March/April 2005

Dear UC Colleague:

As you’ll read below, we’re working on the state budget for UC in 2005-06, and we are receiving a great deal of support in Sacramento. We have some outstanding issues, such as the level of state funding for our K-12 academic preparation programs, but overall there is substantial support for the compact we achieved last year with Governor Schwarzenegger. That compact brings us stability, enrollment growth, and the return of faculty and staff salary increases.

We’re continuing our long-range planning efforts for the University, looking at what California will need from UC 15, 20, and 25 years from now and at what decisions we need to be making today in order to get us there. This is a substantial project involving input from many constituencies throughout the University, and it will help us chart a course for the future.

I’m also very pleased that we will launch at the July Regents’ meeting a new pilot program to increase UC staff involvement in the deliberations of the Board of Regents. I’m eager for this program to begin as I believe that ongoing, two-way communication – at all levels of the organization – is critical to our success. Enhanced communication between the Board of Regents and the staff will benefit both the Regents and the University as a whole. You can read more about this initiative below.

Meanwhile, I am continuing to tour California, most recently with visits to the Imperial Valley, Long Beach and East Los Angeles (see below). These visits help to bring home, both to my community hosts but also to me, as president, the vital impact UC is having in every corner of this state. I’d like to share that experience with you, so we’ve provided a couple of video links below.

Finally, let me thank each of you once again for the work you’re doing for the University of California. It takes the contributions of all of you to preserve the level of excellence and service that Californians have come to expect of this institution, and your efforts are very much valued.

Sincerely,

 Robert C. Dynes
 President

• Three UC researchers received the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest award for research achievements: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2005/feb16.html
• UC topped the list of engineers elected to the National Academy of Engineering: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2005/feb15.html
• For the 11th straight year, UC led the nation’s universities in developing new patents: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2005/mar22.html
• A record number of students applied for fall 2005 freshman and transfer admission: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2005/feb02.html
• UC celebrated a new medical education program aimed at better serving California’s growing, and often under-served, Latino community: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2005/jan25a.html
• And UC faculty, staff, and students at the campuses and national laboratories continued in early 2005 to make major contributions to California, the nation, and the world through their activities in teaching, research, and public service. For highlights of these contributions, see the President’s Report at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/pres_rpt/1_05.pdf.

Alumni, business leaders make case for UC

In February, more than 300 UC advocates from UC’s ten campuses converged on Sacramento for the University’s annual UC Day and met with more than 80 legislators to personally communicate and help bring to life the many ways the University contributes to the state. At an evening reception with several hundred UC alumni in attendance, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez was awarded the "UC legislator of the year" award and UC Regent Joanne Kozberg was awarded the "UC advocate of the year" award.

On April 12, a delegation of Southern California CEOs affiliated with UCLA and UC Irvine will visit legislators and agency staff in Sacramento to convey the importance of the role UC plays in sustaining their companies and in supporting the state's long-term economic outlook. Read more about UC’s advocacy activities at www.ucforcalifornia.org.

President continues visits with California communities

As part of his ongoing statewide visits with communities throughout California, President Dynes visited the Imperial Valley and Los Angeles County in March.

Go along with President Dynes on these visits by clicking on the video links at right.

Pilot program to increase staff interaction with Regents

At its January meeting, the UC Board of Regents, with strong support from President Dynes, adopted a new two-year pilot program, effective July 2005, designed to improve direct communication between UC employees and the Board and to help facilitate staff input into the Board’s deliberations and decisions. Under the pilot program, two individual staff and/or non-Senate academic employees will attend, as non-voting advisors, two Regental committees: the Committee on Educational Policy and the Committee on Grounds and Buildings.

The first two staff advisors will be the two most recent past chairs of the Council of UC Staff Assemblies (CUCSA): Dave Miller of UCLA, the 2004-05 CUCSA chair; and David Bell of UCSF, the 2003-04 chair. The two past CUCSA chair positions were selected to serve for the first year of the pilot program for their demonstrated leadership and because their organization has a long-standing familiarity with the process and protocols of regents’ meetings.

Details about the pilot program, including information about how UC employees may communicate with the staff advisors, will be available soon via UCOP web sites.

New leadership institute established

Under President Dynes’ sponsorship, UC will launch later this spring the UC Leadership Institute, a new management program aimed at equipping UC managers with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to help build and sustain a healthy, productive, and motivating work environment. The initiative will kick off with a three-day intensive conference in May, with additional sessions to follow. More information is at http://www.ucop.edu/ucli/.

Update on national lab competitions

Information about the competitions for the UC-managed Department of Energy national laboratories is available at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/labcontract/. Here is a brief summary:

Berkeley Lab: In January, the UC Board of Regents authorized participation in the LBNL contract competition, and UC submitted a bid on Feb. 8. The University believes it submitted a very strong proposal and is hoping for a favorable decision in the near future.

Los Alamos: DOE has not yet released its final Request for Proposal for the Los Alamos contract.  UC’s Acquisition Team is preparing for the contract competition and is working to ensure the best possible bid should the Regents decide the University should compete. In addition, UC announced recently its intention to partner with a consortium of New Mexico institutions to form an Institute for Advanced Studies affiliated with LANL. The institute would be established contingent on a Regents’ decision to participate in the contract competition, and the University winning the contract. Both the final DOE RFP and the Regents’ decision are expected in the next couple of months.

Livermore: DOE has expressed an intention to extend the Livermore contract for two years to permit orderly competition of the Los Alamos and Livermore lab contracts. UC has had some initial contacts with the contracting officer regarding the extension, but the extension has not been finalized.

The Legislature has begun considering the governor's 2005-06 state budget proposal, and President Dynes has presented the University's needs to the education budget subcommittees of the state Senate and Assembly.  His testimony is available at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/president/speeches/022805budget.pdf.

Many legislators have expressed support for the University's budget request, which includes funds for enrollment growth, salary increases for faculty and staff, and continued state funding for UC's K-12 academic preparation programs.  Background is available at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/budget/.

President Dynes and other UC leaders have been conveying the importance of continued state support for academic preparation programs in legislative hearings, meetings, speeches, and other events around the state.  In addition, UC has convened a work group, including representatives from the Legislature and Schwarzenegger Administration, to identify and address questions from all parties about the performance of these programs.  Details are available at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2005/mar14.html.

The next step in the budget process is for the governor to update state revenue assumptions and expenditure proposals in the "May Revision," expected to be issued in mid-May.  A final state budget for 2005-06 is expected this summer.

Dynes’ Desk is a way for anyone to email a comment, idea, or suggestion to President Dynes. While he is not able to respond personally in most instances, President Dynes does read each email submitted. In each edition of “Our University,” he will respond to a couple of Dynes’ Desk emails addressing issues of broad interest to the UC community.

To submit an email to Dynes’ Desk, visit www.universityofcalifornia.edu/president/desk.html. Below are President Dynes’ responses to a few recent submissions.

Email: …While it may be true that the bonuses for administrators are in line with industry standards, is UC suggesting that since we did not get salary increases, let alone bonuses, that our pay is already within industry standards?… I am frustrated that UC continues to say that there is no money for pay raises but always somehow finds money for its top administrators… When I attend staff/department meetings we are always being thanked for our hard work and how we keep UC humming smoothly. Are words of encouragement all we can expect from UC…?

Bob Dynes: No. You deserve and can expect more than just words. We’ve been in a very tight spot these past few years: We’ve had to hire and compensate institutional leaders at higher levels in order to keep the institution competitive, but our resources have not allowed us to give systemwide raises. I am extremely sensitive to how the lack of raises these past few years has impacted faculty and staff, especially our lower-paid employees. This is one of the reasons I and others at UC worked so hard to secure a budget compact with the governor – to begin to reverse this trend and help us get on our financial feet, including being able to resume regular raises. Based on what we are seeing in the state budget, we do expect to resume those raises later this year.

Email: What is UC doing in response to the governor's proposed pension changes?  The proposed changes would remove one of the last benefits -- a stable, predictable pension -- that can attract and retain quality staff.

Bob Dynes: We are in constant communication with state leaders about the current pension reform proposals and are making very clear to them our serious concern about the potential adverse impact on our ability to recruit and retain the people we need to maintain the quality of the University. We are working hard with the state to try to find a solution that balances the state’s need to control its costs while also preserving our flexibility. I also want to remind the UC community that even if a proposal is passed, it would affect only UC employees hired on or after July 1, 2007. Current UC employees would not be affected.

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