UC: an engine of opportunity for all Californians
It's been a tough year so far for the University of California. We've had to take difficult and painful steps for all members of the UC family: fee increases for students, furloughs and salary reductions for faculty and staff, a reduction in the size of the freshman class. But these headlines don't tell the whole story.
This month, as our students return to their campuses filled with hope and energy, it's worth reminding ourselves whom we are fighting for and what's at stake. As our students begin their hard work for the new academic year, I want you to know that we are going to be working just as hard on their behalf to build a vibrant, vocal community of political support.
We need to do a better job of telling our story in Sacramento — and beyond. I've made some 20 trips to the capital in the past year and will continue my advocacy. But frankly, I could use some help.
This September, we'll be asking students, alumni, family members and other UC advocates to contact their state lawmakers and to let them know what UC has meant for them personally – and to ask that California begin to invest again in public higher education. That's the only way that UC can deliver on its promise to future generations.
We also want our political leaders to know that UC is not just a bastion for a privileged few: The university is a vital engine of opportunity, possibility and leadership for all Californians. An essential part of our story is knowing that UC enrolls a higher proportion of low-income students — some 30 percent — than other top public research universities and far more than distinguished private research universities. For 140 years, the university has worked to develop the human capital of California, to energize its economy and to advance the health and well-being of its citizens.
UC education and innovation have helped power California's rise to its position of global economic and cultural leadership. We can continue to power the state — but to do so, we need the state's support.
We're not just holding out a tin cup. We're making huge efforts across the UC system to save money, achieve efficiencies, re-examine our financial models and be creative about how to operate in the new fiscal reality. And the fact is that for every dollar of state funding, UC researchers bring in nearly $5 more from private and federal sources. But state support is still critical to the core instructional program at UC, and if it doesn't rebound, the impacts on California will be more shocking than I think most people realize today.
As we look to the 2010-11 budget, we face even more challenges than we do in the current, crisis-filled year: Federal stimulus funds probably won't be continuing. Emergency measures we took this year — such as the employee pay reduction — can't be continued without doing major harm to UC's quality. Health benefit costs are continuing to rise. And a dramatic turnaround in the state revenue picture simply does not appear likely. Already, there are warnings of a $7 billion to $8 billion budget deficit in 2010-11.
While we are justifiably proud of UC's international reputation for excellence, few realize that the foundation on which UC is built is crumbling for lack of investment. If the 20-year slide in state support for public higher education is not halted and reversed, California's innovation economy and the educated work force that sustains it will wither. Today, academic quality, student access, and student affordability are all at risk. It is critical that UC retain its unique public purpose, access, quality faculty and world-class research.
Each day I am privileged to lead this university, I am inspired by the dedication, intelligence and talent of our faculty, students and staff. As we all band together to advocate for ourselves in Sacramento, I think you will be too.
Contact me at president@ucop.edu.