• Historian Selected Plous Lecturer
  • UC Reaches First Agreement with Clerical Workers Union
  • Additional 11,000 Graduate Students Planned
  • I.V. Proposals Move To UCen
  • New Health Service Starts Dec. 1
  • UCSB Present on 3-Day Walk
  • Campus Notes
  • Unisex Restrooms Becoming More Widespread on Campus
  • Associated Students to Create Flacks Internship
  • Four Scholars Become AAAS Fellows
  • Veteran Adviser Knows Right Moves for University Terrain
  • Campus Welcomes New Ladder Faculty
  • Library Advocate on UC Committee
  • Credits
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    Additional 11,000 Graduate Students Planned


    UC officials announced plans last Thursday to add 11,000 graduate students to the 10-campus UC system over the next decade.
    Additional graduate students will help meet the state's future workforce needs as well as UC's increasing need for teaching and research assistants for a swelling undergraduate population. "As a high-technology state and innovation leader, California will rely on highly educated workers to provide a competitive advantage in the global marketplace," Provost and Senior Vice President C. Judson King told the Board of Regents.
    Meeting the new goal will not be easy, despite UC's reputation for excellence in graduate education. Graduate enrollment has been virtually level while undergraduate enrollment has doubled during the past 30 years. Consequently, the proportion of graduate students has dropped from 30 percent of total enrollment in 1965 to 17 percent today.
    Though detailed strategies have to be worked out, the University has mapped general guidelines to attract and retain graduate students. These include:
    • More funding dedicated to research assistantships as research grants and contracts grow, including state-funded research initiatives proposed in UC's 2001-02 budget;
    • More funding for teaching assistantships as undergraduate enrollments grow;
    • Increased fee waivers for research assistants and teaching assistants, consistent with the contract with the union representing UC teaching assistants; and
    • Examination of opportunities to augment graduate student financial support from other University fund sources, such as student fees and private gifts.
    UCSB Graduate Division Associate Dean John Mohr welcomed the UC initiative, saying, "We believe that UCSB's ability to attract and retain an excellent and diverse graduate student body is critical to our continued success as a top-tier research university, and highly dependent on increased financial support."
    In addition to contributing to the California economy, King said that graduate students contribute to society in a number of ways. For instance, he said, graduate students are needed for their abilities to "think outside the box" in shaping California's future, to replace retiring faculty, and to teach the increasing numbers of undergraduate students arriving at UC and the California State University system.
    King also announced the formation of a commission to develop strategies to provide more financial support for increased graduate enrollment. The commission will be co-chaired by King and by Board of Regents Chair S. Sue Johnson, and will report its findings by next July 1.
    --Mary Spletter/UCOP