By Alexis Endicott
Given the magnitude of California's economic troubles, protecting the value of UC is not an easy task. But the voices of advocates are being heard: The Cal Grants program, which provides financial help to 118,000 public higher education students, is no longer on the budget chopping block.
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Making the case: supporting UC Throughout the 2009-2010 budget process, thousands of people have been working to convey the importance of UC to government and the public. Here is an overview of initiatives. President Yudof has recently launched Facebook and Twitter pages to extend the UC message. Through the campus networks, 130,000 e-advocates – alumni and friends of UC – receive informational updates about UC policy priorities and are provided the opportunity to e-mail elected representatives in Sacramento about those issues. Regents Richard Blum, Russell Gould, and Sherry Lansing and President Yudof, have sent an e-mail to 1 million UC alumni encouraging them to become more active in building legislative and financial support for UC.
President Yudof has issued a series of videos to employees to keep them apprised of budget developments. President Yudof, several chancellors and Regents, the Academic Senate leaders for UC, CSU and the community colleges have met with legislators and staff to advocate for funding of public higher education.
UC supporters have made trips to Sacramento and held lobby days of their own to make the case for UC funding. These include: UC President’s Board on Sciences and Innovation, Los Angeles corporate leaders, the chair and vice chair of the Academic Senate, Staff Advisors to the Board of Regents, Student Regent Jesse Bernal, UC Students Association and high school and community college students supporting academic prep programs. |
"The joint efforts to voice concern about the elimination of Cal Grants is a great example of what can be done when a diverse group of constituents come together to make real change," said Dan Dooley, senior vice president of External Relations at the UC Office of the President. "Activities such as these are only going to become more important as UC works to protect access and quality while the state confronts the massive budget shortfall. We're going to intensify our efforts for next year's budget, and we're starting now - the stakes are enormous."
Cal Grants provide 35 percent of all grant money available to UC students. The loss of the program would have affected every UC student receiving a grant or scholarship on campus since all financial aid packages would need to be reallocated if the program went unfunded.
Through the strong network of supporters and grassroots efforts, the UC community actively advocated to preserve the funding. Testifying before a legislative committee, President Yudof told lawmakers that phasing out Cal Grants would be devastating to low- and middle-income students attending UC as well as the state universities and community colleges. In addition, each state lawmaker received a document outlining how many students in each legislative district the proposed cuts would impact.
People across the UC community have been working urgently to save Cal Grants and to convey the value of a public higher education to state leaders and the wider public.
"Each day it becomes more and more crucial that UC communities and constituents - from students and staff to alumni and business leaders - work together to raise awareness about the importance of higher education in California," Dooley said. "It is important for elected leaders to hear from their constituents about the role UC plays in their lives and in the state's economic future."
UC's growing advocacy network includes faculty, staff, students, alumni, business leaders and other friends of the university. UC also partners with California State University and California Community Colleges on advocacy for shared goals. All three institutions are undergoing significant budget cuts and can make a strong case for the dividends that support will bring to California's economy.
Mobilization efforts have helped build a dynamic network of grassroots supporters. Through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, UC has been able to access a broader audience of constituents.
Mass e-mail campaigns have sent millions of messages to friends of the UC community encouraging them to act. Hundreds of advocates, including representatives from the Academic Senate, Staff Advisors to the Board of Regents, the UC Students Association, business leaders, UC President's Board on Science and Innovation, as well as high school and community college students, have met with legislators to ask for support of higher education.
Shortly after legislators began taking up the governor's latest round of budget proposals in early June, UC supporters sent state lawmakers more than 7,000 e-mails urging that UC cuts be minimized.
Alexis Endicott is the UCOP communications coordinator in Internal Communications.
To find out how you can take action to support UC, visit www.UCforCalifornia.org.