UC Center at Sacramento suspended
By Carolyn McGough
Oct. 8, 2009 12:03 a.m.
Because of a lack of funding and in an attempt to save the university as much as $800,000, the University of California Center at Sacramento is currently “under suspension,” according to UC spokesman Peter King.
“What we’re trying to do is maintain the mission of what the UC center does, but to do it with a model that saves us some money,” King said. “This is all part of the university system-wide belt-tightening.”
The UC plans to find an alternative campus at which the Sacramento program could be housed.
“You can look at your map and figure out which is more logical,” he said, referring to UC Davis, a mere 12 miles away from the current location.
If relocated, accepted interns would still be taught how legislation is conducted, continuing the “vehicle of bringing in experts to share some expertise,” King said.
The interns who are currently in the program will finish their quarter at the center.
UCLA students in the past have been able to apply to the program through the UCLA Center for Community Learning. Internships have been customized for students every quarter since its opening, according to the Center for Community Learning Web site.
By December, UC officials are hoping to have a new model figured out, in addition to a finalized location.
“This is something that we certainly value,” King said. “But when you’re looking at a billion dollar hole in your budget, there are sacrifices.”
Plans to alter the UC center were first discussed in September. A mere 6 years old, the center was founded in 2003 as a pilot program. It gained permanent status in April 2008. Graduates and undergraduates are able to participate in the program.
The cuts currently being made to the UC budget as well as student fee increases and faculty furloughs are “not easy, and the consequences are painful,” King said.
“It’s like the old biblical story of which child to save ““ they’re all our children in the sense,” he said, referring to all UC programs.
