Noted economist and UC Berkeley professor Robert Reich, public policy expert Mark Baldassare and two former UC presidents are scheduled to address the UC Commission on the Future at its second meeting on Nov. 12 in Oakland.

Launched in September, the commission's goal is to develop a new vision for the university that affirms its core values of excellence and access while addressing state funding cutbacks.

Following opening remarks by its co-chairs, UC President Mark Yudof and UC Regent Chair Russell Gould, and Academic Senate Chair Henry Powell, the commission will hear from Reich, labor secretary in the Clinton administration, who will discuss state and federal budget problems and the general fiscal outlook.

Former UC presidents Richard Atkinson and David Gardner will speak on the challenges they faced during their tenures as president.

Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, will discuss his group's report on state work force needs and the results of a statewide survey of opinions about higher education.

The commission also plans to receive an update from its working groups, which are visiting every UC campus in a listening tour designed to gather feedback and ensure that the right issues are being addressed. During the campus visits, representatives of the five working groups — size and shape, education and curriculum, access and affordability, funding strategies and research strategies — are explaining the broad outlines of the questions they plan to address.

"I haven't seen any easy answers," said ex-officio commission member Steven Beckwith, UC's vice president for research and graduate studies, at the campus visit to UC Santa Cruz on Oct. 29. "I think it's very important to listen to one another very carefully. We're not going to be able to solve these problems unless we bridge our differences."

In addition to the campus visits, the commission is accepting written comments on its Web site.

The size and shape group is looking at what's appropriate for UC, such as:

• How big should the freshman class be
• What is the correct proportion of freshman, community college transfers, graduate students and professional school students
• What is the role of the Office of the President in relation to the campuses
• Whether there are ways the campuses can work more closely as a system to effectively use resources

The education and curriculum group is investigating education delivery models and maintaining quality, including:

• What is UC quality
• Ways to use resources and maintain quality
• Graduating students in a timely manner
• Leveraging technology, such as online courses, to deliver education
• More collaboration between campuses

Issues the access and affordability group is addressing include:

• How UC can continue to provide access to students from all socioeconomic levels
• How much more can fees go up before increases dramatically affect access to education
• What level of support to provide for graduate students and how to provide it
• How to train citizens who are broadly educated

The funding strategies group plans to find ways to maximize funding, including:

• Whether to advocate for a specific source of revenue for higher education from the state
• Looking at how the federal government could aid UC
• Looking at how other states with large public universities are dealing with fiscal problems
• Generating more private funding such as alumni giving and philanthropic donations

The research strategies group is addressing the role of research in UC, including:

• Whether research protocols and practices can be improved
• Strategies to retain and recruit top faculty
• What principals should guide UC in partnerships with industry
• Seeking a broad spectrum of input, from Nobel laureates to young assistant professors, from the sciences to the humanities, from government agencies to philanthropic organizations

The campus visits will continue through early December. The commission will hold its third meeting at UC San Francisco's Mission Bay campus on Dec. 8, followed by a Jan. 19 meeting at UC San Diego. Those two meetings each will be a forum to gather input from the public. The commission is expected to make recommendations to the UC Regents in early 2010.

Harry Mok is principal editor in the UC Office of the President's Integrated Communication group.