Dear Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan & CIO and Vice Provost, Information and Educational Technology Viji Murali,

We, the undersigned IT workers represented by UPTE at the University of California, Davis, wish to express our urgent need for a labor-management committee meeting. This meeting is crucial to address severe and ongoing concerns about our working conditions, which include critical issues such as understaffing, overwork, and retention of IT employees.

Key points for discussion are:

• Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our teams have been under-resourced, operating with staffing levels that have not increased despite a significant growth in the number of devices and systems we support. This mismatch has put unsustainable pressure on our current staff.

• The chronic understaffing has led many of our teams to the brink, necessitating near-constant availability, including during scheduled off times and vacations, which is neither sustainable nor reasonable.

• Our IT staff is experiencing a palpable sense of burnout, leading to high turnover rates. We struggle to retain skilled employees, jeopardizing our university’s operational stability.

• A significant contributor to our workload is the lack of standardization of IT processes. Supporting a myriad of unique configurations across devices and systems is time-consuming and inefficient. Standardizing these processes could reduce our workload and improve overall system support.

• It is imperative to acknowledge that our work is the backbone of the security and functionality of all UC Davis systems; our role is pivotal to the university’s overall functionality.

We are fully committed to engaging in a constructive collaboration in the upcoming meeting to find viable solutions to these issues. Our aim is to enhance staffing, manage workloads more effectively, prevent burnout, improve employee retention, and standardize IT processes.

We respectfully request a response within the next two weeks with potential dates for this crucial meeting. We are dedicated to working together to foster a more sustainable work environment and eagerly anticipate discussing these matters with you.