Overview of Scripps Oceanography

Governance/Organization

Scripps is an integral part of UC San Diego. The Scripps Director is UC San Diego’s Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences and Dean of the School of Marine Sciences. Scripps has a single Department Chair with overall responsibility for the education program and recruiting and retaining faculty. With more than 100 professors, Scripps is one of UC San Diego’s largest departments. This has the advantage of giving us more clout and facilitating interdisciplinary research and education, but also has the disadvantage that our faculty often must vote on personnel files in fields that are far from their own.

SIO Faculty versus SIO Department Faculty

SIO Faculty encompasses Researchers as well as SIO Department Faculty. Researchers’ primary appointment is in the research division. They may have an Educator Without Salary appointment in SIO Department, but it is a secondary appointment to their Researcher title.

SIO Department Faculty are faculty members with a primary appointment in the SIO Department and an affiliation with the research divisions. Their responsibilities include teaching courses. Per the department bylaws, only faculty with appointments in the SIO Department may vote on SIO Department academic personnel files. The series that are considered department faculty include:

Ladder Rank Faculty Series (LRF), also known as Professors Lecturer with (Potential) Security of Employment Series (L(P)OSE), also known as Teaching Professors Professor in Residence Other titles such as Professor of Practice and Adjunct Professors Educator without Salary is a title appointed to Researchers but is a secondary title to the Researcher appointment.

Role of Division and Sections

The research side of Scripps is divided into three Sections, each of which includes two or more research divisions.

Divisions are almost always referred to by their acronym rather than their full names. There is a Section Head and a Business Office for each Section and a Director and Business Officer for each Division. The Business Officer will be the same person for each of the divisions within a section.

Who Does What?

Scripps' leadership roster can be viewed on the website along with the organization chart.

At Scripps

Your appointment as Professor will be in the SIO Department (Researcher appointments are within the sections), and one (or more) research divisions. You will have one primary voting Section (although you may be affiliated with multiple sections if you choose). While your academic review file will be managed in the SIO Department (or by the section if you are a Researcher), your business office will handle your business and administrative matters. Even if you have multiple division affiliations, you will have only one primary business office that will handle all your research needs (space, pre- and post-award administration, purchasing, travel, staffing, etc).

Each research division within a Section has a business office. When you first arrive, make sure that you are introduced to your Business Officer and the Fund Manager who will assist you in preparing proposals and administering grants. Your Business Officer will also be able to direct you to the appropriate personnel to assist you with benefits and human resource questions, as well as purchasing and travel reimbursement. Office and lab space are often in short supply. Most incoming faculty will have negotiated for space and details will be included in offer letters. If you have space issues, contact your Section Head, as they have responsibility for assigning space. The Section Heads will involve either the Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Marine Sciences or the Deputy Director for Research if space issues cannot be resolved within the section.

Deputy Director for Research (DDR)

The Scripps Deputy Director for Research (DDR) is a rotating senior faculty member who serves for several years in this academic administrative position under the Director to assist all academics in research-related areas. As a new faculty member, some of the areas you might seek advice on include the following:

Research-related issues that cannot be resolved by either the Division Director or Section Head (e.g., funding/salary shortfalls, cost sharing requests for major research initiatives, academic research programmatic issues, space as it relates to academic research issues, seed funding, start-up funding extensions, etc.). Large, multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary proposal development Scripps participation in limited-submission proposals. Working with academics to establish new centers and subsequent center reviews. Researcher hiring.

Associate Director

The Scripps Associate Director is a staff member who manages the office of Government Relations, Research Development, Strategic Partnership, and Events. The office facilitates extramural funding at the federal, state, and local levels, promotes strategic collaboration with external partners, and engages key external stakeholders in support of Scripps priorities, research, educational and infrastructure programs, and initiatives.

Program Areas include research development, planning, positioning, and partnerships; government and corporate relations; and institutional events and venue management.

Objectives:

Identify and secure opportunities and funding advancing Scripps priorities and programs. Develop and execute programs informing external stakeholders of priorities and create partnerships supporting educational and research programs and priorities. Stakeholders and strategic partners may include research funding sponsors; local, national, and international organizations; alumni; donors; industry; and all levels of government. Develop and execute an annual plan of institutional events to increase communication and collaboration within Scripps and promote external strategic engagement. Engage institutional research development, institutional positioning, and strategic planning efforts to advance research, education, infrastructure, and diversity initiatives. Possible partnerships with local, national, and international sponsors Establishing collaborative relationships with industry partners and the promotion of innovation and technology commercialization initiatives. (See How to collaborate with Scripps and Entrepreneurial Resources). Engaging, strengthening, and supporting Scripps alumni and creating leverage opportunities for UC San Diego alumni to discover and connect with Scripps. Involvement in institutional events to increase communication (i.e. speaking at events) and collaboration within Scripps. Event planning and use of venues.

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations

The Assistant Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences Finance and Operations oversees operations and administrative support for research and academic programs for all areas of Scripps. Areas of support include administrative computing; business and finance; capital planning and space management; communications; contracts and grants; diversity initiatives; diving programs; facilities management; human resources; safety and compliance; and information technology. Each of these administrative services is described in the Administrative Services section of this document and includes contact information. The Assistant Vice Chancellor (AVC) is available to discuss specific problems, concerns, or assistance you may encounter with the financial or business operations at Scripps. It is important that you first discuss all issues with your business office, division director, and section head, but if you require higher-level assistance, contact the AVC's Executive Assistant to schedule a meeting. As a new faculty member, areas that you may require assistance from the AVC include the following:

Special requests for administrative support that may not be available within your assigned business office;
Space management
Finance issues related to Scripps commitments
Facilities operations, planning, and policies
Safety programs, training, and regulatory compliance
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives
Information Technology.

At UC San Diego

Office of Executive Vice Chancellor

The Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor is the home of Executive Vice Chancellor and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Planning and Resources. This office is the central hub of the Academic Affairs administrative support units, which include academic personnel services, resource administration, and undergraduate education.

Academic Affairs

Academic Affairs encompasses all academic units of the UC San Diego general campus, including graduate, professional, undergraduate education, the undergraduate colleges, research centers, and the UC San Diego libraries.

Faculty Governance and Senate

The University of California has a long tradition of extensive faculty participation in the educational administration of the University through the Academic Senate. The Regents, the President and their administration, the Chancellors and their administrations, and the faculty (through the Academic Senate) share governance of the University. Each of these partners in governance has broad areas of authority and responsibility as provided in the bylaws and Standing Orders of the Regents. The Regents comprise the governing board of directors of the public corporation, which is the University of California.

The Senate is composed of all regular ranks of faculty and functions as the voice of the faculty in University Governance. UC San Diego’s Senate advises the Chancellor on academic policy issues, including budget matters, administration of the libraries, and appointment and advancement of faculty members. In addition, the Senate authorizes, approves, and supervises all courses, except those of certain graduate professional schools, and determines conditions for admission, certificates, and degrees.

Overview of Scripps Oceanography

Governance/Organization

Biology (BIO) Section

Earth Science Section

Oceans and Atmosphere (OA) Section

Who Does What?

At Scripps

At UC San Diego