UCD Structure Explained

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UC Davis is a public university in the University of California higher education system chartered by the California State Constitution. It receives funding from the State of California, student tuition, donors, and through specific research grants. A developer position may be a permanent position or it may be a temporary position funded by a grant.

UCD is generally thought of as comprising of staff, students (both undergraduate and graduate), faculty, and researchers. Though some areas of the University are administered by staff, much of the University’s administrative authority ultimately comes from the faculty via the Academic Senate or from faculty-filled positions (including the Office of the Chancellor).

The University itself is federated, consisting of colleges, schools, and other units which receive some dictums from a central authority but retain much independence in their operation. This allows various units to craft their methodologies with a fitness suited to their purpose. This does create challenges in collaboration however, as units are not forced to share code, share development practices, and so on.

Some of these collaboration challenges are mitigated by SIGs (special interest groups) or other community instruments which allow like-minded staff and faculty to come together and share ideas and develop collaborations.

The UCD Developers’ SIG is one such group. You can find more about it on our About page.