Dear Colleagues:
As the end of the semester draws near, I have several updates to share with you regarding administrative appointments, the budget outlook for the University of California and our campus, and the two-year goals I submitted recently to UC President Mark Yudof.
First, please join me in welcoming Tom Peterson as provost and executive vice chancellor at UC Merced, effective Dec. 3. As announced in late summer, Provost Peterson most recently served as assistant director of the Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation. Prior to his leadership role with NSF, he served for 10 years as of dean of engineering at the University of Arizona.
Provost Peterson is an effective and seasoned leader, a successful fundraiser and a skilled collaborator whose talents will serve our campus extremely well as we move into the next major phase of our development. UC Merced will benefit enormously from his rich background in academics and research and his knowledge of the critical support role played by major grant-making organizations such as NSF.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank Sam Traina for the invaluable leadership he provided in the interim provost role since Keith Alley’s departure in June. Though Provost Peterson’s official start date is today, he and I both have benefited from Sam’s close collaboration and insight on some critically important matters. I’m sure Sam will be relieved to resume wearing one single very important leadership hat as he continues heading the research enterprise as vice chancellor for Research.
In other matters regarding executive management, I am also pleased to introduce Daniel Feitelberg as acting vice chancellor for Planning and Budget, effective Dec. 3. Some people on campus already know Dan due to the work he has been doing on financial and planning matters for us under a professional services contract. He will now step into a leadership role for the newly established Office of Planning and Budget (OPB). Similar to other UC campuses, this new division will facilitate the integration of planning and budgeting functions. It has been created by consolidating administrative staff from the Budget Office, Institutional Planning and Analysis, Capital Planning and Space Management, and Academic Technical and Space Planning.
Our campus is fortunate to have someone with Dan’s expertise in public finance and collaborative skills to help launch OPB. Once it is fully functional, the OPB will provide UC Merced with enhanced analytics to support institutional decision-making, greater coordination between planning and budgeting functions, and transparent and strategic resource-allocation processes.
When I last wrote to the campus community, we did not yet know the outcome of Proposition 30. As a result of its passage, the University of California thankfully was spared deeper cuts than already experienced during the past five years. Even though we certainly celebrate its passage, we recognize that the UC system and our campus are not out of the fiscal woods yet. While California’s fiscal outlook, including state revenues, is looking better, the Legislative Analyst's Office anticipates at least one more year of deficit (a projected $1.9 billion for 2013-14) before balance is restored.
On a brighter note, you may have read a recent story in the local newspaper noting that funding for the planned Classroom and Academic Office Building (CAOB) is included in the budget approved by the UC Regents for fiscal year 2013-14. We are hopeful that funding for the project will make its way through the legislative process in the spring, allowing construction to begin soon afterward, with a potential opening in 2016. The approximately 77,000-square-foot, four-story building would increase on-campus classroom space by 50 percent.
As you might imagine, plans for guiding our continued growth and development were very much at the heart of the two-year goals I submitted to President Yudof late last month. All UC chancellors are required to submit updated goals bi-annually as part of the performance-evaluation process. In the interest of transparency, I want to share these goals with you.
The five goals I submitted are as follows:
1. Develop and begin aggressively implementing a viable strategy for meeting space needs of the institution. As discussed in previous messages, this process is well underway, with final recommendations due from the Urban Land Institute early this month. Frequent updates will be provided as we evaluate their proposals and begin implementation.
2. Move UC Merced systematically toward its goal of becoming a mature research university by launching and beginning to implement a Strategic-Focusing Initiative for the campus’s graduate and research programs. With student enrollment projected to reach 10,000 students in eight to 10 years, UC Merced must begin to focus more effectively on those programs that best leverage our existing and emerging research strengths and represent the most promising avenues to distinction as we mature.
3. Cultivate a more robust partnership continuum to support the university’s academic and research missions. As we develop greater focus on our research and graduate programs, we will also seek to attract increased external investment and financial support for these programs by forming strategic partnerships and other collaborations with private industry, other universities, foundations, state and federal research sponsors and the philanthropic community.
4. Create and implement integrated budgeting and planning processes aligned with the university’s strategic priorities. Because UC Merced’s resource environment is constrained, it is critical to align these resources with the most critical institutional needs and priorities. The establishment of the Office of Planning and Budget is the first step towards creating and implementing a resource-allocation model that reflects and supports institutional academic, strategic and capital-planning priorities.
5. Demonstrate financial viability to WASC. A previous review by the Western Association of Schools & Colleges cited concerns about our long-term funding model beyond the existing Memorandum of Understanding with the UC Office of the President. We need to work closely with UCOP to develop an appropriate state general-funds allocation model that satisfies WASC’s concerns.
As I conclude this message, I want to invite you to two important forums open to faculty and staff before the winter break. On Monday, Dec. 17, I will lead a forum to provide an update on the campus’s budget and plans for a revised budget process for fiscal year 2013-14. Later that week, on Dec. 19, Staff Assembly will hold its bi-annual town hall for staff and faculty. Based on questions and topics you submit for consideration, members of my leadership team will be present to provide updates and answers on a variety of topics. Invitations to both events will be distributed via email in the coming days. I hope you will join us at both meetings.
Finally, as we move into the winter holiday season, I am confident that UC Merced will once again embody the spirit of generosity towards others that the giving of gifts can represent. Regardless of whether you live in the San Joaquin Valley or elsewhere, each of us is aware of the dire economic plight of many of our neighbors. With unemployment and poverty rates among the highest in the country and educational-attainment rates markedly lower than throughout much of the state, we have many opportunities to help address the distress that many in the community endure.
The annual United Way campaign begins on Jan. 15. I hope each of you will join me in supporting United Way programs that directly benefit those in need right here in Merced County. You can learn more about our local United Way and how you can support it through donations or volunteering by visiting the campus’s United Way campaign web page.
I also invite you to participate in the toy drive event I am hosting immediately after the town hall on Dec. 19. We can each make a difference in the lives of our local children, many of whom live in poverty or at its margins, by donating a toy for boys and/or girls. I encourage you to bring a new toy to the event, which will be held at 3 p.m. Dec. 19 outside the Classroom and Office Building’s Lakireddy Auditorium. (Please indicate whether the toy is for a boy or girl and the appropriate age group.) Free wrapping for your gift will be available at the event as well holiday refreshments.
As we prepare to conclude another semester, please know that I am grateful for the exceptional contributions that so many of you make to this campus every day. I thank you sincerely for all you do to make UC Merced an extraordinary institution. My very best wishes for a peaceful and relaxing holiday season.
Sincerely, Dorothy Leland Chancellor
