The University of California must continue to try to increase
diversity through outreach even though state budget cuts could
eliminate funding for outreach altogether, said Chancellor Albert
Carnesale.
UCLA, particularly, has a strong commitment to outreach
programs, Carnesale said in an interview with the Daily Bruin on
Friday. Outreach tries to increase awareness of opportunities at
the UC among high school students, especially at economically
disadvantaged high schools.
“We cannot back away from the partnerships we have formed
over these last several years in our working with schools and
constituent organizations in greater Los Angeles,” he said.
“We have said we are here for the long term.”
However, that commitment is threatened by budget cuts proposed
by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration, which would
cut $14.2 million from outreach in 2004-2005, about 47 percent of
outreach funding.
In spite of this, Carnesale said he believes the UC would find
ways to maintain its outreach programs, which many consider crucial
for increasing enrollment among minority groups.
“I cannot imagine, unless we were literally ordered to do
so, that (the UC) would back away from outreach,” he
said.
To cope with an expected state budget cut of over $400 million,
the UC may also have to curb enrollment growth, which would deny
spots at the UC to thousands of eligible students ““ an
unprecedented move Carnesale said was unfortunate but may be
necessary.
Without curbing enrollment, Carnesale said the quality of
education for UC students would decrease.
“If you want a personal opinion, I feel a greater
responsibility to the students who are enrolled now to make sure
they get the quality of education they came here for than I do …
to admitting more students,” he said.
In terms of curriculum, Carnesale said student demands that UCLA
institute a “diversity requirement” was not his top
priority, as he was more concerned with increasing diversity among
UCLA’s student body, faculty and overall curriculum.
“I understand the importance of the politics of this
matter, but from an education perspective, this strikes me as not
in the neighborhood of other things related to diversity in its
importance,” he said, adding that the diversity requirement
was a faculty matter.
A policy in place at other UC campuses, a diversity requirement
would require students to take courses focusing on different ethnic
groups. Carnesale also reassured students that the two October
campus shootings did not constitute a surge in campus violence.
“By and large, I think we are in quite good shape on
campus, and I don’t think the events should alarm us,”
he said.
Amid the struggles the university faces in the future, Carnesale
took a moment to reflect on the late Clark Kerr, a former UC
president and perhaps the most important figure in higher education
in the country.
“There wasn’t anybody in higher education in the
United States that didn’t know about Clark Kerr,”
Carnesale said. “You didn’t have to be at the UC system
to be aware of him.”
Among Kerr’s accomplishments was the establishment of the
Master Plan of Higher Education in California, which sought to
guarantee every eligible student in California a spot at a UC, Cal
State or community college campus. Carnesale praised Kerr as an
inspiration for his commitment to “excellence, access and
affordability.”
“Trying to do all three of those things on such a large
scale was quite a heroic undertaking,” he said.