August Update on Flexible Work for EVCP Organization

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the EVCP Executive Leadership, I’m writing to provide an update on the EVCP Organization (EVCPO) Flexible Work program, which I formally announced in June and is work that all UCSF organizational units will undertake in the coming months.

Most of you have now heard directly from your leadership about the Flexible Work program. I send my sincere appreciation for your thoughtful questions and insightful feedback as we navigate this change together. This program is a complex undertaking, and I hope that this communication can help answer some initial key questions you have and allay some potential concerns. In addition to the updates included here, we have created an FAQ resource on the EVCPO Flexible Work webpage, and I encourage you to review it for more information.

Why are we doing this?

First, I think it’s helpful to remember why we are doing this. Engaging in this process of developing a Flexible Work program helps us:

  1. Sustain the excellence that UCSF is known for: the highest quality of education, research, patient care, and administration
  2. Ensure equity and consistency in our expectations of onsite, hybrid, and remote staff
  3. Plan for improved resource utilization (e.g., space, food service, parking, etc.)
  4. Evaluate the accessibility of the services we provide to students, faculty, and staff
  5. Course correct in the event we have team members performing “non-negotiated transfer of work," in which onsite staff take on additional responsibilities from hybrid colleagues simply because they are "already onsite"

Why now?

We understand the last four years have changed how work gets done. Developing a Flexible Work program presents us with an opportunity to look at how those changes have affected all of us and the people we serve:

  1. What areas of our work are much more productive and satisfying when we are physically together?
  2. What tasks and collaborations are especially effective utilizing the digital tools we have become accustomed to over the last four years?

This process opens the door for us to be intentional about how we work together going forward based on how we answer these and other such questions.

What do we risk by not changing?

If we do not engage in this process, we continue to run the risk of:

  1. Loss of mission excellence
  2. Inequitable or inconsistent approaches to flexible work practices
  3. Permanent “non-negotiated transfer of work” issues, which have a negative effect on team culture and engagement
  4. Inefficient use of resources, including space that may be vacant as a result of hybrid work

Timeline

My initial announcement about Flexible Work proposed a timeline in which leaders and managers would work with their teams this summer to categorize roles as "onsite," "hybrid," or "remote." However, we want to provide teams with appropriate resources and support to complete this task; therefore, we have adjusted the timeline: Please plan for this work to begin in late September and wrap up in mid-December. The EVCP Projects team is currently preparing guidance and templates for managers; I do not expect you to begin this work until you receive those resources.

Implementation

We will also be adjusting the implementation deadline. Many of you voiced concern that September 2025 is too soon of a deadline in the event you may need to plan to be onsite more often. We want to allow people proper time to prepare, and we want to do so in a way that aligns with Flexible Work efforts across the enterprise. With that in mind, we will share an updated deadline with you soon, but know that this new deadline will be sometime after September 2025.

Again, I appreciate the input you have voiced thus far as you think about what a Flexible Work program could look like for your team; we want to be thoughtful and to make wise decisions as we undertake this effort, and your feedback helps achieve this goal. Please don’t hesitate to bring questions and concerns directly to your leadership. We are also planning a town hall to discuss Flexible Work in addition to other EVCP priorities for this fiscal year. As soon as we have the date set, you will receive information about how to participate.

I am grateful to all of you for the dedication you bring to serving our faculty, students, and staff. I am lucky to be a leader to such smart and thoughtful colleagues, and I have no doubt the Flexible Work program we develop will reflect the wisdom and care I have come to expect as a member of the EVCPO.

Sincerely,

Catherine R. Lucey, MD, MACP
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost