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Gillman Turned UCI ‘On a Dime’

It’s clear that the University of California-Irvine didn’t sit the pandemic out.

The university, which contributes about $5 billion to the Orange County economy every year, turned “on a dime,” according to Chancellor Howard Gillman.

“We are essentially a city of 50,000 or 60,000 people,” Gillman told the Business Journal in December.

“That means we have a responsibility to keep a lot of things moving forward.”

The university, with about 36,303 students and 19,698 employees and faculty members, moved to remote work and academic instruction, while maintaining essential research and preparing its academic health system for patient care.

It also oversaw the return of some 7,000 students to live on campus in the fall, all the while maintaining financial responsibility—including a commitment to stave off COVID-related employee layoffs or furloughs.

For those reasons the Business Journal selected Gillman as an executive of the year, in the educational sector.

“I’m most proud of how much people decided that we had something of value, that we were going to contribute to support each other and the larger community,” Gillman said.

“OC was served so well by thousands of people associated with UCI, who, when called for service, responded.”

Vast Action

“We were made for this,” Gillman said of tackling the pandemic.

“You understand in the abstract the value of great universities. But sometimes moments occur when you realize the entire country is depending on a specialized group of people to respond. That, of course, includes our health system, but also our researchers who are part of the process of understanding this virus, and everyone else that had reliable knowledge to bring to bear.”

UCI Health set up surge protocols and integrated remote monitoring devices into its care plans for patients.

Public health faculty members partnered with the county on research studies, contact tracing and launched a program to help businesses reopen including the Monarch Beach Resort, Irvine Co. and the Pacific Symphony.

Social scientists started researching the social and political implications of the crisis. Engineering students reimagined how to create different types of personal protective equipment. Trustees rallied around the university.

“Big research universities with academic health systems are precious and valuable resources for the community,” Gillman said. “During the pandemic, that lesson crystalizes a bit.”

Equity & Inclusion

As the university grappled with what Gillman described as the biggest challenge it faced in its history, it made decisions “filtered through a lens of equity and inclusion,” he said.

“When you do that, it forces you to make more holistic decisions about how some approaches might be generically appropriate for a lot of people, but it leaves out way too many people,” he said.

UCI sent hundreds of laptops and wi-fi hotspots to students and staff in need of supplies amid remote instruction.

“When the videotaped murder of George Floyd reignited this racial reckoning on the campus, we also had a campus that responded with the same kind of vigor and universal sense of responsibility that we saw during pandemic,” Gillman said.

The university announced its ‘Black Thriving Initiative,’ which aims to dismantle anti-Blackness through gathering scholars, researchers and thought leaders; elevating attention to Black experiences and drivers of wellbeing; and engaging and partnering with communities to advance society.

The initiative has “the boldness and the most comprehensive response of any university that I know of, to this moment,” Gillman said.

Health Pioneer

The pandemic also put a spotlight on health, an area that UCI has been ramping in recent years.

UCI will make a “$1 billion to $1.5 billion investment in its vision” for integrative health, spanning its clinical facilities and academic work, Gillman said.

The university is currently constructing an academic health science complex, which will house its schools of medicine, nursing, pharmaceutical sciences and public health as well as its integrative health institute.

Meanwhile, plans are also underway to rapidly expand UCI Health’s presence in Irvine through more clinics and an $221 million advanced center for care along Jamboree Road, which is expected to open in late 2022.

UCI also plans a new hospital along Jamboree Road; the university expects to seek final approval for the project from the UC Regents board this month.

Because of UCI’s structure and support, “we have the ability to implement and translate great work in the academic side into the health system, so it’s not separate silos, but one coherent and integrated vision of wellbeing,” he said.

Innovations Ahead

The pandemic has reframed the value of public academic institutions, Gillman said.

“A lot of the debate around higher education got pulled into the culture wars and debates around free speech. We saw a big divide within the country on what the status of higher education is. I think [the pandemic] has been a useful corrective, especially when it comes to great public research universities. For all the things we can get worked up about, when we have the time, there is still a tremendous reliance on science, knowledge, scholarship and service,” he said.

Some areas of innovation that Gillman is interested in keeping include tech-enabled teaching and learning when it isn’t mandated, and a better work-life balance for staff, who might be able to perform a portion of their duties from home or other spaces.

“The thing about established cities is they think they can rest on laurels. OC is a place that is very proud of its tremendous accomplishments, but it still knows there is more to do,” Gillman said.

“It’s always exciting to be part of a community that is still constructing its future, especially if you are part of a university that is part of almost all those conversations. It’s special to be part of a community that is still interested in imagining a more Brilliant Future.”

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