In response to the state’s budget crisis that will increase tuition costs for UC students, UC President Mark Yudof and the Board of Regents created the UC Commission for the Future this July. The Commission has aimed to conduct work groups and listening tours of campuses to get feedback from stakeholders in the UC system. Noting the discontent of UC students and families with imminent fee hikes, the Commission intends to develop “a new version for the university within the context of the university’s mission and budget, while reaffirming our commitment to quality, access, and affordability.”

The UC system is one of many social organizations that have taken a hit due to the state’s $26.3 billion budget deficit, leading directly to a $813 million budget cut to take place over two years. State employees are suffering income reductions, while over $470 million worth of IOU’s are clogging government ledgers. In addition to the 30% fee hikes that are slated to occur for the spring semester, many UC students narrowly avoided having their Cal Grant awards withdrawn. Many California residents have protested that students should have high priority despite the state’s budget issues, arguing that thousands of students would be unable to continue attending their school should their tuition be raised. This was cited as a key dilemma by the Commission, who recognized that limiting the amount of college graduates is a detriment to the long-term goals of the state and would have ominous implications for the economy in upcoming years.

Yudof reflected upon the state’s funding limits, saying, “The candid truth is that the state of California has become an unreliable partner and has been an unreliable partner for years. The commission is designed to take an integrated, holistic look at all of UC’s priorities, knowing that we do not have the financial resources to maximize all of those values.”

The Commission is comprised of five working groups, each with different focuses on how to better the situation for UC students and faculty. The first is Size and Shape of UC, chaired by UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal and UC Santa Cruz commission member Cynthia Brown. This group’s goal is to effectively maintain ideal enrollment levels and high quality of academic programs. UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Christopher Edley and UC Davis professor Keith Williams oversee Education and Curriculum, a group that focuses on creating cost efficient alternatives for delivery models that can maintain high program quality. A third group, Access and Affordability, is chaired by UC Student Regent Jesse Bernal and UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake and aims to make a UC education attainable to students of all backgounds. The Funding Strategies group is chaired by UC Santa Barbara Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Lucas and UCLA Vice Chancellor Steven Olsen, and focuses on how to effectively generate revenue for the UC system. Academic Senate Immediate Past Chair Mary Croughan and UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry Yang chair the final group, Research Strategies, the goal of which is to examine how UC schools can recreate research practices and collaboration.

The first stop for the Commission was at UC Santa Barbara on October 22nd, where students gathered to give input on how the crisis was limiting their ability to attend their university. This meeting was followed with visits to UC Merced and UC Irvine, and by mid-December the Commission plans to have visited all 10 UC campuses.

These meetings served as an outlet for students and stakeholders to voice their frustrations. Many students who attended these meetings reflected that fee hikes will cause minorities to be even more underrepresented in the student population of UC’s, while others lamented that their tuition is planned to increase at the same time that their parents’ income is set to be reduced. A number of students also shared frustration at the lack of an effective outlet for their ideas. UC Irvine senior Sarah Thompson acknowledged her school’s lack of concern for student input during the Commission’s visit to her campus, sharing an encounter she had when she asked a financial aid counselor for advice. “I asked, ‘Where do I protest this? How do I get involved?’ And she laughed at me.”

The UC system has a long and difficult road ahead of them toward the goal of maximizing student interests while staying within financial constraints. Despite many students’ view that their voices are not being heard, Yudof has vowed to take every student into consideration. “Being president of the University of California is like being manager of a cemetery: There are many people under you, but no one is listening. I listen to them.”

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