Outreach programs still effective, claims report

 

By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff

Outreach in the University of California remains effective
despite a multitude of problems, administrators said in last
week’s report on the status of outreach programs.

In an address to the UC Regents, officials in the UC Office of
the President outlined the need for increased support of K-12
outreach. They also described its benefits for the state’s
historically underrepresented populations in gaining admission to
the UC.

“We are creating a level playing field where every student
can achieve their full intellectual potential,” said Winston
Doby, the newly appointed UC vice president for educational
outreach and former UCLA vice chancellor of student affairs.

Outreach is responsible for 33 percent of Chicano and Latino
freshmen and 30.2 percent of African American freshmen in the UC,
according to UCOP figures for fall 2000.

Also, the number of School University Partnerships the UC has
with California schools has nearly doubled since 1997 ““ from
130 to 256.

The UC is making these strides in the midst of high turnover
rates in educators and administrators in the K-12 system with its
partnership schools, Doby said.

“We’re losing superintendents and principals,”
he said. “The number of people leaving matches the number of
people who are still there.”

Meanwhile, many regents made it known that there is much left to
be desired of the outreach effort.

“During my time here, the UC has produced 200 teachers,
but we’ve added one million children to the school
system,” said Delaine Eastin, state superintendent of public
instruction since 1995 and an outgoing regent.

Eastin added that 98 percent of superintendents throughout the
state are suffering from a principal shortage and urged the UC to
step up its educational doctorate programs to accommodate this
shortfall.

“The UC won’t be better than the state’s K-12.
We need to stop importing students and start growing them
here,” Eastin said.

More than 97,000 students participate in UC outreach programs,
and about 100,000 teachers take part in the university’s
professional development programs.

With family support, Doby hopes outreach will instill
“college-going culture” in schools so that students
think of college as a natural progression from high school rather
than a pipe dream.

“Schools don’t function in a vacuum,” Doby
said. “We need to promote healthy families and
communities.”

Outreach efforts are also suffering from budget setbacks. This
year, outreach received a $2 million cut from what the UC had
requested. For 2002-03, it allocated a $4.2 million cut in outreach
to accommodate the governor’s budget proposal.

When Gov. Gray Davis proposed his state budget earlier this
month, he announced that he did not cut funding for the UC but
instead increased it slightly. However, this increase was not
proportional to the university’s growth next year by an
anticipated 7,100 full-time students.

Realistically, university administrators and regents acknowledge
that turning around the K-12 system will not happen in the near
future.

“It can’t be achieved in our lifetime, but we can
start work toward ensuring that future UC students reflect
California’s populous,” Doby said.

Regent Ward Connerly warned the board not to place the entire
burden on themselves and the UC.

“We cannot solve it by ourselves and shouldn’t feel
obliged,” Connerly said. “This is a problem of the
state.”