UCSD, Cal Western Law Considering Affiliation,
Chancellor Tells Academic Senate

Paul K. Mueller | February 1, 2010

UC San Diego and California Western School of Law have formed a committee to consider an affiliation that could lead to a UC San Diego School of Law, Chancellor Marye Anne Fox told the Academic Senate on Tuesday. If the proposal gets approved, Fox said, the law school would be self-supporting and would require no state or UCSD campus funds to operate.

According to Paul Drake, senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, the committee was formed in response to a proposal from Cal Western to the university. “We believe the proposal has sufficient merit to explore the possibilities together,” Drake said. “A UC San Diego School of Law would enhance the research, teaching, and public service mission of the university.”

The chancellor, one of three guest speakers at the senate’s third session of the academic year, also described her recent meetings with political leaders in Sacramento; her discussions with the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune; and her then-upcoming campus Town Hall. She encouraged members of the faculty to add their voices to the advocacy effort, and pointed them to the university’s advocacy website.

The assembly also heard an update on the Preuss School from Bud Mehan, professor of sociology and director of the Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence (CREATE). The school continues to garner state and national attention and earn high rankings, Mehan said, and has become a model for charter schools in California and across the nation.

Utsav Gupta, president of UCSD’s Associated Students, spoke to the assembly on the merits of the university starting a Division II football program — a proposal not without some precedent, he said. In 1968, the university actually fielded (for one year) such a football team — made notable, Gupta said, “for breaking Cal Tech’s losing streak.”

Turning to formal senate business, Chair Bill Hodgkiss asked for a vote on proposals put forth by the Graduate Council. Seven Ph.D. programs — anthropology, biological sciences, biomedical sciences, cognitive science, linguistics, neurosciences, and psychology — all asked to add a specialization in anthropogeny (the evolution or genesis of the human race) to their degree programs. The proposal was approved on a voice vote with three abstentions.

There being no other reports, petitions or unfinished business, the senate adjourned. The group will meet again at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 23 in the conference room of the Center for Molecular Genetics.