UC task force hopes to reach communities
New outreach program aims to make university more accessible to
underrepresented students early development of those previously
underrepresented
By Michael Howerton
Daily Bruin Staff
Whether to buffer against the ravages of political winds or set
the course straight after years of mis-navigation and leaky hulls,
outreach is the new buzz word within the university that many hope
will keep the vessel afloat.
A new outreach task force met on Thursday for the first time
amid expectations that it will bridge the divide over minority
enrollment that has factionized the university in recent
months.
"Opportunity for academic achievement and success is not evenly
distributed in our society," Board of Regents Chairman Clair
Burgener said in his opening remarks to the 32-member task force.
"We need to find a way to make this opportunity more accessible,
more available to every young person in California who has the
talent and motivation that can make them successful University of
California students."
The task force’s job to make the university more accessible to
underrepresented student groups is viewed with heightened
anticipation and anxiety. Last year’s battle over affirmative
action in the university has brought the issue into the
limelight.
"It is quite clear that the regents’ decision (to end
affirmative action) places an extraordinary burden on outreach
activities to achieve greater levels of representation of
underrepresented students," said Ted Mitchell, the dean of UCLA’s
Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and a member
of the task force.
Some campus groups are skeptical that the task force will be
able to successfully address the problem of enrolling
underrepresented groups.
"At UCLA, outreach has been non-existent for the American Indian
community," said Joe Nelson, president of the UCLA American Indian
Association. New outreach programs, he said, "won’t address our
community at all, there will be no benefit."
To help maintain American Indian enrollment at UCLA, Nelson said
that his association has begun their own unofficial outreach
programs, including campus visits and presentations.
"It’s a huge task and there are no easy answers," he said, "but
I don’t see the university’s efforts and there is no positive end
in sight. There will be a real decline in the American Indian
population."
Attacks against the Board of Regents, mainly due to their repeal
of affirmative action, have lately centered on the issue of
political intrusion in their decisions. In light of this, all
actions that involve the divisive issue of minority enrollment have
carried the suspicion of being political smoke rather than
administrative substance.
"I am very concerned that this be a task force that adds
substance," Mitchell said. "If it is just political cover it won’t
be useful for anyone. I can’t speak for the others (on the task
force), but I’m concerned."
Regent Designate Richard Russell, a member of the task force,
said that, far from being viewed as just political manipulation,
the task force can effect real change in admission policy.
"(Thursday’s meeting) was the first time that a group has gotten
together to work on outreach," he said. "I’m very positive at this
point."
At the January regents’ meeting, both foes and supporters of
affirmative action in the university urged that it was time to put
the cankerous debate behind them and focus their energy on outreach
programs.
Regents who feel that gender and sex-based preferences have no
place in admissions expressed a dedication to help boost minority
enrollment through programs that target students before they reach
college. This is where the effort should have been placed from the
start, they argued.
Likewise, many regent advocates of affirmative action also spoke
of the importance developing such programs, recognizing that with
the elimination of admission preferences for underrepresented
groups, more energy and money needs to be focused on groups that
stand to lose out under the new policies.
However, Mitchell cautioned that in the short run neither of
their expectations were likely to be met.
"If the task force sees the work as short run, then it won’t
serve (its function), but it has a chance in the long run,"
Mitchell said. "We need to put in a long term strategy to raise
achievement levels of under represented students. Then we can begin
to think creatively what outreach means."
But the faith would be misplaced if the task force was seen as a
panacea for the university’s recent problems, Mitchell said. Most
importantly, the task force will focus on building up kindergarten
through 12th grade schools to be more effective and efficient
feeders for UC enrollment.
"If we can think about ways the university can participate in
the reform of K-12," Mitchell said, "then we will have achieved
much."
Most of the discussion Thursday, which was held on the UC
Berkeley campus, focused on developing programs that would aid
these students at the elementary school level.
"We will never succeed in qualifying more disadvantaged students
for the university unless we succeed in giving them a strong
academic start in life, from kindergarten to high school," UC
President Richard Atkinson said at the meeting. "Our outreach
partnership with the schools is key."
Atkinson has pledged $2 million to help start the initiatives of
the task force, which is composed of members of the business and
educational communities, through his President’s Plan to Raise
Educational Participation.
This funding will add to the more than $18 million that the
University of California will spend on outreach programs this
year.
"With the establishment of this task force on outreach,"
Atkinson said, "we have a historic opportunity to strengthen that
partnership (with schools) and make it work for California and our
young people."Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu