At their September meeting, the Regents approved authorization for continued planning and development of a tenth UC campus to be located at the previously approved Lake Yosemite site in Merced County. This authorization will enable UC to proceed with the formal steps of the statewide approval process, including the mandated study by the California Post Secondary Education Commission (CPEC). Exercise of the option agreement to acquire the campus site and commencement of construction is contingent on further action by the Regents and on the provision of state resources adequate both to develop the new campus and to ensure the continued health and enrollment expansion of UC’s existing campuses.
A steering committee composed of Provost C. Judson King, Senior Vice President Wayne Kennedy (Chair), Vice President Bruce Darling, Associate Vice President Lawrence Hershman, Vice Provost Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, and Professor Dan Simmons is providing overall guidance for tenth campus planning.
Consolidation of Existing Programs and Transitional Planning: UC has maintained a significant teaching, research, and public service presence in the San Joaquin Valley since the late 19th century. Current programs are centered in three broad categories: agriculture, medicine, and academic services such as outreach to K-12, Extension, various kinds of professional education including programming for teachers, and a highly regarded joint UC and CSU doctoral program in educational leadership. Steps are being taken to consolidate the geographically-dispersed programs that currently exist , add on to their number, and then build on them to make the transition to academic programs for the tenth campus. These steps include:
· Creating a UC Center in Fresno to bring together a number of Fresno-based UC programs.
· Recruiting a new Director of Academic Programs to work with existing UC campuses to expand University Extension and degree programming in the Valley, including development and distribution of technology-assisted instructional programs through UC and collaboration with CSU, CCC, and K-12 schools. Joseph Castro, former Assistant Dean at the Graduate School of Public Policy, UCB, was hired into this position in August.
· Developing a research agenda including a possible “think tank” as a means to bring outstanding researchers and graduate students from UC and CSU to work on selected topics of critical importance to the Valley. A strong research core would attract outstanding founding faculty to develop undergraduate and graduate programs for the tenth campus.
Academic Planning: UC has initiated work on an academic transition plan that will lay out strategies for academic development of the campus, including student and academic support services, and for the hiring of founding faculty and academic administration. In addition, a preliminary academic plan is being developed by a faculty advisory committee chaired by Dan Simmons (Law, UCD), and consisting of Roger Anderson (Chemistry, UCSC), Richard Duran (Education, UCSB), Arnold Leiman (Psychology, UCB), Eldridge Moores (Geology, UCD), Judith Smith (VP for L &S Undergraduate Educ., UCLA), Clifford Trafzer (History, UCR), Carolyn Wall (Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, UCD), Cecil Lytle (UCSD), Rosemary Papalewis (CSU Liaison), and E. Jan Kehoe (CCC Liaison). The plan is now undergoing internal review and will be submitted to CPEC.
The advisory committee is considering a residential campus model, which will be the hub of the teaching, research, and public service activities and the home of faculty, students and staff. This hub will, however, have the potential to provide educational programming throughout the Valley through a judicious combination of technologically-assisted instruction and on-site learning. For example, the consolidated center in Fresno might continue as a site for distributed education after the tenth campus opens its doors to students. The campus will be a product of the 21st century, incorporating current and sophisticated technology throughout, from the library which will represent the digital age of information, to the laboratories , the classsrooms, and the residence halls.
Academic planning requires a long time-frame. The academic strength of the tenth campus will depend on the excellence of the founding chancellor, faculty, and academic administration. The current enrollment plan is that the tenth campus would open and enroll the first 1,000 on-campus students in Fall 2005 and grow by 800 students per year, resulting in an enrollment of 5,000 by Fall 2010.
Funding: The 1997-98 State Budget includes a permanent augmentation of $4.9M to UC’s operating budget to provide for development of academic programs in the San Joaquin Valley as well as planning, startup costs, and ongoing support for the tenth campus. A long-term plan for state operating budget support for UC was encompassed in AB 1415 (Bustamante), which was designed to provide stable funding increases for existing programs, as well as budget support for enrollment growth. Unfortunately, Governor Wilson vetoed AB 1415. It is unclear at this writing how UC will deal with this problem, but it is clear that before a decision can be made to proceed with construction of the tenth campus, funding actions will be needed to secure long-term operating and capital budget support for enrollment expansion at the existing campuses as well as the new campus.
The $4.9M permanent augmentation (which was originally to be $10M and was reduced when all state budget programs were cut due to the PERS repayment) will establish a core funding base for the new campus. In the years prior to opening enrollment in 2005, these funds would be used for planning, start-up costs, and hiring. The goal is to have 100 faculty in place by Fall 2005, ready to offer a range of lower division, upper division, and graduate programs.
The capital funding requirements for a campus that can support 5,000 students has been estimated at $400M (expressed in 1997 dollars) in State capital funds with approximately $250M prior to 2005 and another $150M between 2005 and 2010 to support growth to 5,000 students. The total $400M in funding averages about $35M per year for the 12-year period 1998-2010. In addition, UC estimates it needs about $350M annual outlay to meet capital funding needs to maintain, upgrade, and expand existing campuses. New bond measures will need to be passed to meet these needs.