UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development

Meets Systemwide Criteria:

• Is mid-career faculty, academic personnel and staff from campuses, health centers, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Office of the President
• Has demonstrated potential for advancement
• Supports woman-identified professionals and seeks to learn concepts that improve their effectiveness at work and hear about the career journeys of established UC leaders

Meets UC San Diego Campus Criteria: 

• Applicants selected as alternates in prior years will be given first consideration
• Right time in the applicant's development to impact their own career and UC San Diego
• Evidence of capacity to "pay it forward" to the organization and their communities
• Represents the diversity at UC San Diego, including different areas of campus and faculty, academic personnel and staff

Participants in the UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development are expected to:

• Participate fully - the UC Women’s Initiative is experiential and relies heavily on full participant contribution
• Attend all program sessions in their entirety (locations will be charged for participants who do not complete the program)
• Complete Pre-Work and Pre-Program Survey before the first day of their assigned cohort
• Complete up to 2 hours of additional work assigned between program sessions

How does the application work? 

Applicants must submit all required application materials.  Applicants can submit their own materials or someone else can submit the materials on their behalf (including the personal essays written by the applicant) provided supervisor approval is confirmed. 
 
UC San Diego submits the list of participants and alternates for the year to Systemwide HR who will then be in contact with participants for their selection into cohorts and runs all program details from that point forward. 
 
Application materials include: 

1. Endorsement by supervisor, department head or vice chancellor to confirm time and funding approval
2. At least one letter of support
   • Any individual who is in a position to evaluate the applicant's work and professional development is invited to write a letter of support.  The letter should address the prompt listed below.  One letter is required.  Additional letters may be submitted.
   • The following is to be addressed in the letter of support:
     • Why do you think the applicant should participate in UCWI?
     • How might the applicant benefit from the program?
     • How will the applicant's UCWI participation positively impact UC San Diego and our communities? 
3. Two short essay answers (500 words maximum per question) written by the applicant
   • In 500 words or less: Why is this the right time in your professional development to participate in the UC Women's Initiative?
   • In 500 words or less: How do you anticipate being able to positively impact UC San Diego and our communities as a result of this program? 

4) FAU or Financial Chart String

Preview the application form.

The review committee will review all applications for the following: 

• What is the compelling case for why the applicant should participate in the program, specifically why at this point in their career? 
• Is it clear how the applicant will benefit from participation in the program? 
• How will participation in the program help the applicant contribute to UC San Diego and their communities? 

Stay tuned for details about applying to the 2025-2026 cohort of the UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development.  In the meantime you can record your interest here and receive an email notification once the 2025 application is available.