UC Davis has overcome budgetary challenges before, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef says, and it will do so again.
Vanderhoef, in his state of the campus address Feb. 19, recalled that the late UC president emeritus Clark Kerr described the UC system's budgetary shocks in the early 1990s as "worse" than those of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Yet the UC system survived and later thrived in the wake of those earlier traumas. One difference with the current fiscal crisis, Vanderhoef said, is that the state has "specified" particular programs for cuts and fee hikes.
In speaking before about 100 faculty members at the Academic Senate's winter meeting in the Memorial Union, Vanderhoef described Gov. Schwarzeneggar's proposed budget as a "starting point" for negotiations with the state. The state constitution calls for a July 1 adoption of a final budget.
Vanderhoef explained that the draft budget raises many questions and concerns, including whether the cutbacks will hinder the ability of the state and university to adhere to the Master Plan for Higher Education, which ensures that the university admits the top 12.5 percent of the state's annual high school graduating class. "It is truly a matter of debate," said Vanderhoef, observing that growth pressures at campuses and simultaneous budget cuts are a difficult combination.
"The fact is that there is much to lose and little to gain by forsaking the Master Plan on the basis of what we know are periodic, not ever-present, difficulties in the California budget."
The draft budget also calls for no funding for staff salary increases (faculty will receive their once-every-three-years opportunity for merit increases), rising enrollment fees for undergraduates, professional school students and graduate students. Regarding graduate students, Vanderhoef said, Schwarzen-eggar's budget proposes a large 40 percent increase in their fees.
"Will we have as many graduate students in the future as we have now?" said Vanderhoef. "Would those students be as good?"
Reducing the proposed graduate student fee increases, he added, is a "top priority" for the UC.
Also in the budget crosshairs are UC outreach programs -- they would receive no funding under the original proposal. Vanderhoef sounded a note of optimism tht at least the core of these programs is a priority for President Robert Dynes and many of the UC regents. "Our programs in the elementary schools intervene at the fourth-grade level with the intent of keeping all of the students on track with regard to reading, writing and mathematics," he said.
Otherwise, he said, these students might not get "back on track" by the time they complete high school.
Vanderhoef said he is deeply concerned about the state's projected increase in the UC student-faculty ratio to 20.7 students per 1 faculty member, up from 17 to 1 during the last 20 years. A smaller budget means less financial support for students and possibly fewer faculty members.
Despite the budget forecast, Vanderhoef reminded his audience about exciting developments at UC Davis, including faculty and student recruiting strides; the university's first comprehensive fund-raising campaign; large increases in research funding; and an emerging arts and humanities scene.
The benefits of the comprehensive campaign, he said, far outweigh its costs. The funds raised -- the goal is $900 million over a seven-year period -- will support key academic endeavors on campus targeted by the colleges, schools and divisions.
"The campaign would raise $400 million more than we otherwise would have raised over seven years, and we get back $5 for every dollar we invest -- that's a great investment," said Vanderhoef, adding that alternatives on how to fund the campaign are still being studied.
The university has doubled its research funding support over the past five years and continues to increase its support of faculty grant applications through the Office of Research, he said. The campus is known for its multidisciplinary tradition of faculty collaboration, thus positioning it well to compete for grants, Vanderhoef said.
"We are a campus where there should be no discouragement about the future. We will get better, and our trajectory in every sense makes that obvious."
He said a soon-to-be-released UC Davis economic impact shows the university contributes $2.7 billion to Calif-ornia's economy, and that for every dollar the state invests, UC Davis returns $5.
On a separate front, the campus faces a shortage of affordable housing in Davis. Thus, the university is moving ahead with its plan to build a residential neighborhood on the west side of campus for employees as well as students.
Vanderhoef seemed moved by the December death of Kerr, the driving force behind and author of the Master Plan. In many ways, Kerr, who also served as the UC Berkeley chancellor, embodied the UC mission in research teaching, and outreach through his selfless but highly effective leadership.
"He was a humble genius," Vanderhoef said, "and that is a very rare breed of human being."
He announced that UC Davis will celebrate Kerr's life by establishing the Clark Kerr President Chair, to be held first by a senior professor who will serve as the director of the Campus Writing Program.