Prepared for California Citizens' Commission on Higher Education
Table of Contents
Summary of Initiatives
Advancing our Educational Mission
Enhancing our Excellence as a Research University
Serving the Community, the State, the Nation, and the World
Financing the University
Conclusion
The University of California approaches the 21st century recognized as a strong and effective institution that plays a formative role in students' lives, serves the economic growth of the state, and helps define the research agenda for the nation. Despite its strength in these areas, the issues and concerns that confront the University during the next decade will test the mettle, not only of the University of California, but of the entire higher education community. It is appropriate, then, to consider the coming period and to fashion a set of strategies for confronting the issues. Any such strategies will be the subject of ongoing review.
This paper presents an analysis of issues in higher education in California and suggests some approaches to those issues that conform to the University's basic missions of teaching, research, and service. The resulting product, emanating from many discussions around the University, will serve as a continuing guide to decision makers. In addition, it is expected that the strategies included here will add another spark to the discussions that have been occurring within the higher education community in California and around the nation.
University of California: Approaching the 21st Century organizes issues around four basic topics. The first topic, the educational mission, prompts an examination of undergraduate education. The University must develop strategies to serve the increasing number of students who need a higher education. As a corollary, the education we provide must be meaningful for the increasingly diverse population we serve. Further, education at the undergraduate level must provide skills that will serve students in a technologically-sophisticated society and mesh those skills with the experiences and information mandated by a global economy. Although not exhaustive, the following initiatives provide a template for instructional innovation within the research university:
A second organizational topic focuses on the University of California as a research university. The knowledge-based society requires greater recognition of the value of research and its critical role in the economic health of the state and the nation. Recognizing the importance of research means acknowledging the unique role of the faculty in addressing pivotal questions about every facet of our existence. Graduate education, an often invisible facet of the University of California, plays an equally seminal role in that it is through graduate and professional programs that the next generation of scholars, professionals, corporate and political leaders is prepared. Maintaining a dynamic research focus in the current environment of burgeoning knowledge requires strategies to ensure high quality faculty and a dedicated cadre of the best students in graduate and professional programs. The following initiatives are instrumental to the goal of enhancing our excellence as a research university:
In a third organizational topic, the service mission of the University of California is analyzed. The University of California must actively disseminate the knowledge that has been created on its campuses. In the new millennium, this will involve extensive collaborations with industry, with K-12, and with other institutions of higher education to allow knowledge to flow freely from the University to other sectors of the society. The rapid shifts in knowledge mean that institutions of higher learning must respond to adults who need continuing access to the latest developments in their areas, yet cannot leave their careers to study full time. Responding to these professionals will be an important role for the University of California. Goals in the service arena include:
Finally, we examine financial issues that will face the University in the coming years. How do we finance the creation and dissemination of knowledge? How do we pay for the expansion that must occur if we are to educate an increasing undergraduate population? How do we ensure that students can afford a University education? In the responses to these questions, we suggest the following:
This paper provides a guide for how the University of California configures its
educational mission, its research mission, and its service mission in the 21st century and
examines strategies for financing these new responsibilities.
The University of California Approaching
the 21st Century
Introduction
Throughout its history, the University of California has provided exceptional educational opportunities for students in California. For well over a century, graduates from the University have helped the state and the nation become an international force in education and agriculture, fueled the growth of business and industry, particularly emerging industries, provided leaders and guidance to the political and governmental sector, and trained individuals for a broad range of professional careers. The University of California approaches the opening of the 21st century widely recognized as a system that includes, at each one of its campuses, research and graduate programs that are rated among the top in the nation.(1) Admission to both our undergraduate and our graduate programs is sought by serious scholars from around the state, the nation, and the world. Each of the campuses serves as an economic engine for the surrounding region. The combined nine campuses provide a similar function for the state, generating over $12 billion dollars in direct and indirect spending.(2) With the arrival of a global economy, the University of California is extending its economic impact well beyond the state's and the nation's borders.
Despite this distinguished history, the new century poses a daunting challenge to the University of California as it strives to serve all of the geographic regions, socioeconomic groups, and ethnic populations within the state. The needs of the labor force are clear. Students of the 21st century need to be college educated if they are to succeed financially. The gap in wages between high school graduates and college graduates is increasing dramatically as we enter the 21st century.(3) The decrease in unskilled jobs means that individuals without education beyond high school will have difficulty achieving economic stability.
At a time when more and more of the population will require a college education to assure its future, the number of students in traditional college-age groups is skyrocketing. Both the California Postsecondary Education Commission and the Department of Finance predict that between now and 2005, the number of students seeking admission to a public institution of higher education will increase by over 455,000.(4) This tidal wave of students will tax our current capacity to offer every eligible student a place at the University of California.
Students entering our campuses in the new century will form one of the most diverse college-age populations in the United States. At the turn of the century, 44% of the students graduating from California public high schools will be white, 32% will be Hispanic, 16% will be Asian, 7% will be African American, and 1% will be Native American.(5) The University of California needs to respond aggressively to the educational needs of these students.
Guaranteeing access to a college or university will require extraordinary and cooperative efforts from all segments of higher education. Assuring that all qualified students are able to attend the University of California will require responsible fiscal management, new ideas for delivering the curriculum, and concomitant support from the state.
The University currently is enjoying a period of fiscal stability, but it has not fully recovered from budget cuts in the early 1990s. Between 1989 and 1993, the University suffered $433 million in cuts to its permanent budget. Further, several major policy reports issued during the last four years point to a lingering crisis in funding public higher education.(6) These reports forecast a continued long-term decrease in the proportion of the state's budget allocated to higher education. If this trend continues, California will face many difficult choices in its effort to maintain both access and quality.
The University of California must analyze these fiscal, economic, and demographic trends to plan for how we will meet the needs of California's young people, continue our research leadership, and extend our expertise to the nation and the world. As part of that process, it is appropriate to frame the future directions of the University and initiatives we will be undertaking as we move into the 21st century. Subsequent paragraphs outline these directions and initiatives in four major arenas -- teaching, research, service, and budgetary initiatives. The first set of initiatives will help us address the tidal wave of students who will need to be educated. A second list of initiatives is critical if we are to continue our strength as a research university. Our service mission is expanded in a third set of initiatives. Finally, we examine initiatives and strategies that will ensure our ability to finance these new directions. Embedded in each of these sections are specific priorities and planned initiatives.
The final report, emanating from many discussions around the University, will serve as
a continuing guide to decision makers within the University. In addition, it is expected
that the concerns examined and the programs and policies presented for addressing these
concerns will add another spark to the discussions that have been occurring within the
higher education community in California and around the nation.
Advancing our Educational
Mission
The 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education represents a mutual compact between the higher education system of California and the state and its citizens. As part of that compact, the state agreed to provide adequate funding for educating the wave of students known as the baby boomers. The colleges and universities, in turn, agreed to specific missions, thus avoiding duplication, assuring access to students, and delivering quality programs. The adoption of the Master Plan occurred at a time not unlike our own. Baby boomers were reaching college age and vast increases in college enrollment were projected for the years 1960-1975. In the coming century we face a repeat of those increases in college-age students, hence the labels "Tidal Wave II" and the "Echo from the Baby Boom." Meeting our responsibility to educate these students will require a reexamination of our educational priorities and innovative approaches to education.
Bring Innovative Techniques to Undergraduate education
Undergraduate education, with its focus on broad liberal studies, is at the core of the many missions of the University of California. Because a thoughtful curriculum is so central to the University, the dialogue about improving the quality of undergraduate education is an on-going one.
Undergraduate education in the research setting provides students with unique opportunities. UC's undergraduates can engage in supervised research and learn in a dynamic environment of discovery from professors who are leaders in their disciplines. The breadth of the research university provides students with an impressive array of academic options. However, the University needs to assess continually how changes in society can be brought to bear on improving the undergraduate experience. Initiatives discussed throughout this paper will allow the University to improve undergraduate education in innovative ways.
The changing racial and ethnic mix of our undergraduate population must be included in our plans to strengthen undergraduate instruction. On several UC campuses, the majority of undergraduates are students of color. These students bring cultural backgrounds which must be recognized in the curriculum if the education they receive is to be meaningful. Done correctly, one result will be a strengthened liberal arts curriculum and an enriched education, appropriate for the 21st century.
Proficiency in English and at least one other language long has been a goal of a liberal education, but an elusive one given the size and geographic isolation of the United States. The global community, the development of technologies which can transport us to another country virtually, and the increasing heterogeneity of our students' language experiences mean that fluency in multiple languages can now be achieved more readily. Skills in English, however, may not be as strong as in earlier generations and our undergraduate curriculum must include many opportunities to instill excellent written and communication skills.
Link the Nine Campuses Electronically to Facilitate Collaboration
To take maximum advantage of UC's strengths as a system and to encourage disciplinary specialization, the University is embarking on initiatives that link the University technologically. Internet II is a collaborative effort by over 100 US research universities to create broadband applications that will support advanced research and education. Some of the proposed network applications, to be developed over the short term, include tele-immersion, digital libraries, and virtual laboratories.
These improvements in the technological infrastructure of each campus will enable professors to teach students in new ways. The use of e-mail and a centrally-managed mailing list that allows for group communication among all the students in the class have permitted faculty to maintain closer contact with students and have expanded the dialogue about course material between faculty and students and among the students themselves. In addition, many faculty make course materials, including lecture notes, available to students over course-specific web sites. Other faculty have developed interactive course materials available on CD-ROM or over the Internet. These continuing efforts will doubtless incorporate many new technologies currently under development.
Distance learning techniques have been employed at various UC campuses to permit students to participate in specialized courses taught by a faculty member on another campus. As a result, the University can teach highly specialized subjects in an upper division or graduate course, it can offer instruction in a broad array of languages, and faculty within a single discipline such as classics can combine their resources across campuses to offer a wider array of courses. Although the technology for this kind of cooperation exists, it has been used sparingly to date and there are financial and policy barriers to the continuing spread of these efforts. To promote intercampus cooperation, we must decrease the difficulties encountered by those who wish to pursue educational experiences at sister campuses.
The California Virtual University offers another opportunity to use technology to serve our students. At the University of California, the virtual university will initially be focused on post-graduate courses. Still, at the undergraduate level, there might well be particular uses of the virtual university. For example, students who have been admitted to a campus for the winter semester or winter quarter might begin taking some courses in the fall through the virtual university. Students who have class conflicts or whose experiences put them out of sequence in a multiple quarter course might move back into sequence via a course taken through the virtual university. Students who want to review course material before challenging a course might reinforce their knowledge via the virtual university. Students who need a course outside their major to meet graduation requirements might be served through the virtual university. Students wanting to augment their knowledge about a language or a subject not offered at their campus might join a class at another campus virtually.
The experience of the UC Washington Center highlights how distance technology can extend the reach of the campuses. Satellite interactive technology, video conferencing and Web-based instruction allow the Center to broadcast interviews with major political leaders from Washington to California and thereby allow a large number of students to participate in the interview. Transmissions from some of our education abroad posts or from international universities could, in the future, link our students with sites where history is being made and international issues are being debated.
The University needs to continue its strategy of investing in electronic technologies as part of its educational program. Enhancements to the infrastructure and support for faculty learning how to work with the technology are ongoing needs.
Expand the University to the San Joaquin Valley
From the late 1950's when the University began planning for the addition of campuses at San Diego, Irvine and Santa Cruz, the University has been committed to an expanded presence in the San Joaquin Valley. The San Joaquin Valley remains the only major region of significant population growth and statewide economic significance that has not directly benefitted by the presence of a University of California campus. From a state perspective, expansion of the University into the San Joaquin Valley will aid the economic growth and educational aspirations of this increasingly important part of the state. From a University perspective, construction of the San Joaquin Valley campus will be an important element of the University's outreach to all of the California population, including the exceptionally diverse population of the San Joaquin Valley. In addition, projections of enrollment demand and the growth capacity of the University's eight general campuses indicate the need for a tenth campus if the University is to continue to provide access to higher education for all qualified California students.
Construction of a tenth campus,
however, depends on the availability of adequate state resources for existing
campuses. Building the tenth campus is tied to an overall UC strategy to accommodate
the wave of new students expected in the 21st century. There are two elements to this
strategy: one is to provide adequate resources to accommodate some of that enrollment
growth on the existing campuses, and the other is to plan for a tenth campus that will
accommodate the remaining new students we expect in the coming years. UC is exploring
funding proposals for the new campus, which is expected to open its doors in 2005.
Pending development of the tenth campus, the University is committed to increasing its already substantial presence in the San Joaquin Valley. The University's new academic center in Fresno will be important in this effort.
UC's new and existing programs reflect the interest, research presence, community
support, and instructional base that have been built in the San Joaquin Valley during the
last century. These programs will set the stage for the research, instructional, and
graduate programs at the new campus and will provide the foundation for further
collaborative partnerships between the University and the people of the San Joaquin
Valley.
Create the California Digital Library
Universities are society's
repositories of accumulated knowledge. The libraries at the University of California
contain over 28 million books and over 300,000 serial publications. Keeping up with this
influx of new knowledge isan almost futile battle, as library acquisition budgets are
unable to keep pace with costs of printed materials. To maintain these repositories of
accumulated knowledge as well as to keep up with the latest developments and discoveries,
we must make this information available electronically and work to decrease the expenses
involved. Collaboration not only among the nine campuses, but also with the California
State University system and the state library system, will expand our ability to archive
and access information efficiently. The nine-campus structure of UC gives us a special
capacity and opportunity to use a digital library
and to manage and expand the availability of the entire collection.
In sum, our instructional mission requires that we build a curriculum matched to our students' needs, introduce students to the discovery of knowledge and the excitement of the research enterprise, help students understand and experience the world's cultures and value the diversity of its population, teach students cooperative approaches to solving problems, build technical skills and provide practice in using those skills, and reflect an appreciation of the knowledge society and the renewal of skills needed to succeed in that society.
Enhancing our Excellence as a Research University
Recognize and Value Research as the Critical Component of the Knowledge-Based Society
Advances in knowledge are transforming every aspect of our economy, society, and culture and will become even more critical as the knowledge-based society evolves. New products, new technologies, new ways of interacting and new industries are a direct result of the research and intellectual creative activity that are central to a research university like the University of California. Examples include:
To capitalize on this phenomenon, the University must extend its current research
excellence into new arenas. One such arena is the corporate sector. The University will
actively pursue partnerships that encourage cooperative research with industry. A recent
example is the Industry-University Cooperative Research Initiative, created by President
Atkinson, which helps assure that the basic research of the University of California
stimulates economic development in California.
Faculty Quality: The Central Factor in UC Growth and Innovation
All of the University's many
contributions to California and the nation emanate from the skills, productivity, and
stature of the faculty. The extraordinary quality of our faculty is reflected in some
composite national comparisons of universities. Admission to the prestigious American
Association of Universities has been granted to six of the eight UC general campuses. No
other university system in the country has more than one AAU member. The recent National
Research Council study of graduate programs ranked one or more programs at nearly every UC
campus among the top ten in the nation. A recently published study by Graham and Diamond(8) indicates that excellent faculty and programs are spread throughout
the UC system. Diminishing of the strength of the faculty would diminish the University's
research contributions, its contributions to the economic and cultural development of the
state, and the quality and attractiveness of its undergraduate and graduate programs.
The University's highest priority is, therefore, attracting and retaining the best and the brightest academic minds available. Further, we must assure that our faculty have the resources and the students to ensure progress in their work. All of the programmatic initiatives in this paper require the University to sustain and enhance the quality of the faculty and core programs.
In comparison to faculty, graduate students are often less visible partners in the research mission, but they are no less critical to its success. Strong graduate programs are essential for economic stability and continued growth within the state.(9) California's high-technology industries depend on a continuing infusion of well-trained and creative graduate students from the University of California.
California's
business leaders are quick to emphasize the need for scientists, engineers, managers and
other professionals to continue the tradition of innovation. In addition, graduate
students become the faculty who take up the mantle of scholarship and discovery at
universities.
Graduate students play a critical role as members of a research team. As stewards of the day-to-day work on research projects, graduate students introduce undergraduates to the experimental process and monitor their progress as novice researchers, thereby paving the way for the most qualified undergraduates to pursue graduate training. Having a diverse group of graduate students thus becomes important, as these individuals become role models for those who might consider graduate work. Maintaining a diverse student body at the graduate level is also important for other reasons. Students from a wide range of backgrounds pose questions that reflect their interests and concerns. Minority and women's health issues, for example, began to receive more serious research attention as the medical community became more diverse. The social sciences have been quick to extend the confines of their research in response to increased diversity at the graduate and faculty level. The vigorous and thought-provoking debate over the canon in the humanities really reflects the coming of age of a more diverse professoriate. In short, sustaining a diverse student body is a key factor in ensuring excellence throughout the university.
Graduate students contribute in many ways to undergraduate education by providing instruction in discussion sections, by serving as role models, and by individualizing instruction to students.
Finally, graduate education is our most effective technology transfer mechanism. The graduate students we send to industry provide an indirect technology transfer which is highly valued and actively sought by the corporate sector. A recent survey of California's biotech firms indicates that 85% employ our graduate students.
Providing professional
education for the citizens of California has been one of the primary responsibilities of
the University of California at the graduate level. Our law schools and medical schools
boast hundreds of alumni who have provided distinguished service to the state. Our Schools
of Public Health, Dentistry, Optometry, Public Policy, Management, Nursing, Education, and
Veterinary Medicine have an equally distinguished history. In looking to the future, we
expect our professional schools to respond to the needs of the new century with the same
enthusiasm and innovation as has characterized the post-war years.
Specifically, we are committed to preparing professionals who will address societal
priorities. In professional schools associated with the health sciences, this means
realigning specialties to fit the managed care environment and addressing the medical
needs of an aging population. In law schools, this realignment can be seen in the
expansion of interest in international legal issues and in a focus on pressing ethical
questions. In all of our professional schools, the research of the faculty provides the
means for addressing evolving societal concerns.
Use Our Depth and Breadth
to Enhance Academic Quality and Improve Efficiency
The information explosion our society is experiencing might suggest that the creation of new knowledge is becoming less expensive. However, incremental gains in fundamental new knowledge cost more, not less. New research facilities, more powerful computers, more precision instrumentation, more expensive field research techniques, and higher levels of quality control all are needed for a successful research enterprise. The University cannot carry out its research mission without a continued infusion of resources appropriate for the task.
Because resources are finite and new fields of inquiry emerge regularly, the University must avoid redundancies where possible, provide campuses with the resources to pursue excellence in emerging fields, and maintain the quality of areas of particular strength.
To accomplish this task, the University must take advantage of its depth and breadth and combine the strengths of the individual campuses into a whole greater than the sum of the parts.
Reaffirm the principles of the Master Plan
The success of California's Master Plan for Higher Education is the envy of the world. No other state or nation has created a system of higher education that comes close to the great systems of California, both in terms of research productivity and the quality of graduate, professional and undergraduate programs at all levels. Still, we can improve on the Master Plan by diligently pursuing cooperation among the various educational institutions that serve a particular region. Regional consortia are developing, led by various UC chancellors and their presidential counterparts in the California State University and the California Community College systems.
Serving
the Community, the State, the Nation, and the World
Strengthen the Tradition of Service to the State
The core functions of the University of California -- knowledge creation (research), knowledge transmission (teaching), and knowledge application (public service) are becoming more important to the citizens of California as our state competes in the new knowledge-based economy. Just as its land-grant origins led the University to reach out to the agricultural and mining communities that were the foundation of the economy a century ago, the University now must reach out to new constituencies, such as those in the technology and biomedical fields, which reflect California in the 21st century. In addition, it is especially important that the University reach out to those California citizens not currently being adequately served by UC, whether they live in underserved geographic regions of the state or belong to underserved demographic groups. While preserving the essential elements of the Master Plan, the University should consider the following new steps that seek to reinvigorate our service heritage:
Extend the University's Partnerships with Primary and Secondary Schools
The quality of our children's education is of paramount concern to the University of California, as high school achievement is a significant predictor of ability to undertake college level work. California's primary and secondary schools have been struggling with the challenge of preparing California's diverse population for college. The University of California must renew its commitment to work as partners in this critical endeavor, finding ways in which our expertise can assist teachers, students, and administrators.
The Outreach Task Force began its 1997 report to The Regents with
the following statements: "The University of California has a long-standing
commitment to the goal of enrolling a student body that encompasses the diversity of the
State of California. The University values and seeks diversity. Diversity at the
University contributes in a direct and positive way to the educational experience, and
also serves to provide opportunity and social mobility to all sectors of society."(10)
The University maintains many core programs that affect K-12 education, including teacher preparation and credentialing, continuing teacher education, and outreach. Over 800 systemwide and campus programs are detailed in our compendium entitled The Schools and UC.(11) We plan to add to these programs by initiating activities in the following arenas:
Increase Collaboration across the Three Segments of Higher Education
The Master Plan carefully differentiates the missions of the three public segments of higher education. The key to maintaining such differentiation is creating cooperative arrangements and programs that allow a seamless transition for students from one segment to another. While maintaining that differentiation, the University can enter into joint programs and cooperative undertakings that will provide undergraduate and graduate students with the ability to navigate easily among the systems. In addition, joint programs can enhance the ability of each segment to fulfill its specific mission.
The University remains committed to the Master Plan goal of having 60 percent of its undergraduate students in the upper division. This assures transfer students from the community colleges space to enroll at the University of California. As a long-term goal, the University strives to facilitate transfer as a seamless movement for qualified students from the community college system to the University. Each campus of the University will redouble its efforts to reach out to community college students by developing transfer agreements, articulation of community college courses with campus requirements for general education and majors, and counseling programs to assist community college counselors in advising transfer students. University campuses might also work to develop distance and computer-based learning programs that can be offered to community college transfer students in fulfillment of University course requirements.
Some University campuses have already developed joint programs with the community colleges
for satisfying the graduation requirements in English. Joint doctoral programs with the
California State University offer opportunities for both segments to serve students with
interests and in geographical locations that might otherwise not be addressed. UC San
Diego and San Diego State, for example, have a long history of cooperating in this
fashion. Faculty interaction between the two segments expands the research and teaching
horizons of both groups.
The University is also exploring the development of joint undergraduate programs with campuses of the State University. Joint undergraduate programs can provide an opportunity for a campus of the University to share its expertise with a State University campus that is attempting to build its own program in a particular area. Such programs may also encourage potential graduate students to enter University of California graduate programs.
As new policies concerning UC admissions go into effect, the relationships with
the California Community College system and the California State University system become
more critical. Increasingly, the state's Hispanic and African American students begin
their higher education at these institutions and we must provide an opportunity and a
welcome for these students if they wish to transfer to a UC campus.
Make Professional Education More Accessible
The rapid rate of societal and technological change requires professionals to continually think about upgrading their skills; hence education must be incorporated into contemporary career patterns. The most successful of these programs culminate with an advanced degree certifying completion of a disciplined course of study.
Life-long education should also be available for individuals
who seek a career change, for individuals who have been laid off or otherwise dislocated
and now seek advanced education, and for individuals who wish to return to the academy to
augment their degree with a related skill or program. The professional master's degree
(and in Education, the Ed.D.) has increasingly become a preferred route to professional
advancement or career change among working adults. The University of California should
expand its outreach to serve this segment of California's population.
Engineers, managers, nurses, teachers, veterinarians, psychologists, and other health
professionals are just a few of the professionals whose careers could be enhanced by
current information and skills available at the University of California. The advent of
improved distance technologies has increased UC's ability to deliver programs in locations
and on schedules that meet the needs of working adults. The expansion
of professional master's programs throughout the state will extend our services to
populations not now directly benefitting from the state's investment in the University of
California.
All UC campuses are now offering or planning to offer degree programs geared to the interests and needs of working adults. In many of these planning efforts, campuses are exploring ways in which academic departments can cooperate with UC Extension, combining the developmental and marketing skills of Extension with the academic strengths of departments, schools and colleges to design distinguished professional degree programs.
Financing the University
The initiatives discussed above, designed to meet our educational responsibilities, maintain our research excellence, and extend our service efforts, will require appropriate resources. The final section of this paper examines UC's enrollment demand, the potential gap in state resources to meet that demand, and initiatives to fill that gap with both state and non-state resources.
Understanding the Dilemma: Declining State Support and Increased Demand
The University of California endured severe budget cuts in the early 1990s. For example, our 1993-94 state-funded budget was the same as our 1987-88 budget despite 25 percent inflation and an increase of more than 6,000 students. We responded to these reductions in several ways. UC offered three major voluntary early retirement programs for faculty and staff. Faculty salaries were permitted to lag behind comparison institutions, and are just now being brought back into line with comparison institutions under a funding compact that is intended to provide comparable faculty salaries by 1998-99. The University absorbed substantial cutbacks in administrative and staff support. Student fees were increased, but accounted for only 25 percent of the budget reduction.
The Governor's 1995 budget was a major turning point for the University. In this budget, the Governor proposed a four-year compact with higher education to provide the University with stable funding. In subsequent budgets, the state provided additional resources to support several other high-priority projects, including the Industry-University Cooperative Research Program, planning for the 10th campus, and student academic outreach programs. With the compact we have been able to make substantial progress in restoring competitive faculty salaries, and student fees have been stable for three years. We have been able to sustain our excellence and honor our commitment under the Master Plan. Because we have continued to take all eligible Californians wishing to attend at the undergraduate level, we have enrolled 3,000 more students than provided for in the compact.
Looking to the future, the University faces a wave of student demand that grows annually into the middle of the next decade. At the same time, several resource projections suggest that, without changes in statutory or constitutional restrictions on the state budget, the State of California will not be in a position to fund the enrollment growth needed to maintain Master Plan levels of access at either the University of California or the State University.(12) Addressing these issues will be key to the University's strategic planning for the coming decade.
The latest Department of Finance and University of California projections of demand for undergraduate enrollment in the University show steady enrollment increases to 2005, followed by even sharper increases between 2005 and 2010.(13) By 2005 or shortly thereafter, many of our campuses will be at capacity and those that can grow will be unable to absorb all the growth that is projected. A tenth campus will be necessary in order for the University to continue to offer access to undergraduate students as outlined in the Master Plan. However, projections of available operating funds to support this expansion suggest a significant gap.
Similarly, projections of future state capital funding for facilities do not keep up with
growth, even at conservative rates of enrollment growth. Under the Governor's current
compact with higher education, the University of California is being budgeted for about
$150 million per year for investment in building projects.
Almost all of that money is absorbed by safety and seismic upgrades and improvements to existing buildings, however. Little of the available money is destined to accommodate future growth. At the same time, many of the University's buildings require maintenance and renovation. The nine campuses face a backlog of more than $500 million in deferred maintenance that must be addressed.
While the state has many pressing needs, California should restore the balance among state priorities established in the early 1960s that provided higher education with a stable source of capital construction funding. To use all of our resources efficiently, there should be more flexibility for capital funding that is allocated to campuses from the state budget. Such increased flexibility might result in an increase in public-private cost sharing, an avenue that could be used more to assist in capital projects.
In the early 1990's, when the University withstood a real reduction in its state budget of $340 million, approximately 25 percent of the cuts were absorbed by increased student fees. Although substantial increases in financial aid helped offset the impact of these fee increases, the higher fees threatened access and affordability. Students were faced with rapidly increasing fees at the very time that personal income of students and families was least able to absorb the increased costs. In addition, because of the severity of the recession and fluctuations in state funding for higher education, the student fee increases in higher education were not predictable. During the subsequent period of economic growth, when families and students could afford to pay more for their education, fees remained stable because the state was able to provide sufficient resources to offset proposed increases. Given the paradox of increasing fees during periods of economic recession and stable fees during periods of economic growth, a new approach to student fees is needed.
Although the original Master Plan contemplated tuition-free higher education at all three public segments, the severe recession in the early 1990s caused the State of California to depart from that principle with respect to the University of California and State University. California has moved to a philosophy that requires students to assume the responsibility of paying for a portion of the costs of their higher education. At present levels, fees represent about one-third of the cost of instruction at the University of California.
Recognizing that student fees will remain a significant part of the funding base for the University, there are three principles that should guide a student fee policy:
Fees are only one part of the University's funding base. In order to sustain the breadth and quality of its academic programs, the University is working with the state on a long-term funding proposal that would stabilize higher education's share of the state's general fund.
Stabilizing Funding for Higher Education
One disturbing trend for the University has been the decline over the last 30 years in the share of the state's General Fund budget that is devoted to public higher education, from nearly 17 percent of the state budget in 1967 to under 13 percent in 1996. For the University of California, our share has declined from nearly seven percent in the early 1970s to just slightly over four percent today.
In an attempt to stem further erosion of state funding for public higher education, the
Legislature and the Governor must agree to provide resources sufficient to educate the
increasing number of students who will seek a university education in the coming years. In
order to maintain its quality and access, the University will pursue a stable funding
compact or partnership with the State. This strategy has two essential elements: to
provide the University with at least its proportional share of the state's general fund
budget and to provide sufficient resources for enrollment growth.
Even in a more stabilized funding environment, the severe budget cuts of recent years and the challenge of impending rapid growth mandate new approaches to managing resources. The University remains committed to providing the highest quality instruction, research and service to the citizens and economy of California, and to doing so in ways that demonstrate financial prudence and efficiency.
Many critics of higher education cite corporate style re-engineering and restructuring as a model for higher education to follow in improving productivity. Although the University engages in continuous evaluation and has instituted many efficiencies in administrative procedures, the possibility of accommodating additional students through increases in productivity alone is overstated. The corporate model generally is not applicable to a university because down-sizing to reduce costs will not result in increased access.
Nevertheless, the University remains committed to seeking ways to ensure it is using the state's resources wisely. Using available technology to decrease time on administrative tasks has led to significant productivity increases among the staff at the departmental and college level. Developing data bases that avoid duplicate records in multiple offices has also decreased staff and administrative time. Streamlining of procedures to keep decision making close to the point of impact is another tactic that has helped. Tele-registration, electronic financial aid, and the development of Pathways are all examples of technologically-enhanced student services which have increased efficiency and convenience for students. Campuses and the Office of the President have undertaken a review of policies and procedures to weed out useless and redundant policies. Other similar means to enhance productivity are being actively sought at the University, but they are likely to come in small, unnoticed changes rather than in dramatic alterations of policies or functions.
Information technologies may change our educational programs in ways that help us serve larger numbers of eligible students. However, to date, the use of technology has not reduced the cost of instruction. Instead, the substantial up-front investment has meant increased costs. At the University of California, the new electronic technologies have been used primarily to enhance education. Given the magnitude of the investment made for infrastructure and the time and expense to develop course content for electronic transmission, increases in productivity are not realistic as a primary goal. Instead, allowing wider access to University of California programs and extending the reach of the University are appropriate goals.
Decentralizing Budgetary Authority and Enhance Accountability
The University's organizational
philosophy emphasizes decentralization as the most effective approach for giving campuses
both the flexibility and the incentive to direct resources to their top priorities.
Maximum local control over resources means that campuses are more likely to streamline
operations and to find creative ways of achieving productivity while maintaining quality.
To that end, the President, in consultation with the Chancellors, faculty and staff,
has implemented significant changes in the way funds are allocated to the campuses. With
some exceptions, funds are now provided as a block of funds, increasing campus
flexibility.
This change, together with the severe cuts of the early 1990s, has already resulted in
greater productivity. The campuses and Office of the President have eliminated unnecessary
rules and regulations, streamlined procedures, and harnessed technology to deliver
instruction, provide academic and student support, and carry out business operations.
On-line processing is becoming the standard method for many routine accounting
transactions. In addition to large systems changes, campuses have found myriad small ways
to become more efficient. This creative work, implemented under the harshest of
financial conditions, has set the engine in motion for longer-term improvements in
productivity. Campuses are continually engaged in finding new ways to deliver on the
University's promise to California, understanding the financial realities that exist.
Decentralization carries with it the obligation of accountability, and to that end,
campuses are working with the Office of the President to develop methods of assuring the
State, the public and the University community that we are meeting our commitments.
Serving the state of California has been the hallmark of the University of California for well over a century. As we move into a new century, we will expand the services we offer the state and extend the reach of our three missions--teaching, research, and service.
In the instructional realm, we will continue to offer residential undergraduates a chance to explore a variety of disciplines as part of their liberal education, to study with outstanding professors, and to delve deeply into at least one discipline. The majority of our students will become involved in the research enterprise as undergraduates and many will consider advanced study. In addition, undergraduate education will include learning in a cooperative setting, enhanced opportunities to pursue international study, and an introduction to technology and the knowledge-based society
Our 21st century students will be taught using a variety of formats and technologies that will augment the traditional lecture format. Even the lecture hall will be remodeled to permit easy access to global information. A student's dorm or home may be the site for electronically accessing classes offered by a neighboring campus, a sister UC campus or a distant laboratory, archeological dig, or seat of government.
At the post-baccalaureate level, individuals of all ages and in all phases of career advancement will be seeking additional education, new skills, an updating of information and techniques in their disciplines, or an introduction to entirely new disciplines. Meeting the needs of these working adults will take the University of California into new educational arenas, such as part-time degree programs and life-long learning.
Traditional doctoral and professional degrees will remain an important fixture of the University of California. These students will continue to pursue new questions and ideas during their graduate study and upon graduation will transfer their creativity to corporate settings, college campuses, government agencies, the elementary or secondary classroom, a variety of professions and museums and theaters in California and around the world.
Our expertise in research has been recognized throughout the world and is instrumental in our ability to attract the best scholars to our campuses and laboratories. As we approach the 21st century, our research mission, like our teaching, will expand into new arenas and add interesting new layers, many of which will directly serve the state and the nation. We will continue to provide the next generation of faculty through our graduate programs. In addition, we will actively pursue corporate partnerships to facilitate the flow of research information into the marketplace and stimulate economic development in California.
The scholarly enterprise has always had a global character as researchers around the world have shared their findings through professional meetings and journals. In the 21st century, such collaboration will be easier due to the instantaneous communication provided by a variety of telecommunications advances. Global research teams will be able to focus energy and resources on particular questions, isolating important issues and shortening the time to solutions.
In the 21st century, the services that we provide the state and the nation will be realigned and extended. The University will reach out to California citizens not currently being adequately served by UC. We will extend our services both to underserved geographic regions of the state and to underserved ethnic groups in the population. We will seek new partnerships with elementary and secondary schools and more collaborative relationships with all other segments of higher education.
In essence, the new century will find the University of California charting a more
complex course in all three of our missions, a course that enables us to address societal
issues by developing partnerships and sharing knowledge in settings as varied as
kindergarten classrooms, urban neighborhoods, corporate boardrooms, and state, federal,
and international assemblies. As befits a research University, our currency will be
knowledge and an extension of that knowledge to serve the larger good.
University of California
Office of the President
October 20, 1997
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