When UC Berkeley leaders are considering how to dole out student fee money, they must evaluate the campus’s priorities. Included in that consideration should be funding groups that further the university’s mission, part of which is to give back to local communities and pursue public service efforts.
Cal Corps fits that bill. And its request for more money from the campus should be honored. As the campus’s public service center, Cal Corps oversees many student groups and programs that serve outside communities in the Bay Area and beyond. According to the center’s website, in 2011, it engaged more than 6,000 students in 290,000 hours of community service through volunteer work as well as academic courses, jobs and internships.
Due to its clear positive impact on a wide swath of communities, the center deserves more funding. Nearly 500 students have signed a petition asking the campus to “significantly increase” the center’s funding. Responsibility for recommending such an increase rests with the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Student Services and Fees — composed of students and campus officials — which, in turn, advises Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, who has final decision-making authority over these matters. Both the committee and the chancellor should prove their dedication to public service by fulfilling Cal Corps’ request.
Cal Corps leaders have said the center hasn’t received increases in funding for years, despite the fact that its costs have increased over time. Instead, it’s had to rely on other sources of revenue to finance its operations. On that basis alone, it should receive help from the campus. But beyond that reason, Cal Corps points out that it receives far less funding from the campus than similar programs at public peer institutions. As the premier public college in the country, UC Berkeley should feel obligated to support its public service center a little more.