Report 2019-047 Recommendation 3 Responses
Report 2019-047: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act: The University of California Is Not Adequately Overseeing Its Return of Native American Remains and Artifacts (Release Date: June 2020)
Recommendation #3 To: University of California
To increase oversight and ensure that campuses consistently review claims, the Office of the President should require campuses to provide reports about all current claims for affiliation, repatriation, and disposition, as well as any associated decisions, to the systemwide committee for biannual review no later than January 2021.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022
The UC Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Policy (https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/2500489/NAGPRA), effective January 1, 2022 includes the requirement for the submission of biannual reports on all the following elements to the systemwide and campus committees. UC Office of the President continues to work with the systemwide committee to refine the report templates to make them more meaningful and comprehensible.
1) All pending Requests
2) Status of Federal and CalNAGPRA Notices
3) Tribes consulted, including the content and status of the Consultation
4) Repatriations or Dispositions completed, including:
(i) Requesting Tribe(s)
(ii) Whether the Tribe submitted their Request using the NAGPRA or CalNAGPRA
process, or both
(iii) Whether Human Remains or Cultural Items have been physically transferred
5) All loan agreements
6) Materials found as a result of campus reviews
7) Newly accepted Human Remains and Cultural Items
- Completion Date: January 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2021
The UC Office of the President has received biannual reports from all campuses covering calendar year 2020, and another for the period of January 1, 2021 - June 30, 2021.
As the systemwide and campus committees are convened, these reports will be presented to them. (See recommendation 4 below.)
- Estimated Completion Date: November 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
1-Year Agency Response
The UC Office of the President has received biannual reports from all campuses covering calendar year 2020. The next biannual report is due in July 2021.
However, as UC has not yet received committee nominations from NAHC as required by CalNAGPRA (see response to Recommendation #4 below), these reports will be presented to the systemwide committee upon its formation.
- Estimated Completion Date: August 2021
- Response Date: June 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented
6-Month Agency Response
The interim policy requires bi-annual reporting as previously stated. The first reports will be submitted in January 2021.
- Estimated Completion Date: January 2021
- Response Date: December 2020
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending
60-Day Agency Response
The policy requires bi-annual reporting, including a listing of all of the following items to the President, Chancellor, and Campus and Systemwide Committees. The first report is due no later than January 2021.
- All pending Requests, date received, and status, including relevant dates;
- Status of Federal and CalNAGPRA Notices;
- Tribes consulted, including the content and statues of the consultation.
- Repatriations or Dispositions completed, including:
- Requesting tribe(s)
- Whether the tribe submitted their Request using the NAGPRA or CalNAGPRA process, or both
- Whether Human Remains or Cultural Items have been physically transferred
- Loan agreements (either for incoming or outgoing Human Remains and Cultural Items);
- Locations reviewed and reports received for previously unreported Human Remains or Cultural Items; a description of the items found and identifications made, where they were located, the status of updated Inventory/Summaries, and whether Consultation has been initiated; and
- Newly accepted Human Remains and Cultural Items (if any).
- Completion Date: July 2020
- Response Date: September 2020
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
The University of California is waiting for final implementation of this policy and expects to receive the reports from its campuses in January 2021. Until this occurs, we will continue to report this recommendation as pending.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
All Recommendations in 2019-047
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.