Administration Sums Up Difficult But Solid Year in Campus Report

By VIC COX

"It's been a difficult year, especially with the budget," Chancellor Henry T. Yang said late last month to a standing-room-only audience in the Engineering II Pavilion. But there was much evidence of campus achievement to praise, he observed in his part of a general, multidivisional End-of-the-Year Report organized by Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Lucas and his office.

With broad strokes, Yang painted a steady rise in student applicants to UCSB over the past 10 years; research funding increasing to $143 million in 2003 (he estimated $155 by the end of 2004); the amount of gifts swelling ($50.4 million in 2002-03 and probably about $80 million this fiscal year); and growth in the campus capital campaign's contributions.

Telling his audience that alumni giving had grown from 2 percent to 6 percent of its base, the chancellor said that the capital campaign had reached $230 million since launching its "quiet" phase in 2000. "Let's see if we can exceed $350 million," he said.

He gave few details on how the state's fiscal crunch has been felt at UCSB, but outlined the shape of the governor's new compact with higher education, which will take effect in 2005-06. He also expressed hope that the Legislature would treat UC kindly in the budget negotiations. "Both parties (in Sacramento) love us," he said. "I'm optimistic that we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."

Later, Todd Lee, associate chancellor for budget and planning, told the group that the UC Office of the President would soon send the 2004-05 budget allocations to the campuses. Cuts were expected to be "in the range of the current year," he said. However, the new compact, which runs from 2005 to 2011, allows UC to retain revenues from new fees, "something that has not happened in 20 years."

Returning to a campus focus, EVC Lucas reported that UCSB faculty hiring, which had been running at more than 50 FTEs each of the past two fiscal years, was "going to slow a bit." He said that 80 FTEs had been approved for the years 2004-06, but around 85 percent of those positions had already been filled.

Lucas said the campus was working on long-term planning, short-term budget pressures notwithstanding. He cited progress on a new Campus Master Plan and an infrastructure plan, as well as the need for an updated academic plan, to lay the foundation for a new Long-Range Development Plan. Integrating the college and division academic plans was important, he said, because enrollment goals and the accompanying faculty and staff hires grow out of those decisions.

Noting that even with the 215,000 assignable square feet of academic buildings expected to be added this next year alone, Martie Levy, director of capital development, said that the space crunch on campus "probably will continue for the next couple of years." Though two parking structures are on the way, the short term will see "a lot more stack parking, and students being moved farther out."

In the meantime, the Francisco Torres' North Tower renovation has been completed and work on the South Tower will be finished by the fall quarter, according to Marc Fisher, associate vice chancellor for campus design and facilities. San Rafael's seismic renovation has also ended, leaving the campus with "essentially a new residence hall," he said.

Other speakers briefly outlined their division's and departments' activities over the past year. Michael Young, vice chancellor, student affairs, warned that external pressures, ranging from family issues and the economy to the Iraq War, were creating a new norm of stressed students, many of whom were seeking relief in alcohol and other drugs prevalent in Isla Vista.

Young said that many students "want to spend time with adults" and asked faculty and staff to volunteer as undergraduate mentors through the Student Affairs Division. He also suggested that reading the "Referring Distressed Students" booklet (available at <www.sa.ucsb.edu>) is helpful.