FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 16, 1997
UC News Office (510) 987-9200

New initiatives in the budget include efforts to accelerate the university's technology investment in providing students with state-of-the-art instruction and library access, expand research targeted to critical sectors of the economy and devote significant efforts to expanding student outreach.

The plan also calls for moving ahead with planning for a 10th campus and the expansion of academic programs in the San Joaquin Valley and placing special emphasis on repairing and renovating aging buildings.

Atkinson also pledged to continue to work with Gov. Wilson, Assembly Speaker Bustamante and the Legislature to "solve the serious long-term funding needs of public higher education in our state."

Atkinson registered his "disappointment" in Gov. Wilson's decision to veto AB1415, which would have provided UC and the California State University with the same portion of the state budget as they now receive through 2003, with a provision for extra funding to meet increasing enrollment demand. But said he "remained hopeful" that a new solution can be found given the governor's and the speaker's strong commitment and recent statements of support to stabilize funding for higher education.

The budget plan was presented to the Board of Regents meeting in Sacramento calls for 6 percent increase in state funding for next year, consistent with the governor's compact for higher education. That would raise UC state's funding by $135 million to $2.3 billion. The Regents will consider adoption of the plan at their meeting in November.

Under AB1318, approved by the governor and the Legislature, undergraduate student fees for California residents will be reduced by 5 percent next year and graduate and professional school student fees for California residents will be frozen for two years. The bill calls for up to $22 million in funding to the university to offset the fee loss. That funding will be in addition to the proposed budget request. Any action to increase out-of-state fees will be considered after the governor presents his state budget plan in January.

The center piece of the technology effort is the development of the California Digital Library which initially will develop computer links among the libraries within UC and then expand to include materials from other schools and museums, both public and private. When completed, the California Digital Library will make the vast collections of the UC campuses available to anyone with a computer and a modem over the Internet.

The university is spending $1 million on the library project this year and proposes in the 1998-99 budget to spend another million and seek a matching $3 million from the state. In addition to the library project, the budget requests an additional $4 million for instructional technology. UC now spends more than $55 million the university now spends annually on technology.

"Our faculty have long been pioneers in using and developing this technology but given the speed with which technology is evolving, additional investments are needed," Atkinson said.

The budget calls for a $2 million increase in the Industry-University Cooperative Research program to speed the transfer of basic research into the market place. "We hope to replicate the success story of the biotechnology industry -- born of university-based research and fueled by a constant flow of ideas and talent from UC and other leading research institutions," Atkinson said.

In keeping with the Regents' decision to seek new paths to diversity, a major effort will be made to implement an ambitious plan to attract more students from all backgrounds to the university. UC now spends more than $60 million annually on outreach efforts. Another $5 million is requested beyond the base budget. Efforts are also underway to attract additional private and matching funds from public schools .