“˜Future of UCSF’ evaluates possibility of board independent of UC system

The University of California San Francisco recently announced intentions to become more independent from the UC and change how the campus pays into the system, which could impact the system financially as a whole.

UCSF formed a “Future of UCSF” work group earlier this month to make formal recommendations about the new arrangement with the UC.

The work group, comprised of representatives from UCSF, the UC Office of the President, UC Board of Regents, and Chancellor Gene Block, will present its findings to UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann in June. They will also be discussed at the July regents meeting.

UCSF would benefit with an independent board of governors that is comprised of health sciences experts, Desmond-Hellmann said at the January UC Regents meeting. At the same time, UCSF would maintain ties with the UC and stay accountable to the UC Board of Regents.

If the plans become formalized, an overall decrease in contributions from UCSF could impact students at UCLA.

“The biggest challenge would be that (any decrease in) contributions that UCSF makes to UCOP has to be made up through other revenue sources; other campuses may have to pay more, which could impact students,” said Student Regent Alfredo Mireles Jr. “Student tuition may be raised to fill (the lost funding).”

UCSF is different from other UC campuses because it focuses entirely on health sciences and enrolls only graduate students, said UCSF spokeswoman Amy Pyle. There are fewer than 3,000 students enrolled.

“Having a board that understands the business that we’re in as a medical center and a health sciences university could present new opportunities ““ new business partnerships or maybe new forms of technology,” Pyle said.

UCSF has the second highest income in the system, following UCLA. Almost 80 percent of UCSF’s revenue comes from its medical center and research grants; student tuition makes up a miniscule 1 percent in UCSF’s budget.

Each UC campus currently pays 1.6 percent of its revenue to UC headquarters. The money is used for system-wide services, such as pension payments, legal and other shared services offered by the Office of the President, said UC spokesman Steve Montiel.

Desmond-Hellmann said that while UCSF should pay for services from the UC, it cannot preserve its excellence as a health sciences center in a highly competitive and volatile field while participating in a flat tax model that is used in part to replace diminishing state dollars.

“The question is whether or not the amount that we’re paying into the UC is appropriate,” Pyle said.

With the trend of state cuts, the UC has hiked student tuition to make up for the losses. Most recently, tuition increased 9.6 percent in July 2011 to counter $650 million in cuts from the state.

But because tuition makes up so little of UCSF’s revenue, the increases themselves have had little impact on the campus.

“Tuition increases barely make a dent in our fiscal plan,” Desmond-Hellmann said. “We need to generate new revenue.”

She added that because of rising personnel costs and market forces, UCSF will have a financial shortfall if the current business model is not reformed.

The work group will evaluate alternative payment plans for the San Francisco campus, possibly decreasing the payments the UC receives from UCSF.

If UCSF formulates an alternative payment plan with UCOP, other parts of the UC could follow suit, Mireles added.

“It could become a trend for professional schools,” he said.

The UC already has several schools that have greater autonomy from the Board of Regents. Schools such as UC Hastings College of the Law, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have their own board of directors despite being part of the UC.

And the UCLA Anderson School of Management has recently considered asking for self-sufficiency from the state, said Phil Hampton, a spokesman for UCLA. UCLA’s Academic Senate will review Anderson’s proposal and send its recommendations to UC headquarters before summer 2012, Hampton said.

Despite the potential administrative and financial changes, however, UCSF is not proposing formal separation from the UC, Pyle added.

“We want to remain a part of the UC while implementing changes that grant us greater flexibility during a dynamic time in the field of health sciences,” Pyle said.

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