Supporting Faculty at Every Stage
A collaborative effort between Academic Affairs, Office of Strategic Research Initiatives, the New Faculty Mentorship Program, and Inclusive Excellence.
Retaining exceptional faculty is a campus-wide commitment. In collaboration with Academic Affairs, the Office of Strategic Research Initiatives, the New Faculty Mentorship Program, and Inclusive Excellence, UCSB invests in the connections, communities, and resources that help faculty thrive from their first year and beyond. Faculty do their best work when they feel supported, connected, and valued — and that is what these programs are built to do.
New Faculty Mentorship Program
Grow your career alongside a community of colleagues. UCSB’s mentoring program connects faculty across campus with the support, resources, and relationships that make a difference.
The program serves all incoming faculty, with a particular focus on assistant professors and assistant teaching professors. UCSB offers new faculty orientation, professional development workshops, quarterly social gatherings, and a year-end reception.
At UCSB, you don't navigate your first years alone.
A program of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs in the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost’s office.
Academic Affairs Faculty Resources
Academic Affairs is a strong partner in faculty success at UCSB. Under the leadership of the Vice Provost, the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost regularly hosts workshops and provides resources spanning new faculty orientation, research support, and guidance for department chairs. Our Special Assistant for Academic Initiatives works closely alongside Academic Affairs to advance faculty success and professional development across campus. Explore the full range of Academic Affairs faculty resources available to you.
Office of Strategic Research Initiatives (SRI)
A thriving research career is one of the strongest reasons faculty stay. Whether you are applying for your first fellowship or leading a large interdisciplinary center grant, SRI works alongside faculty at every stage of the funding process. Research support is also retention support. From identifying opportunities and strengthening proposals to coordinating research teams and streamlining submission, SRI is a practical and dedicated partner in building a thriving research career at UCSB.
UCSB Writing Communities
Some writing just needs a room, a deadline, and good company. Write on Site brings together faculty, postdocs, lecturers, and post-PhD scholars for focused, supportive writing sessions where the only agenda is your work.
Join us for weekly Write on Site sessions and quarterly one-day writing retreats. When funding allows, we also offer an annual three-night writing retreat with academic coaches and writing specialists — a dedicated space to go deeper on your work.
Whether you are brainstorming ideas, drafting articles or grants, responding to reviewer comments, or working through a proposal, this is your space. Stay for the full session or commit to just 30 minutes — every bit counts.
No committee reports. No grading. Just writing.
A collaboration between the Office of Strategic Research Initiatives and the Chicano Studies Institute.
Chancellor’s Initiative for Assistant Professor Infant Care
UC Santa Barbara provides infant care financial assistance to Senate faculty at the assistant level, through the Chancellor's Initiative for Assistant Professor Infant Care — a program Chancellor Dennis Assanis champions as part of the university's commitment to supporting pre-tenured faculty through the demands of early parenthood. The initiative addresses the current shortfall in infant care spaces within the campus's Early Childhood Care and Education Services (ECCES) facilities by providing financial assistance to eligible faculty whose infants remain on the ECCES waitlist without a placement.
Recruiting and retaining outstanding research and teaching faculty is central to UC Santa Barbara's mission, and meeting faculty infant care needs is essential to that effort. Access to infant care is particularly critical for assistant professors and assistant teaching professors, who face acute career pressures as they work toward tenure and security of employment.
For further details consult: Brett Collins, Program Manager, at brettcollins@ucsb.edu.
Learn more about the eligibility guidelines for the Assistant Professor Infant Care Initiative.
- Assistant professors and assistant teaching professors with infant child(ren) 1 to 24 months of age, starting in the month in which the infant turns 1 month old and ending in the month in which the infant turns 24 months old.
- At the time of application, the infant must have been on the waitlist at ECCES (Orfalea Family Children’s Center and University Children’s Center) for at least one month or until the age of three months, whichever is later, without a placement being offered. (Note: The requirement to waitlist until age 3 months corresponds with the minimum age for ECCES placement. Infants not placed would become eligible for retroactive funding starting at 1 month of age.)
- Term of eligibility expires upon any of the following: advancement to associate professor, separation or unpaid leave from UCSB, or enrollment in ECCES.
- Each infant child must be the faculty member’s legal dependent, and their child care costs must be the faculty member’s responsibility.
- For married faculty members or faculty members with a partner with whom they share a household, the spouse/partner must be either: employed or seeking work, a full-time student, or incapable of self-care.
- Any type of child care is eligible, provided the person providing the care is not: the faculty member’s legal dependent, the faculty member’s spouse, or a parent of the faculty member’s child who is not his/her spouse.
For assistant professors and assistant teaching professors newly recruited after the start of this program, eligibility is a standard component of their startup package.
- Funds are supplemental to uniform recruitment allowance, taxable, and not UCRP–eligible.
- The grant will consist of $5,000/year per infant (1 – 24 months of age), and up to two years total per infant ($10,000 maximum grant/infant).
- Funds will be pro-rated for those whose eligibility period is less than one year; specifically, for each infant, a faculty member will receive $416.67 per month for each month in which there is a day of eligibility.
- Faculty members may elect to direct funds to a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DepCare FSA), to the extent allowable within the rules and regulations of that program. Such funds would normally be non-taxable. Expenses outside a DepCare FSA will be reimbursed upon receipt of acceptable documentation.
This grant program is administered by Inclusive Excellence.
Associate Deans - Faculty Equity Advisors
Every college at UCSB has a Faculty Equity Advisor - a senior faculty member appointed by the Dean to advance inclusion within faculty communities. Faculty Equity Advisors champion equitable practices and support new initiatives that strengthen belonging and opportunity across their college. They also serve as an Advisory Committee to the Interim Vice Chancellor of Inclusive Excellence.
- Creative Studies
Sathya Guruswamy
Associate Dean and Teaching Professor - Education
Lucy Arellano
Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Higher Education - Engineering
Elizabeth Belding
Associate Dean and Professor of Computer Sciences - Environmental Science & Management
Jayajit Chakraborty
Associate Dean of Inclusive Excellence and Mellichamp Chair in Racial Environmental Justice - Humanities and Fine Arts
Natchee Blu Barnd
Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Art History - Mathematical, Life, and Physical Sciences
Joan-Emma Shea
Associate Dean and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Social Sciences
Lisa Sun-Hee Park
Associate Dean and Professor of Asian American Studies