November 6, 1996 Contact: Elizabeth Irwin (408) 459-2495; emirwin@ua.ucsc.edu

NEW UC SANTA CRUZ PROGRAM PLANS PARTNERSHIPS TO PREPARE LEADERS OF THE NEXT CENTURY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood of the University of California, Santa Cruz, has announced a five-part initiative that characterizes UCSC's approach to ensuring continued quality and diversity among the campus's student body. The new program, "Partnership to Ensure Access and Quality," has two intertwined objectives: (1) to participate in the improvement of preparation for university eligibility; and (2) the active development of more scholarship funds to ensure access to UCSC for qualified students regardless of their economic backgrounds.

In making the announcement, Chancellor Greenwood stated, "I call upon the entire UCSC community to join me in ensuring the continued open access and academic excellence which characterize UCSC today. In the confusing aftermath surrounding Proposition 209, it is more important than ever that UC Santa Cruz communicates-- and demonstrates--that we are accessible to all qualified students, and that we accept responsibility to join with our partners in all segments of education to prepare today's students for tomorrow's challenges."

Specific elements of this initiative include plans to:

* Commit a $1 million endowment to help ensure in perpetuity the Karl S. Pister Leadership Opportunity Program. (The Leadership Opportunity Program provides a two-year [$10,000 per year] scholarship for each recipient. The scholarships are awarded to students transferring from each of the region's thirteen community colleges.)

* Focus on scholarship fundraising. (This includes a commitment of the UCSC Alumni Association to build its scholarship endowment from $200,000 to $1 million, as well as a plan to hire a development officer to generate more scholarship funds for campuswide use.)

* Enhance existing coordination and increase campus involvement with K-12 educational issues and opportunities. (The Chancellor's Educational Outreach Council, a newly appointed group chaired by UCSC's social sciences dean Martin Chemers, will recommend approaches for expanding UCSC's partnerships with K-12 schools and community colleges.)

* Expand the successful "Take UCSC Home" program. (Begun last spring, this program encourages current students to visit their high schools as ambassadors of UCSC, giving them a chance to develop professional skills while sharing information about the campus's programs and services from the student perspective.)

* Increase partnerships with schools and community colleges throughout California, and increase communications with prospective students, their parents, and counselors. (Utilizing the existing online application system, "Pathways," and expanding UCSC's innovative Success Team approach, UC Santa Cruz will ease student application and admission processes and will help students in their transition to UCSC. Currently, UCSC has direct online connections with 40 high schools and community colleges in the region and throughout California, more than any other UC campus, and this new focus will double that number within the next year. In addition, UCSC is helping build and maintain access to the information superhighway for regional schools. This is being accomplished through an innovative partnership between UCSC's Communications and Technology Services and the Santa Cruz and Monterey County offices of education.

Chancellor Greenwood's statement emphasized that these initiatives represent the further development of ongoing efforts. "Drawing qualified students, including women and minorities, to UCSC is not about righting past wrongs. Rather, it is all about developing the talent we will need as a society to thrive in the next century."

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