Dynes pledges to be a friend to students

Robert Dynes might be the president of the most prestigious
university system in the world, but he still insists on being
called “Bob.”

And although he may have made the jump from the
chancellor’s office at UC San Diego to the UC
president’s office in Oakland, part of him still lingers on
the sun-drenched campus in Southern California.

“I miss walking on the campus. I miss sitting in the
coffee shops. I miss looking at students. It’s inspirational
to be on a campus,” he said in a Tuesday interview with the
Daily Bruin. “I miss it.”

But the reality is that Dynes is at the helm of a university
caught in the crossfire of a state budget crisis and burgeoning
enrollment growth, challenges that Dynes will have to deal with
during his tenure.

Rising student fees have threatened the university’s
historic commitment to access, and Dynes said he would work to
revise the UC’s fee policy to make it rational and
predictable.

“We lowered fees in economically robust times, and we
raised fees in economically difficult times. That doesn’t
make any sense,” Dynes said.

Fluctuating fees and the boom-bust cycle of the state economy
have made it virtually impossible for parents and students to
predict what they will be paying the next year at the UC, and Dynes
said this was unacceptable.

Dynes added his voice to a town-hall meeting at UCLA on Monday,
when the heads of California’s higher educational system
detailed the problems facing higher education and affirmed their
commitments to access in the face of a dismal financial
situation.

“California is in a deep damn hole,” said Charles
Reed, the president of the California State University System.

California is currently spending $15 billion more than it is
bringing in, and the UC and CSU have a combined budget of $5.3
billion, said Steve Olsen, UCLA vice chancellor of finance, at the
meeting.

Despite the financial pressures the UC faces, Dynes said the UC
would not abandon outreach, which attempts to increase awareness of
higher education in elementary and middle schools.

“We have to continue to find those diamonds in the rough
which would otherwise not be found,” Dynes said at the
forum.

According to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal,
the state would sever funding to outreach, which could badly
cripple an already underfunded program.

Dynes, Reed and Community College Chancellor Tom Nussbaum agreed
that they must convince the public that higher education is worth
paying for and too important to cut.

Dynes affirmed his commitment to increasing public awareness
during his interview.

“Being a friend of the students sometimes means going to
Sacramento and walking the halls, or going to Washington and making
the case, or dealing with the alumni,” he said.

Dynes also said one of his top priorities was to maintain the
prestige of the university, both for the institution’s sake
and for the students.

“Guiding as best I can the university to make it an
excellent place so that when you graduate, people will say,
“˜Oh God, you’re a graduate of UCLA, you must know what
you’re talking about,'” he said.

“It’s making sure the university maintains the
reputation so that at graduation the jobs are lined up for
you,” he added.

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