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October 14, 1999 To: Campus Community From: Chancellor Greenwood and EVC Simpson Re: Santa Clara Valley Regional Center As has been discussed widely over the past two years, UC Santa Cruz is exploring the expansion of our service in this region, particularly in Silicon Valley. This correspondence is intended to highlight the following facts. --Tomorrow, the UC Regents will consider a budget that provides new funding to UCSC for advancing the prospect of a Santa Clara Valley Regional Center. --The continuum of campus planning for a regional center, which commenced with Millennium Committee "invitations to action" and advanced with a task force study completed last June, now will focus on detailed planning. --The impetus of these prior planning activities and the prospect of new funding place UC Santa Cruz in a perfect position to undertake the next stage of planning. --That next stage of planning will focus on three primary areas: 1. Development of an academic plan, to be determined by regular Academic Senate processes 2. A comprehensive site analysis 3. Development of a financial model The campus's established norm for wide representation and maximum participation will characterize these complementary and overlapping planning processes. Specifically, the Office of Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor John Simpson will direct academic planning and other aspects of implementation for this center. It will involve extensive faculty participation and will provide for student and staff input. As part of the academic planning, it is clear from the start that the Academic Senate will approve all courses that give university credit. There will be regular updates to the campus community about the progress of this planning activity, and at appropriate points, there will be general information shared, both through correspondence of this type and on the Web. For further background, and to reiterate previous correspondence, the recently-issued report of the California Postsecondary Education Commission projects a skyrocketing demand for enrollment in California's higher education systems during the next decade. This "Tidal Wave II" comprises an estimated enrollment increase of 714,000. Of that total, approximately 56,154 are expected to enroll at the University of California (see related story). Among the UC strategies to address this pressing need is the development of one or more regional centers. The UC Office of the President has recognized UCSC as the campus best suited to implement this solution in the Silicon Valley, a region of burgeoning population that is eager for the opportunities provided by the University of California. The Regents' budget, which will be considered at tomorrow's meeting, designates $2.5 million to advance the planning of such a center (see related story). The designation of UCSC is based on two salient factors: 1) UCSC is proximate to this historically under-served region and UCSC's strengths and affiliations are aligned with the needs of this region; and 2) UCSC has a longstanding base of existing programs, which we now have the opportunity to consolidate and further develop under the auspices of a regional center. For example, a regional center will provide further impetus for strong existing programs in teacher education, K-12 partnership, UCSC Extension, intersegmental higher education collaborations, and leading edge research interests and involvement. As has been mentioned, the thoughtful consideration of our campus strengths and opportunities launched by the Millennium Committee and the resultant "invitations to action" provide an institutional planning framework within which we continue to consider UCSC's future. Sustaining the momentum of the Millennium Committee, a broadly-representative Task Force, co-chaired by Professor Manuel Pastor and Vice Chancellor Francisco Hernandez, last year assessed current efforts in Silicon Valley and prepared an interim report that suggested a number of next steps. (The text of this interim report will be available soon on the campus Web site.) Now, with the impetus of campus planning and the prospect of new funding, we are in a perfect position to undertake the next stages of planning. We look forward to continuing campus discussion of this important opportunity for UC Santa Cruz, and we welcome suggestions from all campus members. Sincerely, M.R.C. Greenwood, Chancellor John B. Simpson, Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor
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