President Dynes Video Letter
July 2007
Hi, as I tape this it’s the end of July – end of summer and I hope you’re enjoying your summer.
At this time, late July, the state budget is still being negotiated. We are distressed about this insofar as we really do need a budget to go forward. I hope it will be final by the time you see this. We have mounted very vigorous advocacy campaigns and the Regents have made a strong case. I’ve been in Sacramento many times and a lot of our friends have also represented the university to support our budget priorities.
We are really asking California to invest in its own future through the University of California, to support the governor’s research initiative, which is really an investment to the future. I, and we, really appreciate the governor’s support in all of this. Our academic preparation programs, which are still in the budget, show quantitative results and we’re encouraging funding of those programs. We have shown that they promise real educational opportunity and that they deliver on that promise. We’re strongly encouraging support for the base budget adjustment that will allow us to raise salaries for faculty and staff and bring us closer to competitive salaries in all cases. We’ll continue to pursue these priorities as we go forward.
On another subject, this spring I started a series of visits at the campus, which have been very stimulating for me. We’ve been talking about a new vision of the university. One university, ten campuses – or what people like to call the ‘Power of 10’. How we can work together as campuses for the whole university to maximize our effectiveness for California and the nation. We’ve launched this ‘Power of 10’ in visits to Riverside, San Diego and Irvine in the spring and I look forward to visiting Berkeley, UCLA, UCSF and all the other campuses in the next year. The discussions that I’ve had in each of the campuses have been really quite different. But the tenor and the tone has been the same. I’m seeing a confidence as we look forward and an enthusiasm for more creativity on how we can work together as a University of California.
Let me end with a personal thanks to two groups of UC leaders. In June, I met with the council of UC staff assemblies to celebrate the creation of the permanent Staff Advisor to the Regents program. Congratulations to all that worked on this. This has been a huge success so far.
This month, I joined the UC Student Association Board at its annual congress in Santa Barbara for an engaging discussion of student issues and I truly enjoyed that conversation. To those staff leaders and student leaders, thank you. I find conversations with you to be stimulating. I’m supportive of you, you’re supportive of us – you enlighten me and you inspire me.
To everyone, enjoy the rest of the summer and we’ll see you in the fall.
