Buoyed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent commitment to restore funding to higher education, the UC Board of Regents turned its attention Wednesday to increasing efficiency in the UC system and reducing a projected $250 million budget gap.
The governor’s revised budget, released on May 14, proposed to restore $305 million in funding that had been eliminated from this year’s budget. The governor also proposed to restore Cal Grants and $51 million for enrollment growth.
Victor Sanchez, external vice chair of the University of California Student Association and a fourth-year student at UC Santa Cruz, said the gubernatorial backing for higher education is a result of joint advocacy efforts by UCSA and the Office of the President.
Protests across the state this year, including one at UCLA during the November UC Regents meeting, sent “the message that (the system was) in a crisis,” Sanchez said.
However, with a number of welfare and social programs on the chopping block, the California budget still faces a rough road ahead. UC President Mark Yudof called the potential welfare cuts “tragic” but emphasized his belief that students in California are an investment for the future.
Schwarzenegger has pledged not to sign a budget that does not at least partially restore funds for higher education. Even if the governor’s proposals are passed by the Legislature this summer, the UC system still faces a nearly $250 million budget gap that could balloon to billions of dollars in the coming decade.
“(The governor’s pledge) is an excellent starting point, but the University of California still faces a substantial shortfall in resources,” said UC Regents Chairman Russell Gould.
The board was presented with a series of suggestions toward increasing efficiency at a system-wide level, including regional opportunities in human resources and procurement.
UCLA, like many of its sister campuses, plans to focus on administrative and academic restructuring in the coming months. UCLA Chancellor Gene Block specifically mentioned the Challenge 45 program, which asks department heads to reassess the number of upper-division requirements for majors.
“The issues haven’t gone away,” Block said. “Students are still reeling from the fee increases, and they should be reeling ““ but everyone’s beginning to cope, that’s my sense.”
Talks about efficiency also included the need to consolidate and streamline the UC system as a whole.
The board hopes to galvanize individual campuses to act collaboratively instead of as independent units, UC Chief Financial Officer Peter Taylor said.
For example, UCLA already runs the financial systems for both the Office of the President and UC Merced. UC Santa Barbara may also be coming on board, Block said.
The board also amended the UC Registration Fee to become a system-wide student services fee, a move that student supporters applauded for increasing accountability.
Gould and Yudof also announced the creation of UC-wide campus climate groups, a reaction to the widely publicized race-related incidents in February at UC San Diego.
UCLA’s campus climate committee is already essentially up and running, Block said. The Chancellor’s Advisory Group on Diversity, which holds monthly meetings, released the UCLA Strategic Report for Diversity in fall 2009.
The document, which is available online, is still receiving comments, Block added.
The meeting also included a presentation of the first President’s Award for Outstanding Student Leadership, which went to two UC student groups.
One of the groups was The Olive Tree Initiative at UC Irvine, which promotes relations between Israeli and Palestinian students. The other was IDEAS at UCLA, a group that works to support undocumented students.
About 200 undocumented workers attend UCLA, said Eder Gaona, a fourth-year political science and Chicana and Chicano studies student. IDEAS reports an active membership of 70-80 students.
At the meeting, Gaona and Lizeth Flores, a fourth-year international development studies student, accepted the award on behalf of IDEAS.
“Institutional recognition is really symbolic,” Flores said. “Even a couple years ago, to come out as an undocumented worker was unheard of.”
A former undocumented worker, Gaona told the board that he used to commute a total of six hours a day to make it to campus for class. He said the award was a stepping stone toward long-term goals.
The regents are expected to discuss legality of offering financial aid to undocumented students in the near future.