August 31, 2009
 The nation’s recession and the state’s budget crunch have had a distressing impact on higher education and UC San Diego. This fall, faculty and students will return to campus as usual, but the freshman class will be about 10 percent smaller than last year, and faculty and staff will begin taking mandatory furlough days over the next year, due to the state budget woes. The situation may not be ideal, but we must still go about our business – educating the best and brightest students to become tomorrow’s innovative leaders and problem solvers, and conducting cutting-edge research that changes and saves lives. Despite our economic challenges, there is still plenty to look forward to this school year, and it all begins this month with events like Welcome Week and the opening of the Village at Torrey Pines.
Traditions Abound during Welcome Week and First Fall
Welcome Week is a rite of passage for new and returning students at UC San Diego. From Sept. 20 to Sept. 27, there is a jam-packed schedule of activities and events, such as the freshmen Welcome Convocation and Dinner, Triton Power Hour, the UCSD Block Party and the ever-popular intercollegiate competition, the UnOlympics. For a schedule of events, click here. We’ve also started a new tradition called “First Fall” for first-time students, which is an extension of Welcome Week into the fall quarter. It allows new students to get involved with student life, make friends, meet faculty and learn about campus resources. For more on First Fall, click here. And welcome to all of our new and returning students.
New Housing Boasts Some of the Best Views on Campus
The Village at Torrey Pines is opening just in time for the start of fall quarter, adding housing for more than 1,000 transfer students, a new café and a UC San Diego Bookstore annex which will open later in the fall. The 14-story residential tower features sustainable building materials and landscape design, low-flow plumbing, shading for the building, energy-efficient lighting and green interior finishes including flooring and paint, and many of the rooms provide the best ocean views on the campus. The top floor also houses three meeting rooms that are available for use by students, staff, faculty and the community. Phase two of the Village is now underway and should be completed in spring 2011; it will add another 800 beds, a restaurant, a grocery store and more meeting rooms. We are extremely excited about these eco-friendly residential homes and the creation of this new community on the north side of campus, especially since this is the first time we’ve provided campus housing specifically for transfer students. For more information on The Village at Torrey Pines, click here.
Why Construction Projects Continue Despite Economic Recession
Many people are wondering, and have asked, how we’re able to move forward with our aggressive plan to add housing on campus in this economy, including the Village at Torrey Pines. The reason is that Housing and Dining Services at UC San Diego is totally self-supporting, receives no outside funding and generates income from people who live and dine in the facilities. The department also pays for all of its utilities and operational staffing costs. All of our new buildings are funded via 30-year General Revenue Bonds guaranteed by the UC Housing System under the UC umbrella, and we’ve benefited from all-time low financing rates because of the economic decline. We’ve also been able to take advantage of lower construction costs and access to the highest skilled workers to build our buildings. So the bad economy has actually allowed us to build better facilities faster and for less money, which benefits our students now and decades in the future.
By fall 2010, we will house more than 11,000 students, and our eventual goal is to be able to house 50 percent of our student population on campus by 2020, which is great for our students, great for the university and great for the environment. In addition to creating a more unified community for our students, on-campus housing cuts down the number of vehicles travelling to and from the university, which saves gasoline and reduces our carbon footprint.
We’ve also been able to continue some of our non-housing construction, such as the RIMAC Annex and the Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center, because the long-range building plans were initiated before the economic decline and the projects’ funds are not dependent upon the state. However, we have not broken ground on the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine (SCRM) stem cell research facility on North Torrey Pines Road because we’ve not been able to secure the commercial funding necessary to finance the project. The Consortium is now looking at alternate funding sources and options. We’d very much like to move forward with the facility as soon as possible, as it will house stem cell researchers from the four partnering institutions of the Consortium – UC San Diego, The Scripps Research Institute, Salk Institute and Burnham Institute – and it is our hope that the collective and innovative joint research and training programs at the facility will lead to radical discoveries that will improve and save lives.
Sending a Message to Our Legislators
I understand that the budget cuts and furloughs are having a very real and difficult impact on our students, faculty and staff. I want you to know we are working with UC and our advocates to make sure legislators understand the real-world effect the 20 percent budget reduction has had on the University and the UC San Diego community – negative impacts on classroom ratios, the educational environment, student access and affordability, morale on campus and future economic development. We’re also at risk for a “brain drain” as top faculty and staff are being lured away.
We are also launching a grassroots letter-writing campaign and we’d appreciate your help in sending a message to our elected officials that protecting higher education is critical to our future and the future of California. To participate in the letter-writing initiative and make your voice be heard, please visit http://advocacy.ucsd.edu.
We are also letting our legislators know that an investment in higher education is an investment in our economic recovery. Our university serves as an economic engine for the region, the state, the nation and even the world. As one of the leading research universities in the nation, UC San Diego provides top-quality education, pioneering drug therapies and advanced patient-care services. University innovation also has led to the creation of dozens of start-up companies and thousands of jobs, not to mention we’re the third largest employer in the county. If we want to remain competitive, and continue to meet the University’s mission of higher education, research and public service, then we need our legislators to invest in California’s future by making higher education a priority in the next budget.
UC San Diego Is a Top Military-Friendly School
I’m proud that G. I. Jobs magazine recently ranked UC San Diego among the top 15 percent of the nation's military-friendly schools for embracing veterans as students. Criteria for making the military-friendly schools list included efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students, results in recruiting military and veteran students, and academic accreditations. We have about 200 undergraduate students on campus who have served in the military and we are committed to supporting them. Last year, we established the Student Veteran Organization, which helps improve and enhance campus life for our student veterans; the group has hosted guest speakers and organized events on campus that celebrate and recognize students who have served in the military. We also offer priority course registration to student veterans; we reach out to local community colleges and military bases; and we counsel student veterans about available financial aid options. We’ve also taken new steps to ensure there is a smooth transition for students who will use their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Veterans Services Workgroup for their continued hard work to find new and better ways to serve our military students.
Serving our students and our community – that is our priority. Together, despite the challenging economic times, we’ve been able to uphold our mission of advancing knowledge through excellence in education and research, continue our commitment to community engagement and public service, and foster the best possible working and learning environment. I am grateful for your patience and your support.
With warm regards,
Marye Anne Fox
Chancellor |
