澳门六合彩资料库

'澳门六合彩资料库 Davis 101': History, politics and finance

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Photos (2): Aparna Sinha, co-chair of the Education Graduate Student Association, at the podium, next to the "澳门六合彩资料库 Davis 101" panel; and the audience.
<b>Top:</b> Doctoral student Aparna Sinha, co-chair of the Education Graduate Student Association, opens the "澳门六合彩资料库 Davis 101" seminar. The panelists are, from left: Professor Tom Timar, Professor Cristina Gonzalez, Associate Vice Chancellor Kelly Ratliff an

THE FUTURE OF THE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

Video and PowerPoints from "澳门六合彩资料库 Davis 101" are available  (scroll down on this "Video of Past Events" page, part of  website). Or, click on the following links:

Also available online: Video of Professor Gonzalez's recent talk, 鈥 part of the 澳门六合彩资料库 Davis Humanities Institute鈥檚 ongoing series Conversations in the Humanities.

Read a from Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter about The Future of the Public University.

By Dateline staff

Faculty members from the School of Education brought their expertise to a public forum this week on 澳门六合彩资料库鈥檚 financial challenges, in a discussion that included recollections of 19th- and 20th-century 澳门六合彩资料库 leaders who overcame obstacles to build and preserve one of the world鈥檚 great universities.

The faculty panel addressed fast-rising tuition and the 33-year-old ballot initiative, Proposition 13, which forever changed 澳门六合彩资料库鈥檚 financial picture.

Rounding out the 鈥湴拿帕喜首柿峡 Davis 101鈥 panel, the campus鈥檚 chief budget officer outlined where 澳门六合彩资料库 Davis鈥 money comes from and where it goes 鈥 and warned that preliminary calculations for 2012-13 show yet another shortfall.

About 50 people attended the late afternoon seminar Feb. 7 in 3 Kleiber Hall. This was a one-time seminar 鈥 but video is available for those interested in 澳门六合彩资料库鈥檚 struggle to maintain accessibility, affordability and quality in today鈥檚 tough economic times.

鈥楨xtraordinarily good leaders鈥

Cristina Gonzalez, a professor in the School of Education and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and former dean of Graduate Studies, gave a brief history of the 澳门六合彩资料库 system, citing 鈥渆xtraordinarily good leaders at key moments of its development鈥 鈥 presidents who understood the forces of legislative control and popular clamor, and knew when to oppose them and when to tap them to advance the mission of the university.

People like founding President Henry Durant (1870-72) and his successor, Daniel Coit Gilman (1872-75), who fought the forces that sought to make 澳门六合彩资料库 more of a vocational school. And Benjamin Ide Wheeler (1899-1919) and Clark Kerr (1958-67), who tapped societal forces in favor of universal access to higher education.

鈥淭he most important issue facing the 澳门六合彩资料库 leadership at present is whether to oppose forces demanding greater social equality or to tap them to advance the mission of the university,鈥 she said. Recent protests signify the birth of a new progressive era, she added, and such eras are very good for the university:

鈥淚 believe that this is not a moment to fight legislative control and popular clamor, but rather to draw upon those forces to advance the mission of the University of California, which is, and always has been, to provide access to the best available education to the people of the Golden State.鈥

Proposition 13: A 鈥榯hird rail鈥

Professor Thomas Timar, faculty director of the Center for Applied Policy in Education, gave a short primer on Proposition 13, the voter-approved, 1978 initiative that cut property taxes from about 2.6 percent of market value to 1 percent of market value from three years earlier, 1975, and prohibited further taxation based on property value.

Proposition 13 鈥渢urned finance on its head,鈥 Timar said, explaining how cities, counties, special districts, schools and community colleges began looking to the state for extra money that they formerly could get from local taxation.

This meant that 澳门六合彩资料库 began competing with all those agencies for a piece of the state pie 鈥 and the pie had grown smaller, as a result of Proposition 13.

The state has been in decline ever since, Timar said, yet legislators think of Proposition 13 as 鈥渟ort of a third rail 鈥 they won鈥檛 touch it, they鈥檙e afraid of it.鈥

An audience member asked about the repercussions of an attempt to repeal Proposition 13.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a great question, nobody鈥檚 tried it,鈥 Timar said. In talks with legislative staff in Sacramento, he said, 鈥淭he conventional wisdom that you can鈥檛 touch Proposition 13, that you can鈥檛 change Proposition 13, is just deeply, deeply ingrained.

Tuition keeps climbing

And, so, tuition keeps climbing 鈥 347 percent (adjusted for inflation) over the last two decades, to $11,279 for resident undergraduates 鈥 鈥渨hich explains why many students may be upset about it,鈥 Michal Kurlaender, associate professor of education, citing data from The College Board鈥檚 .

And, whereas students paid about 15 percent of the cost of their 澳门六合彩资料库 education in 2000-01, today they are paying about 45 percent 鈥 and could be paying more than 50 percent next year.

Students are right to pay attention to the Board of Regents, said Kurlaender, noting that the board decides tuition. The earliest the board will take up 2012-13 tuition is March. (The original version of this article incorrectly stated tuition would in fact be on the March agenda.)

鈥淏ut, really, a lot of the attention should really be (on) pushing the Legislature to really think about their commitment to funding public higher education.鈥

Efficiencies and new revenue

Associate Vice Chancellor Kelly Ratliff, who leads Budget and Institutional Analysis, said, 鈥淏y no means is the university relying just on student tuition to address the shortfall.鈥

The campus has begun an aggressive program of administrative efficiencies (such as the shared service center) and other cost cutting (such as the Strategic Energy Program), and come up with new sources of revenue (expanded summer programs and increased enrollment of nonresident students, for example).

In 2011-12, these efforts netted a savings of $35.6 million (compared with added tuition of $38.7 million, after diverting roughly a third of the new tuition revenue to financial aid). For 2012-13, Ratliff said she estimates an additional $5.5 million in new revenue and $4 million more in efficiencies.

Still, as of right now, the campus is estimating next year鈥檚 shortfall at nearly $28 million 鈥 to be adjusted after the governor and Legislature agree on a budget, and after the 澳门六合彩资料库 regents decide on next year鈥檚 tuition.

Then, if there is still a shortfall, departments and units are likely to be looking at a fifth consecutive year of cuts.

Previous cuts, from October 2007 to October 2011, resulted in the elimination of 500 full-time-equivalent positions (faculty and staff, paid with tuition and state general fund money), or about 7 percent of the work force. 鈥淭hose are real people who are no longer employed,鈥 Ratliff said.

During that same period, undergraduate sections with enrollment of 100 or more climbed 14 percent, while sections with 20 or fewer students dropped 8 percent.

With less state money and growing enrollment, Ratliff said, 鈥渟omething has to give and part of what鈥檚 giving are these quality measures.鈥

Media Resources

Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu

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