and the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), i.e. MD/PhD program. This pilot will be used as a model for the graduate programs to carry forward.  

  As described above, the Graduate Division Dean's Office supports and coordinates attendance at the annual SACNAS and ABRCMS conferences. Individual graduate programs are responsible for identifying postdoc and student attendees, and for several years Dr. D’Anne Duncan has provided training and best practices to faculty and student attendees for recruiting and connecting with prospective applicants. 

  [Re: Compensation of UCSF graduate students, see #8 below.] 

• Expand the Science and Health Education Program (SEP) to ensure Bay Area schools disproportionately serving Black students in science are included and financially compensate all its participants for their work and travel expenses.
• Establish a paid long-term student-mentorship program where UCSF trainees can mentor 1-2 students selected from SEP-partnered classrooms over at least 2 academic semesters, as studies has shown that longer-form mentorship can have a positive impact on Black students transitioning to college [2]. Additional funds should be made available for essential educational resources and meals for participating mentors and students.
• Increase awareness of existing educational outreach programs housed by the UCSF Center for Science Education and Outreach (CSEO) and provide equitable financial supplementation for participating mentors/labs as well as transportation and meals for the program’s students.

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  Graduate Division Response:
  
  The Graduate Division Dean's Office is not directly associated with UCSF’s Science Education Partnership, managed in the Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, nor with the UCSF Center for Science Education and Outreach, part of the Office of Diversity and Outreach. However, the Graduate Division has long been directly involved in the development and delivery of Inside UCSF and – through collaboration with Angel-Max Guerrero and Don Woodson in the above offices – we will continue to cultivate fruitful partnerships in support of K-12 and undergraduate students.  

Black student-mentors and -leaders divert time from their research to fulfill an unmet need in supporting fellow Black trainees. The University is a benefactor of this uncompensated work, which includes retention of Black trainees, that reinforces the sense of community at UCSF.  We recognize that many organizations at UCSF support BIPOC individuals in STEM. However, funding for many of these programs are regulated by GPSA/ASGD and grossly limited. As such, we demand the following:

• University-provided accounts or credit cards to replace the current reimbursement system, which imposes an unnecessary financial burden on trainees.
• Bank accounts where additional funds can be directly allocated to RCOs that serve BIPOC learners. These funds should supplement the amount provided by  ASGD and GPSA and will aid in community building for current and future Black trainees.
• Development of the “Diversity Fellows Program”
• Expansion of mentorship and leadership awards (with financial compensation)
• An annual conference for diversity-oriented RCOs to promote community and develop collaborations.

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  Graduate Division Response:
  
  The University of California does not permit the provision of bank accounts or credit cards to students. However, we and our colleagues in Student Life are aware that the reimbursement system is a burden for our students. Jennifer Rosko, director of student involvement and programs, has been working with students in the School of Medicine to improve the timeliness and efficiency of the existing Registered Campus Organization (RCO) funding system. Student Life provides direct support to RCO leaders and members as they plan for events and expenditures. They assist with purchases through BearBuy, which avoids the need for reimbursement. For goods and services not available in BearBuy, they work to ensure timely and smooth reimbursement. 

  The Graduate Division Dean's Office has set aside funds for the six diversity-focused RCOs in support of events and programming, to provide each group with $500. These funds will be made available to the RCOs as a supplement to the annual ASGD allocation, for use in the subsequent fiscal year (July-June). The first allocation will be made available to the RCOs by the end of Spring 2021. RCOs are encouraged to contact the Graduate Division for additional funds to support signature events that may have higher associated costs (e.g. a diversity RCO conference).

  GRAD 210: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Academic Leadership, a new course developed and delivered by Assistant Dean D’Anne Duncan, enrolled its first cohort in winter quarter 2021. From the course description:

  “On students’ journeys toward leadership roles in research, teaching, administration, or industry, understanding the value and implications of centering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is key. In this unique 10-week service-learning course, students will develop in-depth knowledge of DEI principles, build leadership skills, and gain experience designing and implementing a DEI project.” 

  As far as we are aware, this course is the only one of its kind for biomedical PhD students. Departments and programs with which the students are affiliated are expected to be active champions, collaborators, and participants of the projects that are ultimately developed.

  Diversity RCO conferences have been held in the past, the last being held in January 2019 and was supported by the Graduate Division Dean's Office. The Graduate Division Dean’s Office is highly supportive of continuing these conferences on an annual basis and will commit funds. 

When Black learners are recruited to UCSF, a predominantly white institution, they often struggle to find community, adapt to the high cost of living, and to utilize professional development resources that are often couched in structural racism. These problems are further compounded by structural racism that has engendered socioeconomic disadvantages for Black students in particular (redlining, racist allocation of government grants, etc). UCSF should work as an institution to overcome these structural barriers to the success and retention of Black students by implementing the following:

• Invest in infrastructure to support the well-being of Black members of our community. The well-being of Black students will rely, in part, on their access to safe spaces on campus. However, neither of UCSF’s campuses provide a physical infrastructure offering reprieve for Black students, particularly at a time when Black Americans are disproportionately persecuted. A financial commitment of $1.5 million should be allocated to identify and/or create such spaces at Mission Bay and Parnassus that are independent of the Multicultural Resource Centers and prioritized for use by Black students.
• Emergency/Access Fund: UCSF should make available funds to help students, especially those who are first-generation and low income, to alleviate the stress that comes with covering basic needs, emergency expenses, etc. See Cornell: scl.cornell.edu/identity-resources/first-generation-low-income-support 
• Professional Development Fund: As UCSF claims to be a champion at diversity and inclusion, it is imperative it takes steps to level the scales. As such, UCSF should allocate funds in the form of awards for Black students through diversity-oriented RCOs, such as BE-STEM, which can be used for professional development resources, courses, workshops, or travel. While there are already funds available, this is widespread throughout the student body, and also poorly advertised. By having this guaranteed funding structure, it is easier for Black students to have a conversation with their advisors regarding these experiences, and the barriers to achieving such goals as a graduate student are reduced. Facilitating these interactions and conversations, through materializing a Professional Development Fund will also aid in the retention of Black students.
• Legal Aid: Black individuals are more likely to experience negative encounters with law enforcement, and discriminatory practices in numerous settings. Additionally, some Black individuals may have a non-US citizenship status or families outside the US. UCSF should acknowledge this hardship by providing and advertising legal resources to Black students. These resources would provide peace of mind and allow students to thrive during their time as a UCSF trainee.

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  Graduate Division Response:
  
  Space, and funds of the scale needed to create such a space, are outside the scope and budget of the Graduate Division Dean's Office. The students and postdocs of BE-STEM, in collaboration with students across the schools, have raised this issue with campus leadership.

  UCSF’s Student Financial Services (part of Student Academic Affairs) offers rapid rehousing to students experiencing housing insecurity, emergency loans to cover emergency costs that arise, and administers the Cost of Living Supplement program.

  The Graduate Division Travel Award was previously suspended due to COVID restrictions, but has now been reinstated as the Graduate Division Virtual Travel Award. Non-essential university-sponsored travel is still prohibited, but students may apply for funds toward registration in any virtual/online conference, course, or workshop that supports their professional development.

  Prior to her departure, Elizabeth Watkins, in her role as vice chancellor, initiated a discussion with UC Berkeley and UC Hastings to inquire about the feasibility of having UCSF students participate in their legal services programs. UC Berkeley declined, and interim vice chancellor Bill Lindstaedt and interim graduate dean Liz Silva are pursuing discussions with UC Hastings. 

Under the guidance of Dr. Jeanne Stanford, SHCS has increased the diversity of its staff and maintains the lowest ratio of counselors to students (1 to 533) in the UC system, in compliance with the International Accreditation of Counseling Services (IACS). However, there is data to suggest that the mental and emotional needs of Black graduate students at UCSF are not being met by the resources provided by SHCS. For instance, the recommendations set forth by IACS are intended for traditional universities, which predominantly comprise undergraduate students. Since UCSF is an exclusively graduate institution, adherence to these guidelines may not constitute sufficient mental health resources for our graduate students. Furthermore, “graduate students are more than six times as likely to experience anxiety and depression as compared to the general population” [3]. Therefore, it is not enough that UCSF is ranked #1 among the UC’s; SHCS must be held to a higher standard if we are to effectively support our students.

SHCS provide a critical service to non-white graduate students. In the 2019-2020 academic year, 47% of SHCS’s clients were graduate students (16% SON, 12% SOM, 11% SOP, 9% SOD, & 5% PT) and 61% of its clients were non-white. According to SHCS, overrepresentation of non-white clients disproportionately burdens POC clinicians, who are requested at noticeably higher rates by POC students. Relatedly, POC students typically forfeit earlier appointments with white clinicians to accommodate the shortage of POC clinicians. For some, however, access to counseling services may be time-sensitive. The need for available therapy has become increasingly urgent amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the disproportionate killing of unarmed Black people, and as our nation collectively reckons its history of racism [4] & [5].

Graduate Division Response:

Student Health and Counselling Services is currently recruiting four additional postdoctoral staff psychologists. An offer is currently pending to one psychologist (as of March 2); an additional psychologist is to be hired as soon as a suitable candidate is identified; and two more are to be hired in July 2021, or as soon as possible thereafter when suitable candidates are identified.

We acknowledge that this support is not sufficient. As this petition clearly articulates, graduate students are more likely than other students and the general population to experience anxiety and depression, and mental health needs skyrocketed in 2020. With a nationwide shortage of mental health providers, filling available positions has proven challenging. Dr. Jeanne Stanford, director of student mental health, and Dr. Chaitali Mukherjee, assistant vice chancellor and director of Student Health and Counseling Services, in collaboration with colleagues across Student Academic Affairs, are exploring additional ways to more effectively meet the needs of UCSF’s students.

D’Anne Duncan has operated as the sole DEI advocate for BIPOC students in the Graduate Division, since being hired in 2017. Since then, she has become the administrator and coordinator for a number of DEI efforts in the Graduate Division including (but not limited to): SRTP, IMSD, UC-LEADS. In addition to this programming, D’Anne serves as an academic advisor to many BIPOC students and is developing a course for the betterment of all learner experiences. While we appreciate that there’s a current search to hire a program manager, we believe that a bigger team is needed to accomplish the necessary work in increasing equity. The university can address this as follows:

Hire, at least, two staff members dedicated full-time to DEI efforts that come from diverse backgrounds to aid in equity and inclusion measures who serves to benefit Black students in the graduate division. We are aware that UCSF has instituted a hiring freeze for this year. However, the freeze specifically stipulated that “[d]uring this period, we will consider exceptions, with a focus on positions that are essential to supporting our mission and operations through this crisis.” These words were written while the crisis at the forefront of the minds of many was COVID-19. However, we must also address the constant crisis of racism. On June 9th, Chancellor Hawgood stated that UCSF “must continue the hard work of dismantling...structural barriers of racism in education [and] research”. We strongly believe that hiring at least two additional support staff, thus expanding the current search, is critical to supporting UCSF’s stated mission of educating and supporting trainees of color.

Change the salary source of the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Learner Success D’Anne Duncan, to be more equitable and sustainable and abolish admission fees. Currently, the salary of the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Learner Success, D’Anne Duncan, and office related expenses are funded entirely by admission fees. Increasing the amount of fee waivers or removing admissions fees altogether is an effective strategy for recruiting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Thus, we believe that funding the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Learner Success from a demonstrably exclusionary source, such as admissions fees, is antithetical to UCSF goals of supporting DEI. We request the following changes to remediate this problem:

1. A continuous decrease of 5% in the admissions fees yearly and an increase of 20% in the number of fee waivers offered yearly to increase equity during recruitment, with the ultimate goal of abolishing exclusionary barriers of entry
2. A public report on the amount of fee waivers offered and a streamlined process of requesting fee waivers

Establishment of a sustainable and equitable funding source for the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Learner Success and its Program Managers

Graduate Division Response:

As of January 25, the Graduate Division Dean's Office has hired a new program manager to support Dr. D’Anne Duncan’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work, and this role will focus on the experience of and support for current students. Severe budget restrictions and a current hiring freeze limit the ability to hire additional staff; efforts have been directed towards ensuring any available funding is in support of DEI work through Dr. Duncan’s initiatives, and in support of Student Health and Counselling Services. [See #6 above.]

Dr. D’Anne Duncan’s position is permanent and is not dependent on application fees. (This was inadvertently misrepresented in a previous statement.) The collection of graduate application fees is mandated by the University of California, and fees must be used in support of graduate student services and student success. UCSF collects these fees and ensures that funds are used to support staff and programs that directly benefit students. The University of California allows for a robust fee waiver program to support equity and access to graduate admissions. UCSF’s fee waiver program was reviewed and revised in 2017 to ensure that applicants who participate in state and national STEM diversity programs, socioeconomically disadvantaged applicants, and other applicants with extenuating circumstances receive waivers. The current fee waiver process asks applicants to select the relevant program at the time of application. Those with extenuating circumstances are asked to provide a brief statement. Between the 2018 and 2021 application cycles, 1,851 fee waivers were requested and granted.

Graduate admissions processes present myriad barriers to equity. Interim Dean Liz Silva, with the support of the directors of UCSF’s PhD programs, is conducting an examination of admissions data and processes, focusing on the basic sciences programs. Specifically, our objectives are to: 

• Improve the transparency and clarity of admissions processes by documenting current practices in admissions across all programs.
• Identify ways to improve the recruitment of diverse students, at application, interview, and offer stages.
• Identify ways to reduce bias in the applicant review process.
• Generate best practices for potential adoption by the programs to maximally leverage the benefits of holistic admissions. 

Our long-term objective is to advance equity in graduate admissions, at UCSF and as a model for other institutions. A separate page describing this initiative in detail, and providing a timeline, is under development.

• Trainees should be financially compensated for the time commitment to participate in those meetings. Hours to be compensated include both meeting time and time for prior research, reading materials, slack and email communication required to prepare for these meetings. Hourly payment should start at $20/hr in 2020 and be adjusted yearly according to inflation.
• Required participation of a paid expert consultant who specializes and has a background in studying institutionalized racism and/or studies the history of BIPOC people in these taskforces  to provide scholarly knowledge to discussions, adding depth and context to the opinions of trainees, faculty, and administration. We also ask that these individuals are vetted and agreed upon by RCOs like BE-STEM, and are given decision-making capabilities. Upon discord, these individuals should be granted the ability to act on behalf of the unheard voices from BIPOC graduate students. This position should be respected and their voices should be heard, whether they relay the voice or experience of one student or more students, to avoid serious experience dilution problems, that overtime lead to and perpetuate gaslighting, and loss in retention of Black students
• The task force should also include members that have knowledge of what university policies are currently in place, of the history of implementing such policies and know how quickly suggestions can be taken into action under the current policies
• Task Forces should meet with the Chancellor Executive team soon after the establishment of the committee to present recommendations that need to be enacted immediately (30-day suggestions) and follow-up meetings to assess whether recommendations were enacted and successful to address the issues.

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  Graduate Division Response:
  
  In fall 2020, a pilot was initiated to compensate graduate students who are asked to participate in short-term committees and initiatives initiated by the chancellor, a vice chancellor, or a dean. Students are compensated at a rate of $20 per hour, including time required for preparation and communications. Such service has included participation on the Chancellor’s Safety Task Force and the Chancellor’s Childcare and Dependent Task Force.

  As stated above, student recruitment and admissions are the responsibility of the graduate programs, and faculty recruitment and hiring are conducted by departments. Routine academic service, including admissions and recruitment, is not included in this pilot. Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Dan Lowenstein is developing campus-wide guidance for students, staff, and community partners. The Graduate Division Dean’s Office will provide an update on this initiative by the end of winter quarter 2021.

• We demand the creation of a post similar to a CARE advocate that can help navigate the policies regarding filing a complaint about discrimination and harassment specifically regarding race, so complainant knows what to expect before filing a complaint
• Codifying common discriminatory behavior [6] (microaggression x harassment x discrimination x retaliation) and its corresponding punishment (reduction of salary, demotion, suspension, dismissal, among other sanctions outlined in APM 016) and rehabilitation. These rules should be laid out publicly on the OPHD, ODO, Academic Senate, Graduate Division and Postdocs Office websites, and communication of them should be part of training events for faculty and trainees.
• Discriminatory actions that result in reduction in salary should result in reallocation of reduced salary to the initiatives listed above.
• Transparency regarding the process to remove problematic faculty with the Academic Senate. Per the sanctions outlined in APM 016, we require that faculty found repeatedly guilty of discrimination and harassment on the basis of race to be punished with the most severe sanction: dismissal. Retaliatory practices should result in dismissal even if the accused faculty had no previous complaints.

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  Graduate Division Response:
  
  In 2020, Graduate Dean and Vice Chancellor of Student Academic Affairs Elizabeth Watkins and Vice Chancellor of Diversity and Outreach Renee Navarro endorsed a proposal for a campus-wide Bias Response Team (BRT), developed collaboratively by Dr. LaMisha Hill, director of the Multicultural Resource Center/ODO; Maria Jaochico, director of student rights and responsibilities in Student Life/SAA;  and Klint Jaramillo, director of the LGBT Resource Center/ODO. The Graduate Division has agreed to pilot this initiative. The BRT is developing a website describing the initiative in full, including how the BRT will communicate and interact with other reporting mechanisms, to be launched by the end of winter quarter 2021. The pilot program will launch by fall 2021.

  Investigation and sanctioning of faculty who violate Title VII and Title IX rests with the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (part of the Office of Diversity and Outreach) and with the Academic Senate, respectively. However, graduate group membership falls to individual graduate programs and is governed by UCSF’s Graduate Council. The Graduate Council is seeking to (1) codify that faculty membership in graduate groups is at the discretion of the group; (2) develop a process by which faculty who have been found to have violated Title VII or Title IX will be excluded from membership in a graduate group.

• Some students have grown up in neighborhoods that were over policed and the police presence at UCSF is retraumatizing. There’s no empirical data that we can rehabilitate racist police, however, there’s empirical evidence that implicit bias training does not lead to behavior change [7], [8] therefore the only solution left is to remove problematic police officers and security guards on campus. Therefore, we ask that UCSF reduce police force on campus by 30%- 50% this year and freeze hiring for 5-years; reassess thereafter.
• With the reduction in the police force, reallocate funds following this successful example.

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  Graduate Division Response:
  
  The students and postdocs of BE-STEM, in collaboration with students across the schools, have raised this issue with campus leadership. The initial report of UCSF’s campus safety task force was released in November 2020. UC President Michael Drake hosted a UC Campus Safety Symposium on February 2, 2021. The purpose of this initial symposium was to identify common campus safety concerns across the UC system and subsequent symposia will focus on solutions to the concerns. The Graduate Division Dean's Office supports continual reform and improvement of campus policing and safety policies to effectively meet the needs of those in our community most marginalized by institutional racism, and of the development of alternative mechanisms for addressing mental health crises.