Dear Colleagues,
This will be my last letter to you in my role as EVC. So, I would like to start by celebrating a few examples of what we at UC San Diego have accomplished together in the last nine years.
We brought the institution successfully through a global pandemic with our shared governance and spirit of inquiry intact. On this, I will principally echo Virgil’s Aeneid “Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.” (Perhaps one day it will be pleasing to remember even these things). But, typically, we did also find a way to make lemonade from the lemons life handed us: we used our experience with online engagement as a springboard to launch high-quality remote education, strengthen international collaboration and bring flexibility to student advising.
We created two new colleges, a new school and multiple new departments and programs and inter-disciplinary research centers. Paradoxically, enlarging the number of colleges helped them become a true “system of colleges” that is organizationally coherent while remaining intellectually and culturally diverse.
We brought formerly rather isolated units like Extended Studies, GPS, Rady, the Design Lab, the Qualcomm Institute, SDSC, the Preuss School, and the University Library into the academic mainstream. Each has new cross-campus collaborations and is making their campuswide value apparent in novel ways.
We have drawn on extensive end-user feedback to guide the streamlining and automation of many administrative functions. It is a joy for the EVC to no longer field certain complaints or queries because the underlying problem has actually been fixed!
We have established Collective Impact on our campus as a robust approach to partnership that facilitates more ambitious cross-Vice Chancellor portfolio projects in support of students without compromising autonomy. A few examples have included:
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What has made all of this work exciting and rewarding has been the chance to do it with such an amazingly creative and dedicated set of colleagues: Who are focused on bringing ideas to life and achieving positive outcomes and who are generous in sharing credit. Who remain proudly dedicated to the access and inclusion mission of our public research university. Who work across the boundaries of staff and faculty, administration and senate, employee and volunteer… because we have a common identity as Tritons. Who support each other and often become friends.
The philosopher Epictetus reminds us that
The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.
I have been so fortunate, in this regard, in my teammates and collaborators during my time as EVC!
In announcing my decision to return to the faculty, I quoted the poet Mary Oliver, who asks us “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
A skeptic questioned whether I would really describe faculty life as “wild and precious.”
My answer is a resounding yes. For me, it offers re-immersion in the breathtaking beauty of physics and mathematics, the fields that originally drew me to academe. But also time for poetry, music, languages and writing, as a balance to my essential science geek core.
It offers the challenge of awakening and sustaining students’ interest, of teaching them to follow their curiosity. Indeed, I strongly suspect that in the future our focus as educators will be on nurturing intangible “expert” skills. For instance, the skill of embedding fully into the perspective of an academic discipline, just as one can learn to think entirely within a second human language. Or of developing an intuition for when an argument or proof is robust and a knowledge of how to rigorously test that intuition. Or of becoming comfortable with the pursuit of intellectual play, of experimenting, learning from dead ends and constantly inventing new approaches
Ultimately, it offers the precious freedom to explore connections among all of these interests.
As I joyfully return to this wild and precious faculty life, I look forward to being right here with you, my wonderful colleagues, staying in touch over coffee or a beach walk, at an art event or department seminar, or even on the pickleball court or the fencing piste. I hope we will also collaborate from time to time, as I plan my courses, start new research projects, and undertake my Senate service.
Thank you all for sharing the journey with me.
Elizabeth H. Simmons
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Common Read Selection Announced for 2026 |
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The 2026 UC San Diego Common Read has been selected. “Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry,” by Ada Limón, the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, 2024 Time magazine Woman of the Year, and a 2023 MacArthur fellow will be the book for the next academic year.
“Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry” is an impactful book that demonstrates poetry as a powerful force for healing, a call to action, and a vibrant celebration of humanity’s many voices. Limón delivers a powerful message that poetry has the ability to restore, connect, and remind us of our shared existence.
Several campuswide events and activities are being planned for the 2026-27 academic year to celebrate the Common Read Year of Poetry at UC San Diego, including a campus visit from the author.
For more information, including an evening with the poet, can be found on the Common Read website.
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NAGPRA Training Course Launched by UC San Diego |
The UC San Diego Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Compliance Training on UC Learning is now available. The training was developed through the efforts of the Vice Chancellor Offices for Organizational Transformation and Operations Management and Capital Programs in collaboration with the Human Resources Learning Technologies team.
The first of its kind in the UC system, the training reflects UC San Diego’s prioritization of compliance with federal and state repatriation laws and UC policy. The content focuses on creating shared understanding of NAGPRA basic requirements for reporting Native American and Native Hawaiian cultural resources. This module is intended to strengthen campus consistency and provide accessible guidance for those within the campus community who may encounter cultural material during their course of work.
All faculty and staff, particularly those who may have a higher likelihood of encountering cultural items or remains in their work, are strongly encouraged to complete the training.
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International Business Travel |
UC San Diego encourages all student, scholar and employee travelers to prioritize safety and well-being, make informed decisions about travel, and utilize University of California System Office and UC San Diego travel resources prior to departure.
At least six months prior to departure, travelers should review the University of California System Travel Risk and Insurance and Global Initiatives International Travel Guidance webpages, which includes information about:
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- Preparing travel, vaccination, identity, and employment verification documents
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Registering your trip with the proper office or authority (Concur or UC Away) to ensure you receive updates, alerts and resources like insurance or emergency services through the UC’s security provider, Crisis24
- Information about University of California System travel advisories
- UC San Diego Field Operational Planners, cybersecurity, export control, visa status, and much more
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Triton Student System (TSS) Updates |
TSS Launch and Hypercare: Check Information Carefully and Report Issues
TSS is a major university transition, and July will be a high-support period as UC San Diego begins moving key student services into the new system.
After launch, UC San Diego will operate a hypercare period through December 2026 to support students, faculty and staff. During this time, not everything will be perfect immediately, and some student information may need to be reviewed or corrected.
Faculty and staff should check information carefully as they begin using TSS, especially when supporting student records, advising, booking, grading, payments, academic progress or other core services.
If you notice a data issue, technical problem, access issue or error message, email tss@ucsd.edu. Please include as much detail as possible, including the student’s name, TSN if available, what you were trying to do, what looked incorrect and any relevant screenshot or error message.
Please do not submit the same issue through multiple channels, as this can slow down response times. Urgent issues affecting student access, course booking, payments, academic progress and core student services will be prioritized.
For academic questions about a student’s major, minor, courses, degree progress or academic record, students should continue to contact their academic advisors through the Virtual Advising Center (VAC).
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TSS Hypercare Support: Where to Get Help
As UC San Diego prepares for the Summer 2026 launch of TSS, a coordinated post-launch support model (aka hypercare) is being developed to help faculty, staff and students get timely assistance and guidance during the transition.
Existing support channels remain available until end of day July 8:
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New hypercare support channels will be available from July 9th and will include:
| - Support portal: [direct link to TSS support form coming soon]
- Same hours as email support (see below)
- Phone support: (858) 246-4357
- Same hours as email support (see below)
- Email support: tss@ucsd.edu which will route requests into the support process
- Weekdays (Monday through Friday)
- July 9 to September 4: 7:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
- September 7 to September 18: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
- September 21 to December 18: 7:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
- Weekends (Saturday and Sunday)
- July 11 & 12: 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
- July 18 to September 13: 8:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
- September 19 to December 13: 12:00 noon–3:00 p.m.
- Office Hours support: Zoom
- Weekdays (Monday through Friday) only
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July 9 to July 15: 9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
- July 15 to September 18: 7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
- September 21 to December 18: 9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
- No weekend support
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In-person support: Applied Physics & Mathematics, Room 1313, First Floor (Map)
- Weekdays (Monday through Friday) only
- July 9 to August 21: 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
- No weekend support
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TSS Access Requests: Review the TSS Roles & Access knowledge base article to learn if your role will need access to TSS and how to submit the access request form.
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Weekly newsletter, The TSS-entials, same newsletter more frequent, beginning July 10 - Subscribe to our Newsletter
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Training: Bookmark the Faculty & Staff Training for TSS and Student Training for TSS pages and check back often as new resources are added.
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Demonstrations: Review the TSS demonstration recordings to preview new functionality, including Find-A-Student, staffing tools and the Instructional Scheduling Assistant.
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Website: visit the TSS website for important information and project updates.
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During hypercare, TSS-related issues should be submitted through the appropriate support channel so they can be tracked, triaged and routed to the right functional or technical support team. To support efficient resolution, please submit one request per issue and avoid opening multiple tickets for the same issue. If you have additional information to add, update the existing ticket rather than creating a new one.
Supporting Students Through the TSS Transition
Students are being informed about the transition to TSS through campus notices, emails, social media, website banners, signage and student-facing presentation materials.
Additional communications will continue to be shared leading up to launch to help students understand what is changing, when to take action and where to go for support.
Action by June 29: Review EASy Settings for TEA
As UC San Diego prepares to move from EASy to the Triton Enrollment Authorization system (TEA), departments should review current EASy configuration values by June 29, 2026.
TEA will launch with core request and review functionality, but department self-service access to update department- and course-level settings through the TEA Admin app will not be available at initial launch. Existing EASy settings and department approver assignments will be used as the starting point where possible.
Read the full TEA Admin App update.
Action by June 30: Student Account Charges Freeze
As part of the transition to TSS, departments will not be able to post non-registration related charges to student accounts from July 1 through early August 2026.
The final day to post charges, correct charges or make adjustments in ISIS is June 30, 2026. Departments that assess fees directly to student accounts should review activity now and ensure outstanding charges or corrections are completed by the deadline.
Questions may be directed to esr-student@ucsd.edu. To request TSS UAT exposure for Auxiliary Postings, contact Husnaa Jamshed at hmjamshed@ucsd.edu.
Read the full Student Account Charges Freeze update.
Action Recommended by July 6 Request TSS Access Through CARF
Staff and faculty whose university responsibilities require access to TSS are encouraged to submit access requests by July 6, 2026 to support timely review and approval ahead of launch.
Access requests must be submitted through the Campus Access Request Form (CARF). Requests sent by email cannot be used to grant system access.
Before submitting a request, review the TSS Roles and Access Knowledge Base Article, which explains who should request access, required training, role-selection guidance and the approval process.
Once access has been approved and TSS is available, authorized users will access TSS through Single Sign-On at sis.ucsd.edu.
Accounts Receivable Tools Unavailable During TSS Transition
As part of the transition to TSS, payment and refund tools will be temporarily unavailable while data is migrated to the new system.
Please plan around the following dates:
July 9 – July 27: During the transition period, two Direct Deposit tools will be available—the TritonLink Direct Deposit tool and the TSS Direct Deposit tool. The appropriate tool depends on when you expect your refund to be issued.
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For refunds issued before August 6, 2026: Update your banking information using the TritonLink Direct Deposit tool. Changes made in TSS will not be used for refunds processed before August 6. This tool is not available for Fall 26 incoming students.
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For refunds issued on or after August 6, 2026: Use the TSS Direct Deposit tool. Students who enroll in direct deposit for the first time or update their direct deposit information in TSS before August 6 will have those changes take effect on August 6, 2026.
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July 28-August 6: Financial aid disbursements and refunds paused.
July 29, 5:00 p.m.: TritonPay payment portal closes. Please complete any payments before this time.
August: Refund processing resumes in TSS following the transition.
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Basic Needs Center and Food Resources for Students |
The Hub Basic Needs Center provides Food Security Resources, Housing Resources, and Financial Wellness services to undergraduate and graduate students.
Food insecurity remains a critical issue for college students nationwide and 2024 UCUES data showed that 51% of UC San Diego undergraduate students report facing food insecurity - threatening their wellbeing and academic success! But CalFresh, a state program that awards up to $298 a month for groceries, can help! More than 50% of UC San Diego students are CalFresh eligible, and ~60% of students enrolled receive more than $200 monthly.
You can help by joining the many instructors who are including food support information in their student-facing communications, such as class syllabi, Canvas pages and slides. Use the resource downloads on the Collective Impact website to share information with students.
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What’s Bringing Us Joy This Pride Month |
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Four UC San Diego Music Faculty and Alumni Receive American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards |
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California’s Unidentified Coastal Species Get a DNA Library of Their Own |
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The Paramount Problem With Hollywood’s Next Big Merger |
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| What Desert Locusts Reveal About Disaster Monitoring |
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