UC leaders say reforms and hiring have accelerated repatriation, point to $3M set aside for tribal costs

Representatives from the University of California told the committee they have implemented policy and staffing changes intended to speed repatriation and improve consultation with tribes.

Teresa Maldonado, Vice President for Research and Innovation at UCOP, said the system has expanded NAGPRA staff and created new policies that require campus and systemwide NAGPRA committees with tribal representation. "The office of the president has allocated $3,000,000 exclusively to support tribes' costs for consultation, repatriation, and reburial," she said, adding that UC has updated a public dashboard and increased publication of Federal Register notices compared with prior decades.

Chancellors described campus‑level reforms: Berkeley reported increasing staff and funding (citing a $3.4 million budget for repatriation next year and expanded repatriation staff), San Diego said it has added full‑time repatriation staff and completed in‑person reviews of dozens of high‑risk buildings, and Santa Barbara and Riverside described systematized reviews, databases and recalled loans. UC leaders emphasized they aim to meet federal publication deadlines and to improve transparency through quarterly and biannual reports.