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UC Commission on Future Town Hall Provides Opportunity for Dialogue

Roxana Popescu | November 9, 2009

Photo of Chancellor Marye Anne Fox
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox opened the session by inviting the audience to give its feedback.

What do you think of the UC San Diego today? How does it compare to the school it was five or 10 years ago? And how should it look a decade down the line?

The University of California’s Commission on the Future set out last summer to answer these questions on a system-wide basis. Friday, representatives from a touring task force comprised of representatives from across the UC system were on campus to find out what the UCSD community had to say.

At the heart of the frustrations voiced by an audience made up of faculty, staff, administrators and students: how to protect the quality and affordability of a UC education in the face of unprecedented budget constraints.

On the panel were George Blumenthal, chancellor of UC Santa Cruz, Cynthia Brown, a professor of french at UC Santa Barbara, Mary Croughan, a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco, Keith Williams, a neurobiology lecturer at UC Davis, Peter Taylor, the executive vice president and chief financial officer for the University of California system, Jesse Bernal, a student regent who is a doctoral candidate in education at UC Santa Barbara. 

These panelists are touring all the UC schools to explain their ideas and hear responses from each of the 10 campuses.

Research and Fact-finding Agenda

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox opened the session by welcoming everybody and soliciting feedback from the audience.

“Please do take this opportunity to share your recommendations,” Fox said.

The panelists then took turns outlining their roles in researching issues for their designated task forces.

Since launching in July, the Commission on the Future has identified several areas of focus that address all areas of the UC system’s development, from structural and procedural issues to its very mission and identity. Task forces were established to develop strategies and recommendations in each of those areas.

Photo of Commision on the Future event
The Commission on the Future is exploring topics ranging from structural and procedural issues to the University of California's very mission and identity.

Blumenthal, working on the size and shape of the future system with Brown, said his task force is focused on determining two things. First, how big the UC system should be: Should it enroll more undergraduate, graduate or professional students? Should those students come from inside the state or beyond?

Second, his team is considering how closely each of the campuses should resemble one another in terms of courses of study, specialties offered, presence and composition of professional degrees, amenities and more.

“Does every campus have to have everything?” he asked. “Are we obligated to reproduce all programs at all UC campuses?

Blumenthal said the era of interdisciplinary studies, a catch phrase of higher education for the previous decades, has given way to inter-institutionality, where different academic entities specialize and collaborate with one another.

Croughan addressed the role of research. Given that the UC system is considered one of the top public research institutions in the world, how can that stature be preserved when budgets are being slashed left and right?

She said she is focusing on issues including the role of graduate education, how top talent can be recruited and retained, what the relationships formed between academia and industry should look like, and how grant seeking and other policy matters could be improved.

Williams’ task force is addressing the development of the curriculum and student education. How to define and maintain quality is the principle area of his investigation. Specifically, he said he is researching ways of tracking and maintaining student progress and exploring new developments like bolstering online education. Stating the importance of collaboration and transparency, Williams concluded by saying he will spring “no surprises” and that every proposal will be up for review by the campuses.

“We really do want to make this an interactive process,” he added at the end of his presentation, inviting comments from the audience.

Taylor, a newcomer to the UC system after working for decades in the finance world, introduced himself by saying that he wanted to set his goals high. “I don’t want to look back 5 and 20 years from now and say I helped a great university system become less mediocre less rapidly.”

With an eye on maximizing funding sources and minimizing inefficiencies, Taylor said his task force’s research goals include finding ways to advocate for education to state legislators, exploring the option of a dedicated tax, examining what other states are doing, tapping into alumni and other fund raising sources with renewed vigor, and choosing wisely what to spend.

Bernal wrapped up the presentations by stating his task force is evaluating three items: enrollment, student fees and financial aid. How many students should be at the school and how can they be expected to keep up with rising fees?

“A socioeconomically diverse student body could be at risk,” he warned.

The UCSD Campus Speaks Back

Photo of Commission on the Future event
The panelists are touring all the UC schools to explain their ideas and hear responses from each of the 10 campuses.

The topics of concern for members of the audience covered three general areas: how to preserve the quality of education and reputation of the UC system in general and UC San Diego in particular, how to keep that education affordable, and how the mantra of doing more with less is simply not cutting it anymore.

This feedback was delivered in a variety of tones, from the impassioned plea of a campus carpenter whose reduced hours and pay are making it hard for him to support his family (including a son who goes to UCSD), to the admonition of a history professor that faculty talent in her department is already fleeing, to the statement by an undergraduate that if fees rise or cuts affect the quality of education, both professors and students will leave.

“I don’t want you to forget that we can leave, too,” Allison Gauss (student) said. “We don’t have to go to the University of California.”

Robert Sullivan, founding dean of UCSD’s Rady School of Management, elicited applause with his response, which he made on behalf of the campus deans.

“We’re looking for sustainable, long-term solutions,” he said. “We want to go beyond what we consider band-aids and what we consider fingers in the dike, which is where we are today.”

About a dozen speakers were pre-selected to deliver comments on behalf of campus entities, including deans, staff and students. Some were supportive of the commission’s efforts, like Sheldon Engelhorn '72, with the Alumni Association. Engelhorn offered his support and said that the alumni are willing to do whatever it takes to help preserve the future of the UC San Diego.

“These alumni need to get engaged. So do call on us,” he said.

Others said they were unhappy with the direction they believe the University of California is headed.

“There is a rising insurgency within the UC system that is going to be unwilling to accept a top-down, market-driven solution to the current crisis,” said Literature Professor Jorge Mariscal.

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