Dear UC Merced Community,
Thanks to our student leaders and the staff who supported them, UC Merced had a very successful get-out-the-vote effort yesterday.
Many students, faculty and staff stopped by the campus polling site—2,000 at last count—to participate in an election with national and statewide import.
On the state level, voter approval of Proposition 30 means that the University of California will not face mid-year budget cuts and our students will be spared the mid-year tuition increase that almost certainly would have followed as a consequence of those cuts. This in itself is a cause for celebration.
Although the increase in tax revenue authorized by Proposition 30 may help the state of California on its path to economic recovery, many challenges remain. For example, the relief from a mid-year budget cut does not restore the staggering amounts of state funding UC has already lost. And so, in the months and years ahead, we will need to continue our focus on using limited resources strategically and operating with increased efficiency and effectiveness.
I remain confident that together we can identify strategies and solutions that will enable UC Merced to continue on its path to maturity as a distinctive and distinguished University of California campus.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Leland
Chancellor
