A University of California advisory group is recommending that UC Riverside proceed with final plans for a School of Medicine.

The university president's Advisory Council on Future Growth in the Health Professions will recommend that UC regents at their November meeting endorse UCR "moving to the next and major phase of their planning efforts," Rory Hume, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and co-chairman of the council, said Wednesday.

"This next phase would include the development and then submission of a final proposal and business plan for a new medical school that would then be subject to all customary review and approval requirements of the university and the state," including the UC Regents, he told the regents' Committee on Educational Policy.

Hume said regental endorsement of final planning "will be a significant step" that will allow the campus to hire a founding dean and "facilitate discussions with potential community partners, including potential donors."

The advisory council, appointed by UC President Robert Dynes in December, also will suggest growth of the existing five UC medical schools and offer a multi-year enrollment plan for nursing, public health, pharmacy and veterinary medicine schools. Regent Sherry Lansing was co-chair, and members included regents Russ Gould and Fred Ruiz, as well as faculty and administrators from throughout the UC system.

UCR Chancellor France A. Cordova, who attended the committee meeting, said Hume's comments "show growing support for a new medical school at UCR."

In May 2006, UCR proposed to establish a School of Medicine that would serve the medically underserved in Inland Southern California by training a diverse workforce of physicians, with innovations in research, education, and health care delivery that resound throughout the state and nation. If approved, the medical school also would help transform the Inland Empire to a knowledge-driven economy, attracting start-up companies and venture capital to the region.

The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment of about 17,000 is projected to grow to 21,000 students by 2010. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of nearly $1 billion.