The following are the prepared remarks of Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef for his 2009 State of the Campus speech delivered to the Academic Senate's Representative Assembly on Feb. 24:

Preparing for my last “State of the Campus” address to the Academic Senate prompted me to pull out my first address as chancellor 15 years ago.

In many ways, it was a déjà vu moment for me, but, of course, now with the benefit of knowing how things turned out — how we, together, confronted challenge and created opportunity.

Those of you who were here in 1994 will certainly recall the challenge — multiple budget cuts that ultimately totaled 25 percent of our state funds. Equally challenging, over four years, we lost many of our most accomplished faculty and staff to early retirement and pared or eliminated valued programs and services. It was not easy, but, together, we navigated those processes of change and self-renewal — the toughest test of greatness.

‘Daunting’ fiscal challenges

Today’s fiscal challenges, compounded by the national and international economic crisis, promise — in fact, already seem — to be every bit as daunting. The current economic circumstance is more than a downturn — it’s a reset, according to UC Regent Russ Gould, who chairs the regents’ finance committee. A reset — the state has been living beyond its means, and consequently both we and the state have to reset our budget base.

The regents and President Yudof are making a strong case in Sacramento for investing in UC as one of the best ways to stimulate California’s economic recovery. And they are pressing hard for federal funds that will be allocated as part of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan signed last week by President Obama.

Those efforts, I expect, will provide some help. But the scale of the cuts we’re facing is great enough that we must make systemic change in the way we do business at UC Davis — just as we did 15 years ago.

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Enrique Lavernia is leading that effort. I have every confidence that he will effectively guide the necessary reductions we must make in both the short and long term. And I have no doubt he will be viewed as a valued partner by our next chancellor.

Community feedback on budget

As was true for me in the 1990s, Enrique will have the support and advice of the campus community in developing strategies for making permanent reductions. Several of you are among the 70-some faculty, staff and students who are serving on the Budget Advisory Committee or one of its five subcommittees. Your ideas and recommendations will be evaluated by Enrique and our new chancellor over the summer. And next fall, they will ask the campus community for feedback so that permanent reductions can be in place early in 2010.

Difficult business to be sure, but essential. I hope, though, that even in the face of such challenge we will always pursue innovations and new ideas. We must always look to the future, no matter the current circumstance. It is true that we cannot “let a thousand flowers bloom,” and so we must be especially mindful that our investments leverage UC Davis’ distinct advantages as we continue to pursue the simple notion that we must always be engaged in those actions that will make us better tomorrow than we are today.

And we can do this. We’ve weathered enough financial storms to know that they do pass, and that the University of California not only perseveres but prospers. We have 100 years of history to prove that’s so.

Just look to the last 15. Perhaps our highest campus recognition came shortly after we managed our painful budget cuts of the 1990s. It was then that we were invited to join the Association of American Universities. The AAU consists of the 62 research universities widely regarded as the best in all of the United States and Canada. Indeed, the invitation to join was convincing evidence that good things can follow bad and that how you deal with adversity is a valid criterion of greatness.

Achievements highlighted

There are many other examples — examples where, together, we have turned challenge into opportunity. For instance:

• Our thoughtful, prudent reinvestment in the faculty after the significant early retirements of the 1990s.
• Our creation of such programs as Reservation for College and other outreach initiatives when Proposition 209 and controversial regents policy changes challenged our diversity and equity efforts.
• Our transformation of an ailing county hospital into an academically distinguished and financially sound regional medical center.
• Our revitalization of our veterinary medicine facilities…a great example of a multi-faceted effort to solve a significant problem.
• Our innovative new residential neighborhood, West Village. It will be the first UC project to provide affordable housing for students, faculty and staff. And we will be the first UC campus to house a community college center — an important part of our shared initiative to enroll more transfer students.
• Our creation of a new south entry to campus, with its signature Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. They will soon be joined by the new Graduate School of Management Building and hotel and conference center. Together with the nearby Alumni and Visitors Center, they signal to the tens of thousands of cars that pass by each day that we are here and have much to offer. Much more than a water tower — that was the most vivid image that Regents Chair Dick Blum had of what the campus was 15 years ago. “No longer,” he says. “Drive around today, and UC Davis looks close to Berkeley.” That is irksome, in its own way, but from a Berkeley alum, that’s the highest compliment!

And the list goes on — the much-needed Giedt Hall classroom building, the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility, the expansion of the College of Engineering from Bainer Hall to four buildings, several new student-life facilities, and, on the Sacramento campus, the new Education Building and Surgery and Emergency Services Pavilion.

And, farther east, our Tahoe Environmental Research Center at Sierra Nevada College, a platinum “green” science building that is the epitome of collaboration — collaboration between four academic institutions, between California and Nevada, between both public and private partners. Just a great example of what UC Davis does best.

But let me say this: None of these representative examples are just buildings. They came to be because of real academic needs.

Yardsticks of success

And they are products of a UC Davis community that just keeps getting better. It’s easy to say “just keeps getting better,” but how do we measure it?

Well, the Mondavi Center has changed the region and our campus, with more than 125,000 attendees each year, including 20,000 schoolchildren. And it’s a clear draw for prospective students, staff and faculty, no matter their discipline.

Another objective, measurable accomplishment … UC Davis this year jumped to 4th among all U.S. universities in hosting international scholars, primarily post-docs and sabbatical professors. Fourth — just behind Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley. We are a highly respected campus of choice for academic partners throughout the world and across the disciplines.

Also, despite tightened resources nationwide, you secured a record $586 million in research funding last year — the fourth year in a row that your research grants and contracts exceeded half a billion dollars. That’s a remarkable achievement and a clear indicator of the high quality of our faculty.

As well, private support topped $216 million this past year. It was the sixth consecutive year that philanthropic support has grown and the first time that UC Davis has surpassed $200 million. Even without the Moore Foundation’s $100 million grant to found our School of Nursing, private giving increased 12 percent over the prior year.

Partnerships critical

Many Academic Senate and Administration partnerships over the years have moved us forward on several fronts — from early initiatives to address lagging faculty salaries to significant investment in graduate student support, improved time-to-degree progress for our undergrads, expanded summer program enrollments, creation of the Undergraduate Research Center, initiation of what has quickly become a nationally ranked University Writing Program, efforts to strengthen our General Education program, and a current initiative to improve transfer student recruitment and retention.

Caring, commitment

One recent example stands out for me — the sheperding of a new UC freshman eligibility policy by one of our professors, Mark Rashid. Mark was chair of BOARS (the UC-wide Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools) when this proposal was just beginning to move seriously through the system. He stayed with it, even after his service as chair was up, testifying before the UC Board of Regents on multiple occasions, and convincing President Yudof that this proposal merited consideration. At long last, it won the regents’ endorsement earlier this month. I was happy for Mark and proud that he — a UC Davis faculty member — so effectively carried the water on this important policy.

It’s this kind of caring and commitment that characterizes the Davis campus so well. And it’s why, some 15 years ago, when UC President Jack Peltason asked me to become UC Davis’ fifth chancellor, my answer was quite simple and straightforward. I told him I was thrilled. I still am. I have come to love this campus and its people. I am proud of the high quality of our faculty and students, and continually amazed at the professionalism and dedication of our staff. I am grateful for our alumni and supporters, who truly consider this campus as family and work so readily on its behalf.

Human, intellectual community

As I said in my first address and reiterate today, we have learned that we can take on the worst of times and emerge a better institution because we’ve faced our challenges together, with mutual respect for one another, and with common concern for our public missions. I’ve come to know that that lesson comes more easily to us than to others.

Early on, former UC President Clark Kerr, a preeminent higher education statesman, recognized the very special spirit that has always characterized this campus.

He described that special spirit this way: “The Davis campus has always had more community spirit than any other…It was, above all other campuses, an integrated human and intellectual community…a friendly, pragmatic place, and very resourceful in working out problems.”

It was no surprise when, years later, he confessed that Davis was his favorite campus and sent his own children here to be educated.

Plans to write more

As I anticipate re-entering the world of the faculty, I can’t imagine a better human and intellectual community to be a part of than UC Davis. Some of you know that I’ve been thinking for a while now about teaching a biology course for non-science majors. I intend, as well, to continue my work at the national and international level, leading the national review of university accreditation, as well as promoting university interactions in the East and Middle East.

And I will write. Lots has happened over the past 25 years that I anticipate will at least be of interest to UC Davis historians. I’ve been engaged with many of the challenges and accomplishments of the past quarter century, and I will enjoy writing this history, for now titled Chapters Along the Way.

It’s those chapters, in fact, that make me feel so positive about UC Davis today and into the future. There seems to have been no challenge that we weren’t able to handle. Why? I don’t know for sure, but I do know that we work unusually well together. It’s in our culture, a culture that is not likely to disappear during our next 100 years.

And that’s what our next chancellor will inherit — an extraordinary, integrated human and intellectual community. He or she will surely be as thrilled as I was when asked to be UC Davis’ next leader. But my successor and you will need each other if this campus is to achieve its full potential. Good leaders recognize that great ideas are just the beginning. It’s the implementation that makes or breaks the best of ideas and requires true partnership.

That’s where you come in — where you’ve always come in. Together, you and our next chancellor will take this wonderful university to its next level of accomplishment. Together, you will help UC Davis continue to do what matters, to do what makes this world a better place.

I’m happy to have been your partner along the way. As I said at my inauguration, and say again today, thank you so much for having me.