During the UC Board of Regents meeting at UC San Francisco on Wednesday, the board discussed financial support available for graduate students and findings from the regents’ Diversity Work Group and approved several increases and adjustments to faculty salaries throughout the system.
In a presentation, Rory Hume, UC executive vice president of academic affairs, presented figures on the financial support the University of California provides to its out-of-state and international graduate students.
He emphasized that students have an incentive to attend UC schools if they are offered scholarships and awards that are competitive with other schools.
“The university’s ability to support graduate academic study is critical for a world-class research university,” Hume said.
During the discussion period, Bill Shiebler, president of the UC Students Association, presented the regents with various ways graduate students benefit the UC, including serving as teaching assistants and researchers. Shiebler said the research done by these graduate students is what generates prestige and revenue for the university.
“High-quality graduate students ensures a high-quality UC,” Shiebler said.
In his presentation, Hume said graduate students who need financial assistance can receive up to 45 percent of their student fees back from aid programs. He also noted that students benefited from the lack of an increase in systemwide student fees for the 2006-2007 year.
To attract out-of-state and international graduate students, Hume suggested that nonresident fees and aid programs do not change in the future and also proposed that UC-funded research grant programs expand.
Following Hume’s presentation, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi said he believes the problem with affordability for students is ever-increasing fees and proposed that the state find another source of funding for higher education.
Garamendi called fees a “tax” on students and said current aid programs act as subsidies only to students who cannot afford the cost of education.
Several regents responded that fees are only a small portion of the overall cost of public education, which includes transportation, living expenses and books. But they did say the board will continue to work on finding ways to provide students with financial support so all students have the opportunity to attend a UC school.
Findings from the regents’ Diversity Work Group were also presented to the board, though the final report will be presented in September.
The work group, created in part by the efforts of former Regent Chairman Gerald Parsky, studies diversity among faculty and both undergraduate and graduate students from the 10 UC campuses.
Parsky said the group found that underrepresented groups are less likely to be admitted to UC schools and called diversity “vital to the quality of our UC.”
But Parsky said the group also found positive statics, specifically that black student admissions for the 2007-2008 year increased.
Toward the end of the day the regents approved salary increases for several professors and administrators. Regent Judith Hopkinson, chair of the Compensation Committee, called for approval of these actions because the faculty members are “truly outstanding.”