While the University of California waits on new budget revisions
to see if it will have to cut outreach or raise student fees, UC
Merced is waiting to see if it will even be able to open its
doors.
After its opening was delayed by a year due to the last state
budget, UC Merced ““ which is still under construction ““
is counting on the $20 million promised to it in January so it can
open to undergraduates in 2005.
The outlook for Merced’s funding so far is favorable,
sources familiar with the budget process have said. And if Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger provides the funds in his May Revise, which
is due out this Thursday, Merced will be one step closer to
opening.
“I would be very surprised if the governor backed off on
the funding he’s providing to Merced,” said Steve
Boilard, director of higher education for the Legislative
Analyst’s Office, one of the foremost nonpartisan budget
analyst groups in the state.
But some state legislators have questioned the wisdom of funding
a new UC campus at a time when not even all eligible high school
students can attend the UC or California State University because
of budget cuts.
“There are voices out there of legislators who have
expressed misgivings about Merced,” Boilard said.
The $20 million at stake for Merced is “absolutely
critical,” said Sheryl Wyan, a spokesperson for the
campus.
Much of the $20 million would go toward preparing campus
services to handle their first 1,000 undergraduates in August
2005.
Merced’s journey toward opening has been “a long and
winding road,” in the words of Wyan.
The 10th UC campus and the only one in the San Joaquin Valley
was originally set to open in 2005, but the UC Board of Regents
moved the date up to 2004 to accommodate an expected surge in UC
enrollment.
But cuts made by former Gov. Gray Davis moved the opening back
again to 2005, derailing the plans of Merced administrators who had
been preparing prospective students for an earlier date.
In January, Merced requested $30 million in funds from the
state, and Schwarzenegger, though he proposed clipping $372 million
from the UC’s budget, provided $20 million.
But even that was jeopardized when the Legislative
Analyst’s Office suggested cutting Merced’s funding in
half, saying it had not seen justification for the $20 million.
Merced administrators said at the time there had been a problem
with timing and the analyst’s office would receive the
campus’s formal justification. The office did, and on April
28 recommended Merced receive full funding.
Had Merced received the $10 million proposed by the
analyst’s office, its 2005 opening may have been delayed
again.
Boilard, whose office’s recommendations often affect
budget decisions in Sacramento, said it seems Schwarzenegger will
stick to the 2005 opening.
“The governor made a pretty strong commitment when he put
out the budget in January that he was supportive about the opening
of Merced,” he said.
The UC refers to Merced as its newest and most modern research
university that will expand higher education into the center of
California, a region that is underrepresented in UC student
bodies.
But some legislators, including Senate President Pro Tem John
Burton, D-San Francisco, have expressed reservations. They fear the
campus is a drain on state resources at a time when the state needs
all the money it can get.
This is especially true in a year when state budget cuts forced
the UC to turn away 3,200 eligible students and the California
State University 3,800.
“My misgivings are if we’re closing down enrollments
this year for 3,000 to 4,000 students, it’s kind of
weird” to provide funding to Merced, said Sen. John
Vasconcellos, D-San Jose.
Proponents of the campus argue that funding Merced still makes
sense in spite of budget problems, as the campus is nearly complete
and it would be useless to have empty buildings sitting around.
Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, said the easiest way for the state
to offset the hundreds of millions of dollars it has already
invested in the campus is to open it up to students who will pay
student fees.
“It’s time for a 10th campus, and I think any delays
will hurt all of higher education,” he said.
The issue of funding to Merced could split the state legislature
when it comes time to vote on a budget in July.
Vasconcellos said he would not vote for a budget that did not
keep doors open to all eligible students. And Denham said he is
talking with Burton, the principal opponent of funding to the
campus.
And even if Merced does open in 2005, the UC will likely take
another big hit this year in state funding, which could result in
further increases in student fees and cuts to funding for outreach
and student services, all of which would be hard on a new
campus.
For now, though, the campus is focused on clearing its $20
million hurdle.
“We’re hopeful,” Wyan said.