Apologies for interrupting what we hope is a productive and restful summer. We write to give an update on the imposition of Trellix Endpoint Detection and Response, also known as EDR.
As UCSBFA and CUCFA have noted already, Trellix is a software that grants itself unrestricted root-level access to faculty computers, thereby enabling comprehensive and invasive surveillance capabilities. Such unchecked access allows the monitoring, extraction, alteration, and even deletion of files without explicit user consent or notification.
Trellix represents, therefore, an unprecedented intrusion into the privacy and intellectual security of faculty, undermining fundamental principles that underpin the university’s educational and research missions.
Beginning last winter, CUCFA and SBFA mobilized in opposition to the rushed and threatening implementation of the cybersecurity mandate. Hundreds of faculty members systemwide have voiced serious and well-founded concerns regarding the mandatory deployment of Trellix through several petitions. This spring, the Representative Assembly at UCI passed a resolution calling for an immediate halt, as did the Representative Assembly at UC Santa Barbara. The Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate and UC Riverside’s Senate Executive Council also called for a freeze on the rollout. On June 12, 2025, the systemwide Representative Assembly of the UC Senate approved a resolution reflecting this same position. A petition signed by over 1,000 members of the Senate called for halting the implementation of any EDR-technology solution.
Given President Drake’s refusal to abide by CUCFA and UC Assembly’s requests to halt the implemetation of the cybersecurity mandate, we are calling on all faculty to consider signing this open letter to incoming UC President James Milliken about the imposition of surveillance software on faculty computers
We are also interested in gathering data about compliance with the mandate and problems experienced by faculty who have already uploaded Trellix on their computers. Please, consider filling out this questionnaire to let us know about your opinion or experience with EDR software.
Finally, faculty working groups are preparing a Public Records Act request to obtain documentation about the decision-making and procurement process that led to the Trellix requirement, and detailing alternatives to EDR systems that can meet the same insurance criteria. In other words, we are doing the work that the administration should have done when it decided not to consult us. Reach out if you have relevant skills and are interested in joining these efforts.
If you are not already a member of the SBFA, now is a great time to join our efforts to protect and defend faculty governance and academic freedom.
Your SBFA Board,
Claudio Fogu (interim President)
Lisa Hajjar
Bassam Bamieh
Felice Blake
Joseph Blankholm
Nelson Lichtenstein
Kalju Kahn
Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer
Laila Shereen Sakr