Governor's budget a strong first step

Gov. Schwarzenegger kicked off 2010 with a bold plan to shift state dollars from prisons to California's public universities. On the heels of that announcement came his 2010-11 budget proposal with more good news for UC — the restoration of $371 million.

These developments signal a change in priorities for California, and I deeply appreciate the governor's efforts.

In our budget request to the state, UC asked for an additional $913 million to restore the cuts of the last two years, to fully support all the students we enroll and to stabilize the UC Retirement Plan by helping fund employer contributions. The governor's budget includes about 40 percent of the additional funds we requested.

With California facing a nearly $20 billion deficit, it's clear that the hard times are not over for the state or UC. Given the magnitude of the state budget gap, I understand the challenges the governor and state lawmakers will face in the months ahead in funding programs that provide vital services to the public.

At the same time, I am calling on all Californians to once again consider their public higher education institutions among those vital services that we must fight to preserve.

An investment in public higher education is critical to California's future, and there was a time when Californians understood and embraced that truth.

This year, the Master Plan for Higher Education will commemorate its 50th anniversary. In my judgment, the Master Plan, with its division of responsibilities among the state's higher education segments, its emphasis on access and affordability, and its public support for first-class research universities is fundamentally sound and remains the envy of the nation. There is nothing wrong with the plan; the problem is that the erosion of state support has undermined the ability of the three segments to implement that great vision. It is the responsibility of state policymakers, Regents, administrators, students, faculty, and staff and all Californians to ensure that, through good times and bad, the Master Plan remains robust and untarnished by neglect.

Within the UC community we are all too aware of how the state's financial condition affects our ability to preserve access and excellence. The cuts we've made as a result of the state funding crisis are putting at risk our academic programs, our research endeavors, our faculty and staff retention and our ability to serve California.

Without the full restoration of state support, UC will face the prospect of further layoffs, reductions in course offerings, elimination of campus services and larger class sizes — all of which will make it more difficult to provide California's economy with the educated work force it needs to recover from the lingering recession.

With the state facing a projected shortage of 1 million college-educated workers, a serious reinvestment in higher education is imperative for California to maintain its role as a global economic leader.

I am committed to preserving UC as a place of academic excellence and opportunity creation. I believe these are values worth fighting for, and I hope you will join me in this fight by supporting the governor's budget — including funds for Cal Grants — and UC's request for the full $913 million in additional funding. The future of our university and our state is at stake. Find out more at UC for California.

Contact me at president@ucop.edu.

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