This post was updated July 28 at 11:46 p.m.

The UC Board of Regents Academic and Student Affairs Committee discussed the UC Press, admission requirements and recovery programs at a meeting Wednesday.

The committees met at UC San Francisco as part of the UC Regents’ July meeting. Regents on the committee heard discussion of academic freedom at the UC Press and heard recommendations not to modify mathematical requirements for undergraduate admissions. Presenters from UC Berkeley and UC Riverside also shared information about the importance of funding collegiate recovery programs.

At the meeting, Regents heard a presentation about the importance of the UC Press, the University’s publishing house.

Katherine Newman, the UC provost and executive vice president of academic affairs, said the UC Press is an important driver of faculty scholarship across the University. She added that the Press is one of the first to specifically recognize and promote first-generation scholars.

“There’s a special publication program for first-gen scholars to support them in their publication efforts,” she said. “This is a pretty recently established program at the press that represents part of a broader commitment we all have to ‘growing our own.’”

Erich van Rijn, the executive director of UC Press, said the UC Press publishes 180 to 200 new books and 40 journals each year, and it focuses on equity as part of its publication selection process. Regent Richard Leib, who chairs the committee, said the Press has the ability to significantly impact government policy by promoting scholarship.

Regent Greg Sarris said the UC Press – which published some of his books – also has an important role in publishing literary works. Kim Robinson, deputy director of UC Press, added that the UC Press is one of only a small number of university presses that aims its publication at both academic and nonacademic audiences.

Van Rijn said his organization is primarily self-funded, with only 14% of the organization’s funding coming from UC-related sources.

Robinson said one of the things that makes the press important is its close partnership with faculty, including in helping scholars learn about the publication process and intellectual property law.

“Often, UC press staff and editors provide seminars and workshops for early career faculty and graduate students that cover things like the nuances of publishing a book, provide an insider view on how to craft an effective proposal, give advice on how to select appropriate University Press for submission or how to revise a manuscript during the peer review process,” she said.

UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman asked UC Press leaders about how they plan to avoid controversy and deal with pressure to blacklist papers.

Van Rijn responded by saying the organization uses both legal reviews and academic peer review to vet potential content but is unafraid of publishing controversial content. Robinson added that the Press believes in academic freedom and works to support controversial scholars.

“That’s who we are, and we have done that for 130 years,” van Rijn said. “We are a little bit further out on the spectrum in terms of publishing controversial scholarship than many other university presses.”

Regents also heard a presentation about mathematics preparation for undergraduate admissions.

Ani Adhikari, the faculty director of pedagogy at UC Berkeley’s College of Computing, Data Science, and Society, said her working group does not recommend any changes to Academic Senate guidelines mathematics requirements for UC admission. Per the guidelines, high school data science courses cannot validate an Algebra II requirement.

Adhikari said currently around 99.5% of California applicants to the UC have completed at least Algebra II. She added that Algebra II – which is not taught at the UC – is required to understand most of the University’s teaching, particularly in STEM fields, and therefore should be required.

Students who want to study data science at the UC should prioritize taking precalculus over data literacy courses during their final year of high school, Adhikari said. Her working group does not recommend taking data literacy courses in high school, instead recommending taking advanced math – which is offered in some high schools and community colleges, she added.

“We found that while they (high school data science classes) taught data literacy, they did not build substantially on the required lower level math courses to be recommended for the fourth year,” Adhikari said.

However, Adhikari said recommended fourth-year courses are not a requirement for admission and that UC Admissions follows a holistic process.

Leib said there were also concerns about the understanding of UC Admissions requirements in the K-12 education system, after letters of concern from the California Board of Education. Regent Jay Sures added that he also believes students do not have enough clarity about what classes they should take in high school.

Regent Alfonso Salazar also said he believes students deserve better communication on when requirement changes will be implemented to reduce anxiety.

Han Mi Yoon-Wu, the UC’s associate vice provost and executive director of undergraduate admissions, said the University must disseminate communication by the end of the summer on what courses will qualify for UC requirements.

Barbara Knowlton, chair of the board of admissions and relations with schools committee, added that the working group also set out new guidelines so data science course developers can create courses that could satisfy the Algebra II requirement in the future.

Finally, the committee discussed the UC’s recovery programs.

Newman said recovery programs are designed to create environments to help students who are recovering from substance abuse problems. Xavier de Anda, a UC Regents student observer, said substance abuse problems are highly prevalent on college campuses and are particularly important because of the ongoing fentanyl epidemic.

UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Merced and UC San Francisco currently do not have significant recovery programs, and several other campuses – including UCLA – do not have dedicated full-time staff members for recovery programs, de Anda added. He said more campuses should have recovery programs with private spaces on campus and should advocate for the housing needs of students in recovery.

Newman said existing programs support around 4,000 students per year, and staff are currently investigating the viability of opening further programs. Stephen Sutton, the vice chancellor of student affairs at UC Berkeley, said programming at his college is vital to supporting an inclusive campus and helping the mental wellbeing of recovering students.

“92% (of participants) report collegiate recovery programs to be helpful or very helpful for their mental well-being,” he said. “One of the core strengths of our clean recovery program is its focus on student development. We meet students where they are and help them navigate available resources.”

Dr. Genie Kim, director of student mental health and well-being at the UC Office of the President, said many students also receive support from counseling and psychological services, as well as existing off-campus resources including Alcoholics Anonymous.

Student Regent-designate Sonya Brooks, a fourth-year graduate student at UCLA, said she believes recovery programs also need to widen their appeal to advertise to a wider range of students.

“A lot of times we think that recovering people with these challenges either come from this environment (with) parents that either were abusers or are in communities that they were deposited in that really reinforced the substance dependent behaviors,” she said. “However, this is not the case. These are honor students. These are students who are not necessarily depicted as being abusers or reliant upon substances.”

De Anda, a fifth-year student at UC Riverside, also said a previously proposed solution to apply for county grants for recovery program funding is not sustainable in the long term. He added that he believes the University should set up consistent funding for recovery programs.

However, Leib said many counties have surpluses for people in recovery and the UC should better use those resources. He added that he believes the current UC governmental relations strategy focuses too much on Sacramento and should instead re-orient itself toward county advocacy.

Johnny Smith, who graduated from UC Berkeley in 2023, said a collegiate recovery program at UC Berkeley helped him develop a support system and succeed through his education.

“To have a consistent and structured space where I can express myself with like-minded peers is truly invaluable,” he said.