REGENTS BRIEFING

A recap of actions taken by University of California Regents at the July 17-18 meeting at UC San Francisco.

REGENTS APPROVE PLAN TO EXPAND STUDENT OUTREACH

A plan to expand UC's outreach to California public schools to qualify more students for admission was approved by Regents on Friday (July 18). The plan, developed by UC's Outreach Task Force, calls for long-term partnerships with selected high schools and their junior high and elementary feeder schools. The goal is to double the number of UC-eligible African-American and Latino students from 4,000 to 8,000 over the next five years, or to increase the rate of UC eligibility by 4 percentage points, whichever is greater. Currently, about 5 percent of African-American high school graduates and 4 percent of Latino graduates meet UC admission requirements, compared with about 13 percent of whites and 32 percent of Asian Americans. The outreach plan would cost an additional $60.5 million annually and would more than double the money UC spends each year on outreach programs. Funds would be sought from the federal and state governments, private foundations and the partner schools.

The plan proposed:

• School-centered partnerships: UC campuses will establish regional consortiums of educational institutions to direct resources to about 50 K-12 schools statewide that have a higher proportion of educationally disadvantaged students, qualify a lower-than-average number of students for UC admission and offer fewer college preparatory courses than more successful schools.
• Academic development: UC will expand the number of high schools and community colleges that offer successful academic development programs such as Puente, Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) and the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP). UC also will create programs for students and their families in primary schools to increase awareness of college preparation.
• Informational outreach: UC will initiate information programs targeted at disadvantaged students and their families to increase the involvement of families in the planning and preparation for college and to encourage families to support school improvement.
• University research and evaluation: UC researchers will use their expertise more systematically to identify root causes of educational disparity within the K-12 and postsecondary education systems and evaluate UC's outreach efforts so programs can be improved.

BENEFITS POLICY FOR DOMESTIC PARTNERS TO BE CONSIDERED

Regents asked UC President Richard C. Atkinson to develop a plan regarding benefits for domestic partners of employees, after hearing an hour of emotional testimony in support of the move from more than 25 faculty, staff and students from six campuses and the Office of the President. The finance committee asked Atkinson to return to the full board with a plan for their consideration. The plan also would address student family housing for domestic partners. The discussion on Thursday (July 17) was initiated by Duncan Mellichamp, the chair of the systemwide Academic Council and the faculty representative on the board. In 1994, the Academic Council recommended that health, pension and other benefits be extended to the domestic partners of UC faculty and staff. Regents were told that many universities -- including Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Stanford, State University of New York, University of Michigan and Yale -- offer such benefits to remain competitive, increase employee morale, to be equitable and to acknowledge and promote workforce diversity. UC estimates that based on the experience of other universities, the annual cost of providing health benefits -- medical, dental and vision care --to domestic partners would range from $10.5 million to $20.4 million. UC estimates that the cost of providing retirement and survivor benefits to domestic partners would range from an additional $3.8 million to $6.6 million. If such benefits were offered, employees and domestic partners would need to file affidavits with the university certifying their relationship and confirming their joint financial responsibility.

REGENTS REINSTITUTE COMMITTEE ON 10TH CAMPUS

A special Regents committee on the 10th campus was re-established by the board on Thursday (July 17) to oversee the planning for the proposed campus in the San Joaquin Valley near Merced. The board also heard an update on Friday (July 18) on planning for the campus that calls for an entering class of 1,000 students no earlier than the year 2005. The student enrollment is projected to grow to 5,000 in five years. Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza (D-Turlock) told Regents that he, Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante and other legislators are working to ensure adequate funding for the construction of UC's 10th campus and the necessary infrastructure such as road construction.

APPOINTMENTS AND PERSONNEL

Regents approved the following personnel matters:

• A $170,000 annual salary, effective Sept. 1, for Kevin M. Smith as vice chancellor for research at UC Davis.
• A $166,000 annual salary, effective June 1, for Gary Cottongim, as executive director for the Regional Organ Procurement Agency at UCLA.

CONSTRUCTION AND REAL ESTATE

Regents approved the following construction and real estate matters:

• A 10-year lease for offices in Walnut Creek for the Joint Genome Institute, which will integrate human genome research at Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories, the three U.S. Department of Energy labs managed by UC.
• Authorized UC San Francisco's School of Medicine to rent office space in San Francisco for the Renal Dialysis Center.
• Amended the Capital Improvement Programs and its budgets to reflect an increase in the cost of seismic renovations and other improvements for the Hearst Memorial Mining Building at UC Berkeley. The revised cost is $67.6 million, up from $54.8 million. In addition, certified the final environmental impact report and adopted the findings and mitigation monitoring report.

MISCELLANEOUS

Regents approved the following:

• A joint powers agreement between UC Regents and the Institute for Desert Agriculture County Service Area to delineate their respective responsibilities for the funding and implementation of the Institute for Desert Agriculture at UC Riverside.
• An agreement to form the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California, which is a consortium of public and private California universities that is developing a new electronic network that will be 100 times faster than today's Internet.
• A $5 increase in the membership fee of the Graduate Students Association at UC San Francisco. The increase, effective in the 1997 fall quarter, brings the total fee to $11 per quarter per student.
• A $3 increase in the Child Care Program fee at UC Santa Cruz. The increase, effective in the 1997 fall quarter, brings the total fee to $8 per quarter per student.
• Change the deadline for appointing the student Regent to March, from February, to provide more time to recruit candidates.
• Amend the loan program of the UC tax-deferred 403(b) plan to deduct loan processing fees directly from loan proceeds; reduce the incremental amount of loans to $50, from $100; clarify that loan repayments may not continue if a participant leaves UC and elects a lump sum cashout from the retirement plan; and change the name of the "nonrefundable application fee" to processing fee," and to change the "administrative fee" to "servicing fee."

Compiled by Communications Services, Office of the President, laurie.itow@ucop.edu or (510) 987-9195; and phillip.torrez@ucop.edu or (510) 987-9195.