University of California President Robert C. Dynes issued the following statement about the infrastructure bond package that has been placed on the November ballot. Dynes participated in the governor’s signing ceremony for the education bond in Los Angeles this morning (May 20):

“I applaud the governor and Legislature for placing a crucial education bond for the State of California on the November ballot.

“At the University of California, this funding would be used to accommodate growing numbers of students, to renew aging infrastructure, and to keep up with the changing technology that is so critical to instruction and research in so many fields.  It also would help us further protect our people and buildings against the threat of a major earthquake and allow us to continue building out our new campus in Merced, which is central to keeping our promise of access to the youth of the San Joaquin Valley and throughout California.

“I am additionally pleased that this bond package includes the governor’s proposed funding for UC medical education programs to improve health care for underserved Californians -- an important and exciting initiative at the University of California. The governor and Legislature have taken a great step forward by placing this bond package before the voters of California.”

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Background: The education bond includes $345 million per year, for two years, for University of California facilities. It also includes a total of $200 million over the two-year period for capital improvements to support expansion of UC medical education programs. The university expects to use this latter funding to provide facilities and state-of-the-art equipment for increased enrollments in PRIME (UC’s “PRograms in Medical Education”), which are aimed at improving health care for currently underserved populations and communities in California.