In addition to taking a stance against the Racial Privacy
Initiative, Chancellor Albert Carnesale discussed budget concerns,
enrollment surges, the unit structure of classes, admissions
policies and the semester versus quarter debate in a press
conference with the Daily Bruin Friday.
Carnesale warned that lower state government revenue in the
years to come could result in a potential increase in student fees
and could possibly mean layoffs of university employees.
Carnesale said the University of California might still face a 5
percent budget cut for the remainder of this fiscal year, which
might lead to some “terribly unpleasant actions.”
But Carnesale said his greatest concerns lay in the years to
come. Even though the state economy is expected to recover,
government revenues are likely to lag because they are so dependent
on capital gain taxes.
“Revenue projections are not so great,” he said.
“We will have to explore every avenue available to us for
increased revenue and reduced expenditure.”
Despite the poor economy, Carnesale said UCLA enjoyed its best
year in terms of fundraising with $509 million raised, including
the $200 million gift from media mogul David Geffen to aid in the
construction of the Medical Center.
Even without that gift, UCLA would have enjoyed its second-best
year since he arrived at UCLA in 1997, Carnesale said.
With regard to the anticipated increase in student numbers in
accordance with Tidal Wave II, the chancellor said the university
is currently employing strategies to accommodate the rise in
enrollment without compromising the quality of education
provided.
He said one method would be to continue expanding summer session
programs, which so far have been “very successful” in
dealing with the needs of more students.
“Summer school has expanded markedly and offers more and
more of the required courses, and as long as that is in place, we
don’t have to add as many students during the year,” he
said.
Another solution would be facilitating the ability for students
to take a full load of classes every quarter, Carnesale said, which
is currently difficult because of the way units are allocated to
classes.
The state of California currently considers 15 units per quarter
a full-time load, and provides a certain amount of funding to UCLA
and other UC campuses for each full-time student.
It is currently difficult for students to find classes with
units that literally add up to 15, so students are more likely to
take fewer rather than more units.
By re-unitizing classes, Carnesale said it would make it easier
for more students to take 15 unit quarters, increasing the amount
of full-time students on campus.
With regard to concerns that the UC’s new admissions
program, comprehensive review, may not be in compliance with the
state constitution, Carnesale said he hasn’t seen anything
yet that suggest the admissions system is not in compliance.
Under Proposition 209, the UC is prohibited from taking race and
ethnicity into consideration for admissions. Comprehensive Review
takes life experiences into greater account than past admissions
policies and has led to higher numbers of admitted
under-represented minorities, but it does not explicitly benefit
anybody by race or ethnicity.
The chancellor also spoke about the proposed change from
quarters to semesters, currently being investigated by the Academic
Senate, indicating that most people he has spoken to who have
experience in both systems said the two-term academic calendar has
more advantages as far as learning goes.
“Whenever I have asked someone who has studied or taught
extensively under both systems which (system) they think is better
for learning, I have found only one person who believed that the
quarter system was better for student learning,” he said.
Aside from potentially benefiting academics, a switch might
reduce financial costs, Carnesale said, in terms of administrating
twice rather than three times a year. Also, a semester system would
probably benefit students looking for internships because classes
would end earlier.