Regents prepare proposal to increase UC’s funds

Friday, October 16, 1998

Regents prepare proposal to increase UC’s funds

MEETING: Raise expected to help furthur research, sustain strong
rankings

By Edina Lekovic

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

SAN FRANCISCO “¹ While the rest of the country braces for a
possible economic recession, officials in the University of
California expect to benefit from the economic boom of recent
years.

After slow economic growth in the early 1990s, the UC expects a
$340 million increase in state funds, bringing the total budget to
$2.7 billion.

Budget cuts caused by that recession are ‘still out there and
there is still a lot of pain out there,’ said Larry Herschman, vice
president of budgets.

‘The UC’s share of the state budget was at its highest in the
’80s and way down in the early ’90s; (now) it’s finally beginning
to rise.’

Seeking to keep the UC competitive as a ‘public Ivy’ while
keeping tuition affordable and accommodating projected enrollment
growth, officials presented a final budget proposal to the full
board Thursday at the UC San Francisco campus.

The great majority of the budget will fund research and
construction, however.

‘Our view is that we ought to be competitive with the very best
universities in the country,’ said UC President Richard
Atkinson.

The UC’s comparison schools ­ among them Harvard, Stanford
and the University of Michigan ­ see a roughly 4 percent
budget increase annually, according to Herschman. The UC’s proposed
budget will increase by 5.7 percent if passed.

This compact, passed four years ago (in its last year in
effect), included general student fee increases averaging about 10
percent a year as well as fee increases for students in selected
professional schools.

It is this compact that also provided $33.5 million to expand
the university’s outreach efforts as well as $6.5 million for the
startup of academic programs and planning for the UC Merced
campus.

The budget agreement reached by Atkinson and Gov. Pete Wilson,
while not a binding agreement, takes place every four years and
ensures the university receives state funding. In turn, Atkinson
must agree to commit the university to certain goals in order to
access appropriated money.

‘A strong system of higher education is critical to our social
fiber and our ability to compete in the global markets of the 21st
century,’ Wilson said in a statement.

The spate of budget cuts ­ as high as $433 million in
permanent cuts ­ to higher education between 1990 and 1995
have hit few areas of the university as hard as basic student
fees.

UC students will experience a fee freeze in the next four years,
largely due to the state legislature’s enactment of AB 1318, which
provided for a 5 percent reduction in mandatory fees for California
residents enrolled in the UC.

Hand in hand with the leveling of fees is an increase in
financial aid provided by the recent amendments to the Higher
Education Act. The act will provide for an increase in the maximum
Pell Grant awarded as well as a near-1-percent drop in interest
rates for student loans.

‘These graphics are dramatic and startling,’ said Regent William
Bagley, of figures which outlined the 10-year decline in state
funding to the UC.

‘We need to give these to the legislators. We need to use this
material effectively,’ he added.

UC students have seen an exponential growth in student fees in
the past decade.

While total fees hovered around $1,600 during the 1989-90
academic year, they skyrocketed to $4,555 by 1998-99 ­ an
average annual increase of $300.

The stabilization in fees will also apply to graduate schools
­ with the exception of the Schools of Medicine and Nursing,
which will see a $1,000 and $300 increase respectively.

A larger concern of the Regents, however, was how prepared the
university is to accommodate the major influx of students it is
witnessing.

The 2 to 3 percent annual increase in enrollment ­ roughly
3,000 students ­ forced the state to produce additional
funding.

Legislators responded to this with $23 million added to the
state budget to fund the 3,200 students the university had
projected it would over enroll in 1998-99. An additional $6 million
was allocated to support 800 undergraduate students enrolled in
engineering and computer sciences.

In addition to securing additional faculty and services for the
extra students, a number of campuses have been forced to expand
on-campus housing and teaching space.

The Regents have set aside a total of $31 million to tackle the
enrollment growth they will soon be faced with.

They were concerned that the increased number of students would
mean an even more impersonal educational experience, most clearly
in the form of faculty-student ratios.

Currently, the UC faculty-student ratio is at 18.5 to 1, while
other public institutions average 17 to 1 and private institutions
hover around 10.5 to 1.

‘It is incumbent upon us as a Å’public Ivy’ to focus on this
problem,’ said Regent Sue Johnson.

According to Herschman, at current enrollment, 500 more
instructors would be necessary to bring the ratio down, at an
estimated cost of $20 million.

The federal budget proposes an 8 percent increase for basic
research for several federal agencies of importance to the
university. The funding source for the proposed research program
increase in the president’s budget is a new revenue source, tobacco
settlement revenue.

‘There is a significant commitment to increase research,’
Herschman said.

‘We saw a significant increase in federal funding for research
through the 1980s, which leveled out a little in the early 1990s,’
he said.

‘It is now finally back on the rise. Quite a few other states
look to California to set the precedent,’ he added.

In addition to federal money, the state will provide $30 million
to demonstrate its commitment to research.

One recent study named the UC the top research institution in
the nation, while the National Science Foundation found that the
system had produced more research leading to patented inventions
than any other public or private research university or labor
during the periods studied.

In order to show their support of high-priority research
programs, the state is providing $30 million for these programs,
acknowledging the role UC research plays in sustaining California’s
economy.

Secondary considerations including capital improvements and
libraries have long been overlooked, however. The proposed budget
is just beginning to tackle those issues.

The money for capital improvements, $210 million, will largely
be dedicated to fixing current safety problems on all nine
campuses.

The Regents expressed concern that seismic issues still exist at
UCLA and UC Berkeley as a result of the Northridge and Loma Prieta
earthquakes, which caused extensive damage earlier this decade.

‘This isn’t going to be enough money to solve all the seismic
problems at UCLA and Berkeley but it should fund the other
campuses,’ Herschman told the board.

For those improvements, as well as infrastructure funding at the
UC Merced campus, the Regents are relying entirely on California
voters to pass Proposition 1A. If passed, this measure will provide
$9.2 billion to strengthen, repair and build public education
facilities in California.

‘If Prop. 1A doesn’t pass, it would be a serious catastrophe,’
Atkinson said.

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