With state funding accounting for only about 11 percent of UC Berkeley’s operating budget in the 2011-12 academic year, a question arises as to what, exactly, defines a public university. We believe that while sources of revenue are an element of the equation, there are other important attributes that must be taken into consideration. For example, the mission, values and purpose of a university are critical, as is the socioeconomic composition of its community. Despite the significant and, in our opinion, deeply misguided and damaging cuts in state funding, we are educating more low income students than we ever have, while adhering to the same set of fundamental values that have served Berkeley so well over the years.
But we are not an island.Today’s ballot measures are a case in point. While the fate of Proposition 30 is unknown as we write this piece, there can be no doubt that it will have an impact on this campus and the UC system as a whole. Like it or not, as a public institution our fortunes are influenced by the public’s expressed desires and the manner in which they are interpreted and implemented by our elected representatives.
While we can’t determine the outcome of the vote, we can plan and prepare for different scenarios. We believe it is our responsibility to both inform and engage the campus on what the future may hold, and to explain the steps we are taking to ensure that we protect, as best we can, our public character and our standards of access and excellence. That is why we are trying to reach out to as many students, faculty and staff as we can to discuss important issues, answer questions and address concerns. Every member of our senior management team has been reaching out to groups that they serve to engage in a dialogue. For example, our colleagues in Student Affairs are helping to organize forums around important issues.
On Oct. 30 there was a forum focused on Prop. 30 and on Nov. 7, the two of us will be participating in another forum sponsored by the ASUC, Graduate Assembly and Academic Senate that will focus on the university’s budget. We hope you will join us at 6:30 p.m. in West Pauley Ballroom. On the afternoon of Nov. 7 we will also be attending a meeting with our faculty for a discussion about our post-election fiscal situation. The point is that there are multiple ways and venues for us to meet, discuss, listen to one another and, hopefully, peacefully generate ideas that will enable Berkeley to thrive.
In this regard, one of the important messages that we hope to convey is that Berkeley is a remarkably resilient institution that, despite the aforementioned cuts in state funding, has continued to grow and excel. We have been able to do so in part because we have striven to become more efficient in areas where we can, particularly the administration, in order to redirect resources toward our core academic programs. Looking ahead, we know we must continue to search for efficiencies, but we also know we have to look to the other side of the ledger to aggressively identify and develop both new and existing sources of revenue. In this regard we recently held the first “Revenue Generating Symposium” on Oct. 15 on campus where three deans and Intercollegiate Athletics presented projects they wish to pursue to generate revenue. It was heartening to see an audience there that was drawn from every part of the university.
To date, our efforts have enabled Berkeley to do more than survive the financial storms. We have grown and, at the same time, have maintained our standards of access and excellence. The cynics will say that this is just happy talk, but the hard evidence says otherwise. Look at our continued success with recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty, the enduring quality and number of undergraduate and graduate applicants, the growth of our research endeavors, the expansion of course offerings and sections, our ability to build new residential, athletics, research and other academic facilities, the remarkable growth in philanthropy and the expansion of our financial aid programs that now provide assistance to families with annual incomes up to $140,000.
We are not pretending this has been easy. The cuts in state funding have imposed very real costs on everyone on this campus and have been damaging to our colleagues in other institutions, particularly in community colleges. The financial and social return on public investment in education is well documented but the empirical evidence has not prevented the state from adopting bad public policies. And even as we begin to realize significant savings from our focus on efficiency, we know that we cannot cut our way to growth and sustained excellence. We know we need to be innovative and aggressive to defend our character and quality. We need just the sort of out-of-the-box thinking that is allowing the Lower Sproul renovation project to proceed on the basis of an unprecedented partnership between students and the administration. We need and want your ideas and involvement.
As we said in the beginning, all of us who believe deeply in the need to preserve our public character and preeminent status have a shared interest in the success of these efforts.
John Wilton is the UC Berkeley vice chancellor of administration and finance. George Breslauer is the UC Berkeley executive vice chancellor and provost.
Contact the opinion desk at [email protected]
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I’m tired of hearing of the administration’s attempt to redefine what the word “public university” means. It has meant only one thing for hundreds of years: HEAVILY STATE SUPPORTED. Once we all realize this, we will finally stop calling berkeley a public university. And who’s fault is it that Berkeley lost that treasured part of its identity? The administrative class – guys like these – who have turned Berkeley into a privatized/corporatized university.