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October 9, 1998
To: The Campus Community
From: Chancellor Greenwood
Dear Colleagues:
What could be more important than fostering the education of tomorrow's leaders? I can't think of anything more meaningful--for us and for our community--than providing a safe and supportive environment in which learning and discovery thrive. As we commence a new academic year, please join me in contemplating the tremendous importance of our work, in renewing our commitment to do our best, whatever the job, and in welcoming the opportunities that await us.
We have much about which to be proud and hopeful--and in UCSC at a Crossroads: Advisory Report of the Millennium Committee, we have a framework for continued success. I have been told that the report is the result of what may be the most extensive consultative and inclusive process in the recent decades of UCSC's history. We all owe a debt of thanks to Millennium Committee Co-Chairs Professor Gail Hershatter and Professor Marc Mangel for their leadership, and to the members of the committee and those hundreds of other campus members who participated in the deliberations.
At the Chancellor's Fall Conference, titled "Invitations to Action," nearly 150 faculty, staff, and students spent a day examining the "invitations to action" explicit in the Millennium Committee Report, and reaching recommendations to prioritize them. A guest speaker at the event was former Stanford University President Dr. Donald Kennedy, who called the Millennium Committee report "a remarkable document." Another guest, Dr. Robert M. Rosenzweig, President Emeritus of the Association of American Universities, stated that the document is imbued with "optimism and energy."
A summary report of the conference will be posted on the Web soon. In the meantime, I invite everyone to read the Millennium Committee Report, if you haven't already done so. Copies are being distributed to all units, and it also is posted on the Web at http://www.ucsc.edu/planbudg/chanc/millcom/mcreport.pdf
Comprising many fresh ideas along with renewed commitment to UCSC's basic values, the Millennium Committee Report comes at a time when there is good news about fiscal resources. With the signing of the 1998 State Budget Act, UCSC begins the 1998-99 academic year with the most favorable operating budget it has had in many years. The final budget provided permanent funding to cover our current student enrollment. In addition to this new ongoing funding related to the campus's budgeted enrollment, the State provided new one-time funding for instructional equipment, instructional technology, libraries and deferred maintenance. In addition to this funding provided by the State, the Regents authorized the UC Treasurer to secure significant new funds to renew buildings and address our deferred maintenance backlog. UCSC received $2.6 million for this purpose in 1998-99, and similar amounts are expected in 1999-2000. This multi-year program is expected to make a significant dent in the campus's backlog of deferred maintenance projects.
Included in the State's capital budget is authorization for construction of UCSC's Interdisciplinary Sciences Building, the Physical Sciences Building and the resultant release of space to benefit programs in social sciences, engineering and other disciplines. If Proposition 1-A is approved in the November election, funding will be generated to commence these projects at UC Santa Cruz, as well as many other capital projects benefiting K-12, community colleges, CSU and UC.
Another point of good news is the welcoming of John Simpson as Executive Vice Chancellor. Since his arrival in July, John has clearly demonstrated enthusiasm for joining what Senate Chair Helene Moglen recently referred to as "UCSC's renaissance," and he brings a wealth of expertise and creativity to share in the effort. As well, I am delighted that Professor Lynda Goff has agreed to focus her considerable energy and talent on attention to undergraduate issues in her new role as Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education. I also congratulate and welcome to their positions three new provosts, Judith Habicht-Mauche (Crown College, replacing Leo Laporte), Tyler Stovall (Stevenson College, replacing Mark Cioc), and Andrew Szasz (College Eight, replacing Wally Goldfrank). My thanks as well to the provosts, who have completed their service.
As we begin the quarter, we anticipate enrolling approximately 10,850 students. As we have planned, this is about 200 more than last fall's group of frosh. It is a credit to the effort of faculty, students and staff that there is an increased number of underrepresented minority students. In fact, of the 2,400 entering freshmen, about 500--an increase of 24 percent compared to last year--are African American, Chicano, Latino, Filipino or Native American.
What is more, this year's move-in weekend was the most efficient in recent memory, with few lines and little traffic congestion. Along with Associate Vice Chancellor Gail Heit, Vice Chancellor Tom Vani and Executive Vice Chancellor John Simpson, I visited every college and The Village. It was a pleasure to meet many students and their families--and I'm happy to note that I heard only praise for the creative efforts by Student Affairs staff to provide housing for our students, both on- and off-campus.
New students are discovering several recently approved academic programs, such as the Business Management Economics major, the Bachelor in Music degree, the Information Systems Management degree and the major in German Studies, plus a new Ph.D. in Ocean Sciences, and a Master's in Network Engineering. There is great vitality among existing programs as well. For example, Film and Video has recently earned department status, and the Jack Baskin School of Engineering, only in its second year of existence, already has attracted an enrollment that was projected for its fifth year. And there are similar points of distinction and achievement in all divisions.
Along with the rest of us, new and returning students are finding that the new Bay Tree Bookstore and Graduate Student Commons are under construction, and the last phase of the $32 million Improvement to the Arts project is nearing completion. This summer, we also broke ground on the new Fitness Center, and we expect to commence the building project for the College Nine Apartments within a few days, in time for Fall 1999 occupancy. As I have said, if Proposition 1-A is approved, we will begin construction on the Interdisciplinary Sciences Building during this year. To keep the campus community apprised about construction plans and the impact for pedestrians and drivers, a poster presenting an overview has been printed, a Web site is available (http://www2.ucsc.edu/ppc/), and an Information Line (459-5190) is open to receive comments and questions.
UCSC's national reputation for excellence is rising. The recent U.S. News and World Report ranking of all public research universities puts UC Santa Cruz in a four-way tie for 17th place, an improvement over last year's 25th rating. And the company in which we are listed--University of Texas at Austin, University of Washington, University of Minnesota at Twin Cities--underscores that, although UCSC is only in its 33rd year, it already is taking its place among the nation's most prestigious and much older institutions.
Moreover, private contributions to UC Santa Cruz reached another all-time record this past year. A total of $17.8 million in private donations have been given by generous people and organizations who recognize that UCSC's programs and projects are well worth the investment.
Of course, UCSC's faculty and the recognition of their exceptional work is the foundation for burgeoning appreciation of our academic excellence. As an example of this, I am delighted to announce that a UCSC faculty member has received a prestigious Packard Fellowship for the fifth consecutive year. Lisa Sloan, Assistant Professor of Geology, will receive $625,000 over a five-year period. UC Santa Cruz joins only three other institutions, UCSF, Caltech and the University of Chicago in having five consecutive Packard Fellowships.
This award only adds further luster to the list of honors that have distinguished UCSC's faculty in all disciplines. It is impossible to mention all of the recognition that has accrued to our faculty, so please join me in applauding the following recent and representative few honors indicative of the general excellence among faculty at UC Santa Cruz. History Professor Jonathan Beecher received the Palmes Academiques, the French government's highest honor for academic achievement; Biology Professor Lynda Goff won the Phycological Society of America's Luigi Provasoli Award, which honors the best paper published during a two-year period in the Journal of Phycology--and she has received the award nearly every year it has been given; Drama Professor Paul Whitworth received two of the nine Drama-Logue Critics Awards given to Shakespeare Santa Cruz for its 1997 season, including overall production (Artistic Director) and performance (as Richard III); Margaret A. Gibson, Associate Professor of Education and Anthropology, received a grant for $459,500 from The Spencer Foundation to fund a two-year study of the role peer relationships play in academic achievement among students of Mexican descent; John Isbister, professor of economics, received the Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in North America for his book The Immigration Debate: Remaking America (Kumarian Press, 1996); and many more.
In brief, we have good news on every front. We have increased appreciation for faculty and academic programs expressed via national recognition, private donations, prestigious grants and the ability to attract excellent faculty, students, staff and administrators. The State of California is funding UC at a level that is better than in recent years, and we can continue to build for the future. We have opportunities in every quarter--and many of them will expand on, or foster new partnerships with other segments of education and with business, government and private donors.
In closing, I invite each of you to help spread this good news. I suggest that you make it your business to share these points of mutual pride with each other--and to tell your friends and neighbors in our wider community so that they also can be proud of their local UC campus.
In fact, there already is a growing community appreciation for UCSC, made evident in part by the display of welcoming posters and banners in Santa Cruz businesses and along Ocean Street during the first two weeks of the quarter. Please join me in thanking the community for this warm welcome, and in informing your colleagues, family and friends about UCSC's achievements.
The University of California, Santa Cruz, truly is a rising university for the new century. We are accomplishing the important work of preparing tomorrow's leaders and discovering the answers to humanity's questions. In the words of the Millennium Committee Report, we share the goal to be "an outstanding research university with an unparalleled commitment to high-quality undergraduate education." I am delighted to be your Chancellor in this endeavor, and I very much look forward to our working together this year.
M.R.C. Greenwood
Chancellor