On Oct. 8, UC President Robert Dynes conducted the first of his three initial Web chats with the UC community — a lively chat with alumni from around the state.
“I can guarantee this will not be the last, but rather the first of many conversations with alumni,” Dynes said as he responded to questions and comments online.
Dynes was also to answer questions specifically from faculty and staff members and from students during two other chat sessions this week (after Dateline’s deadline). Excerpts from those talks will appear next week in Dateline. The following are excerpts from his Oct. 8 chat. The transcript is available at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/ news/webchats/alumnitranscript.pdf.
What impact will the election of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have on UC in the coming months?
Dynes: That’s a question on everybody’s mind, including mine. I have just signed off on a letter of congratulations to the governor-elect, offering the resources of the university to aid him in this transition. I look forward to meeting with him. Gov. Davis has been a terrific friend of the university, and I look forward to a similarly constructive relationship with Gov. Schwarzenegger.
How do you feel the new governor will influence your goals for the university?
Dynes: My goals haven’t changed: to preserve and improve the quality of the university and meet our commitment to create new knowledge, transmit that through education to the people of Califor-nia, and be the university of choice for students of all backgrounds in California. In his press conference today, the governor-elect reiterated his commitment to fixing California’s economy, and I believe the University of California can play a crucial role in helping him do that.
What do you see as the university’s role in creating new jobs and new business opportunities for California?
Dynes: The university has been the engine that has created the high-tech and world-competitive economy in California. I see an even more accelerated relationship with the established and new economies that California can create. We’ll do this by generating new ideas, new products and the workforce to deliver those.
What do you see as UC’s major contributions to improving health care in California?
Dynes: The University of California has the ability to translate inventions from the bench to the quality of health care at the bedside. We can focus on accelerating the transition from new discoveries to serving the health needs of the people of California.
How can UC utilize alumni in ways other than as a fund-raising source?
Dynes: It is my belief that the citizens of California do not all recognize the broad contributions that UC makes to the quality of life here. I hope over the next few years that you will help me educate the state — tell your friends and family about UC, participate in alumni programs in your area, contact your legislators to tell them how important it is to invest in the future of California via UC.
How can UC, CSU and California community colleges work together more effectively to lobby for a total higher ed budget commitment that makes sense for all?
Dynes: One of the first things I did on my first day in office was to call CSU Chancellor Charlie Reed and Community Colleges Chancellor Tom Nussbaum. Intersegmental cooperation is critical as we move forward. And hopefully the economy will be a vehicle for more creative ideas as to how we interact. On Dec. 1, we are sponsoring a public forum on the budget at UCLA, and both of these colleagues will attend. That is just one of many collaborations I am anticipating.
What do you plan to do to ensure that UC maintains its managerial role in the national laboratories?
Dynes: Our focus is on improving our business practices as we maintain and enhance the quality of our science and technology. We also are close to identifying a vice president for lab management who will work on the relationship between the laboratories, UC and the Department of Energy. We are proceeding assuming that we will compete the contract for Los Alamos National Laboratory, and we are talking with potential partners who will help strengthen our operations. The decision for competition will not be made, of course, until the DOE releases the conditions of the contract, which should be late fall 2004.
What are your goals for increasing the academic reputations of the UC campuses that aren’t as well known?
Dynes: I might disagree with the premise of your question; I believe the academic reputations of all our campuses are well established. For example, six of the campuses are AAU universities — that is six out of 61 in the United States and Canada! No other state public university has more than one. Each campus has programs that are world leaders — pillars of excellence throughout the UC system.
Will you and your wife continue research and/or teaching in the physics department?
Dynes: Frances lectured at UCSD today and is probably right now in her lab. Less than an hour ago, I had an email exchange with my graduate students in my laboratory, and I will be working with them this Saturday in my laboratory in San Diego. I must say this job is very consuming, but I will never stop being a physicist.