We Are Berkeley!

December 13, 2012

Dear Campus Community,

The campus has spoken!  Over the course of the last two years, more than 10,000 voices have contributed to articulating a working culture that can help us succeed.  Great ideas were generated in CultureCal, the online brainstorming event in October in which thousands of Berkeley’s staff, faculty, and student employees rated principles, created new ones, and shared passionate comments. 

Along the way it was very clear that employees care a great deal about our working environment and want it to improve.  Following through on this collaborative process, we are pleased to announce that we have reached consensus on the Berkeley Operating Principles, which will help us achieve campus goals and make UC Berkeley a place where we can all do our best work.

The five Operating Principles are:
We include and excel, together
We imagine and innovate
We simplify
We are accountable to each other
We focus on service

What Happens Next?
Members of the Chancellor’s Cabinet will begin by immediately gathering a baseline assessment on the extent to which each of their units is living by the principles.  In 2013, the campus will implement many substantive changes guided by the principles, including recognition programs, recruitment and hiring, staff retreats, etc.

It’s Up to Us
For us to succeed, we cannot wait for someone else to make this a place where we can do our best work.  It is up to each of us to take the Berkeley Operating Principles to heart for our teams, our departments, and ourselves.  For example, we can do this by sharing profiles of people and teams that are already demonstrating these principles in their work, by sharing ideas on how to use the principles, and more.

We appreciate your participation in this collaborative effort.  We are Berkeley and we are committed to realizing world-class operations to support Berkeley’s world-class teaching, research, and public service.


Wishing you the best in the New Year,

Robert J. Birgeneau, Chancellor
George Breslauer, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
John Wilton, Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance
Andrew Szeri, OE Program Office Faculty Head, and Dean, Graduate Division