Chancellor Linda Katehi said Feb. 11 that UC Davis is a higher education leader on the verge of taking the “next big step forward” despite its financial crisis.

“As we try to solve the problems of today,” she told the Academic Senate in the annual State of the Campus address, “we shall not compromise our dreams for tomorrow—our dreams as a world-class university, our dreams for our students who deserve nothing less than access to excellence, and our dreams for the people of California.”

The State of the Campus address was Katehi’s first since she became chancellor last August. In the speech before about 80 faculty members, Katehi highlighted recent achievements, fiscal challenges and future possibilities.

Green growth

One major focus is sustainability. “We are the leaders in this area, and it is time for us to claim it,” said Katehi, adding that the campus plans to launch a major sustainability initiative.

Toward this, the chancellor has asked Dean Steven Currall and Professor Nicole Biggart of the Graduate School of Management to organize a "green summit" in the coming months.

“Our summit will bring together scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, academic researchers, elected officials and venture capitalists from both the Bay Area and Sacramento,” Katehi said.

UC Davis efforts in this area include more efficient parking garage lighting and irrigation systems; a new brewery, winery and food science facility that will be home to the first LEED-certified platinum facility of its kind; and a proposed net-zero energy UC Davis West Village community.

“We need only look around us to see that this is true,” she said.

Katehi sketched a broad vision of sustainability, one that spans all of campus, from the humanities to the sciences, from research in global climate change to the upholding of human rights. There are projects underway to preserve “lost or dying” Native American languages, to better serve the medical needs of underprivileged people, and to efficiently teach children and cultivate artistic talent in at-risk communities.

In the sciences, the chancellor said, UC Davis faculty are conducting globally-promising research on nutrition, crop improvement and how to control diseases that move between animals and people.

“Sustainability is an area of both tremendous strength and opportunity for UC Davis,” Katehi said.

Fiscal realities

These opportunities, however, arise at a time of great concern throughout a budget-strapped UC system, she noted.

From furloughs to employee layoffs and 32 percent fee increases for students, the UC has endured a financial storm in recent months, Katehi said. Since July 2008, the campus has lost $150 million in state funds — with $115 million lost since May 2009.

Yet she expressed optimism that furloughs would end in the year ahead.

“We are determined to limit furloughs to this year only; the UC President and the chancellors have made the commitment to terminate them this August,” she said.

The campus is exploring streamlining options and how to create an administration that is “lean, effective, transparent, service-oriented and innovative," she said. One example is to offer “shared service centers” for human resources, accounting and payroll.

The time is ripe for aggressive UC advocacy efforts in California and the nation's capital, she said.

“Support for our national universities is not only a state responsibility but a national responsibility as well,” said Katehi, who spoke recently at the World Universities Forum in Davos, Switzerland, about the need for a Morrill Act for the 21st century and for the federal government’s reinvestment in public higher education.

To help make college more affordable for students, Katehi said, the UC is promoting and expanding financial aid programs and planning to raise $1 billion for student support over the next four years.

UC Davis itself recently unveiled a new matching fund for graduate student support with the idea of attracting the best and brightest graduate students, she said.

“So, in the midst of this financial crisis, we are making progress. But we all need to do more,” she said.

Defining the UC Davis vision

The key to doing more rests in developing a new UC Davis “vision,” Katehi said. And so, she has asked for campus input on a vision document now circulating. Areas that the campus could better leverage, she suggested, include its strong track records in diversity, interdisciplinary research, international student education, and regional economic growth.

“These are just some of the ideas that have been put forth as we work to define UC Davis’ vision,” she said.

The good news is that UC Davis can build upon achievements like rising student quality, the doubling of research funding in the past five years, and success in attracting federal stimulus funding.

The chancellor believes UC Davis has the potential to rank among the top five research universities nationwide.

“There is no better time for our campus than now to think boldly, take risks and act decisively,” Katehi said.

Text and video of the chancellor's speech entire speech