University of California, Santa Barbara
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

The University of California (UC) Board of Regents is the highest form of governance for all ten UC campuses. The UC Board of Regents consists of Appointed Regents, Ex Officio Regents, a Student Regent, Regents-Designate (Alumni and Student), Faculty Representatives to the Regents, and Staff Advisors to the Regents.
The student Regent is a voting member of The Regents of the University of California, attending all meetings of the Board and its Committees and serving a one-year term. This position is not elected but is filled by application and open to all students currently enrolled in the UC system. From the time of appointment as a Student Regent, but prior to the commencement of service as a member of the Board, the appointee holds the title Regent-designate and is invited to participate in all meetings of the Board and of its Committees, but without a vote.
UC faculty in the Academic Senate carry out shared-governance responsibilities established by The Regents. The Senate is empowered by UC's governing body, the Board of Regents, to exercise direct control over academic matters of central importance to the University – to determine academic policy, set conditions for admission and the granting of degrees, authorize and supervise courses and curricula; and to advise the administration on faculty appointments, promotions and budgets.
The Systemwide Academic Senate and the ten Divisional Senates (one for each UC campus) provide the organizational framework that enables the faculty to exercise its right to participate in the University's governance. The faculty voice is formed through a deliberative process that includes the Standing Committees of the Senate, the Academic Council, the Assembly of the Academic Senate, and their Divisional counterparts. Consultation with the senior administration occurs in a parallel structure: at the systemwide level between the Academic Council Chair and the President; and on the campus level between the Divisional Senate Chairs and the Chancellors. With some exceptions and as defined by the Standing Order of the Regents 105.1, Senate membership is granted to individuals who have a ladder-rank or other selected academic appointment at the University.
Two faculty members — the chair and vice chair of the Academic Council — sit on the Board of Regents as non-voting members. The Academic Council elects its chair and vice chair.
Staff members can participate in governance on a UC-wide scale as Advisors to the Regents. The Staff Advisors are selected from all staff and non-Senate academic employees and are appointed by the President in consultation with the Chairman of the Board. Serving as non-voting advisors to designated Regents' committees, the Staff Advisors have direct input into the Board's deliberations and decisions.

The STARS Technical Manual does not provide clear methodology or guidance for how to report for this credit in the absence of formal self-identification of gender or underrepresented groups status.
The Board of Regents’ office stated that it would be inappropriate to survey board members regarding gender identities or other identification regarding under-represented groups because of privacy concerns. With input from the AASHE STARS Team, UC Office of the President and campuses devised a count based on the pronouns used on the Regent’s website biographies.
The pronouns used in the public biographies of the 31 people listed on the Board of Regents Members and Advisors web page were used as the proxy to determine the number that are women and/or individuals who do not self-identify as men. Fifteen people had “he/him” pronouns in their bios and eleven people had “she/her” pronouns, resulting in a count of 41.9% women/individuals not identified as men. These data form the basis for our response regarding gender.
Because there is no clear methodology or guidance for how to ascertain underrepresented groups status of individual members of the Board of Regents, in the absence of self-identification, the UC campuses have chosen not to respond to the optional question about underrepresented groups. In the future, the UC will continue to work with the system-wide Diversity and Engagement office, who also seek more official Board demographics data, in an attempt to get official public reporting of gender data, and, as appropriate, underrepresented groups status.

UC Board of Regents Members and Advisors (as of June 2023)
Janet Reilly, Regent
Eleni Kounalakis, Ex Officio Regents
Maria Anguiano, Regent
Lark Park, Regent
Michael Cohen, Regent
Howard "Peter" Guber, Regent
Richard Leib, Regent and Chair
Hadi Makarechian, Regent
John A. Pérez, Regent
Richard Sherman, Regent
Jonathan "Jay" Sures, Regent
Gavin Newsom, Ex Officio Regents
Gareth Elliott, Regent and Vice Chair
Anthony Rendon, Ex Officio Regents
Tony Thurmond, Ex Officio Regents
Elaine Batchlor, Regent
Marlenee Blas Pedral, Regent
Carmen Chu, Regent
Jose M. Hernandez, Regent
Ana Matosantos, Regent
Mark Robinson, Regent
Michel V. Drake, Ex Officio Regents
Sandra Timmons, Ex Officio Regents
Amanda Pouchot, Ex Officio Regents
Keith Ellis, Alumni Regent-designate
Joel Raznick, Alumni Regent-designate
Merhawi Tesfai, Student Regent-designate
Susan Cochran, Faculty Representative
James Steintrager, Faculty Representative
Priya Lakireddy, Staff Advisor
Jo Mackness, Staff Advisor-designate

Website URL for the UC Board of Regents: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/members-and-advisors/index.html#faculty-reps
Website URL for University of California of the President: https://www.ucop.edu/mission/