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October 20, 1997
By Mike Lassiter
UC News Office
University of California President Richard C. Atkinson laid out a 1998-99 budget plan last week that would bring faculty salaries back to competitive levels, accommodate an additional 2,000 students, and continue to provide students with the classes they need to graduate in a timely fashion.
New initiatives in the budget include efforts to accelerate the university's technology investment to provide students with state-of-the-art instruction and library access, expand research targeted to critical sectors of the economy, and devote significant efforts to expand student outreach.
The plan also calls for moving ahead with planning for a 10th campus and the expansion of academic programs in the San Joaquin Valley as well as placing special emphasis on repairing and renovating aging buildings.
Atkinson pledged to continue to work with Gov. Wilson, Assembly Speaker Bustamante, and the legislature to "solve the serious long-term funding needs of public higher education in our state."
Atkinson registered his disappointment in Gov. Wilson's decision to veto proposed legislation, AB 1415, which would have provided UC and California State University the same portion of the state budget they now receive through 2003, with a provision for extra funding to meet increasing enrollment demand (see Atkinson's comments). But he remained hopeful that a new solution can be found, given the governor's and the speaker's strong commitment and recent statements of support to stabilize funding for higher education.
The budget plan, presented to the Board of Regents during a meeting in Sacramento, calls for a 6 percent increase in state funding for next year, consistent with the governor's compact for higher education. That would raise UC's state funding by $135 million to $2.3 billion. The Regents will consider adoption of the plan at their meeting in November.
Under AB 1318, a bill approved by the governor and the legislature, undergraduate student fees for California residents will be reduced by 5 percent next year and graduate and professional school student fees for California residents will be frozen for two years. The bill calls for up to $22 million in funding for the university to offset the fee loss. That funding will be in addition to the proposed budget request. Any action to increase out-of-state fees will be considered after the governor presents his state budget plan in January.
In regard to UC's technology effort, the centerpiece of UC's activities is the development of the California Digital Library, which initially will develop computer links among the libraries within UC and then expand to include materials from other schools and museums, both public and private (see related story). When completed, the California Digital Library will make the vast collections of the UC campuses available over the Internet to anyone with a computer and a modem.
The university is spending $1 million on the library project this year. In 1998-99, UC proposes to spend another $1 million and to seek $3 million from the state. In addition to the library project, the budget proposal calls for an additional $4 million for instructional technology. UC now spends more than $55 million annually on technology.
"Our faculty have long been pioneers in using and developing this technology, but given the speed with which technology is evolving, additional investments are needed," Atkinson said.
The budget proposal also calls for a $2 million increase in the Industry-University Cooperative Research program to speed the transfer of basic research into the marketplace. "We hope to replicate the success story of the biotechnology industry--born of university-based research and fueled by a constant flow of ideas and talent from UC and other leading research institutions," Atkinson said.
In keeping with the Regents' decision to seek new paths to diversity, a major effort will be made to implement an ambitious plan to attract more students from all backgrounds to the university. UC now spends more than $60 million annually on outreach efforts. Another $5 million is requested beyond the base budget. Efforts are under way to attract additional private and matching funds from public schools.