Post from the President

Here is a message from UC President Marc Yudof, which I agree with whole-heartedly. While he is talking about the entirety of the University, this is clearly a big issue at Cal, as I personally can attest to from some of my professor friends.


BRAIN DRAIN THREATENS CALIFORNIA

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Societies produce relatively few individuals who can both disseminate knowledge and discover new knowledge. Yet, such people are crucial to the economic, cultural and technological progress of the modern world.

In California, UC has, over the years, been a magnet for the world's brightest, most innovative minds. Our faculty and staff make extraordinary contributions every day in many, many path-breaking fields. However, we are beginning to see indications of a trend that worries me: UC, long a draw for global talent, appears in some instances to be experiencing "brain drain."

At our July Regents' meeting, we heard from several chancellors that world-class faculty and graduate students are abandoning promising careers at the University of California to pursue opportunities elsewhere. It's not just a matter of money, although there is of course a premium to recruit such individuals because, in good times and in bad, there is always demand for their services across the country and around the world. Nor is it a matter of furloughs, though this can hardly be considered a recruiting tool. The issue is much broader, and goes to the heart of what makes a great research institution.

One thing that attracts leading researchers is a critical mass of other top thinkers in their field or related fields. We are in danger of losing that mass, beginning a downward spiral - not because of the short-term crisis in which we now find ourselves, but rather because of the long-term disinvestment in human capital by the state of California. Since 1990, per-student state funding for undergraduates has plunged by 40 percent. Factoring in next year's budget cuts, our faculty salaries lag some 19 percent below the national rate. These realities register loud and clear on the human capital markets.

Faculty hiring has slowed dramatically. At UC Berkeley, the Regents heard, there are fewer than 10 searches this year, in lieu of the normal 100. At UCLA, only 25 faculty searches are authorized, down from the normal level of 75 to 100. At UC Santa Cruz, 55 faculty positions have been eliminated, the number of lecturers and teaching assistants has been dramatically reduced, and nearly all faculty recruitments have been deferred. UC San Diego does not plan to recruit faculty for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Much of the research and teaching is dependent on graduate students. If the universities are not healthy and graduate education suffers, then the research enterprise is at risk.

Because of these trends, UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal asked the Regents, "How many innovations, how many vaccines and human health breakthroughs, how many ways to protect our planet from climate change, will be delayed or undiscovered?" I wonder too.

A world-class research institution such as ours must make tough choices: No one wants to sacrifice access, affordability or quality. To develop solutions, Board of Regents Chairman Russell Gould and I have appointed a Commission on the Future of UC. This commission will develop a vision for the university that will reaffirm our role in sustaining California's economy and cultural life while recognizing that limited resources require us to be creative and strategic in fulfilling that mission.

We have made it through the toughest budget cycle in memory. Let us now turn our attention to assuring the long-term health of our great university.

Contact me at president@ucop.edu.

Although I will read all your e-mails, I am not able to personally respond to every one. I encourage you to follow me on Facebook and Twitter, where you can share your ideas and look for answers to many of your questions."

As President Yudof notes, the University already pays about 20% below average for professorial talent. That is why you get these strikes from the grad students, who are being used as indentured servants. With another 25% cut in university funding, the cost is going to be devastating.

Let's not get it twisted: while California has a large and quality economy, it is driven by talent. The movie industry, the technology industry, the defense industry and the medical industry are all driven by smart people coming out of the best colleges in the country. And not, those colleges are...somewhere else. So if the state wants to continue to invest in the future, then something needs to be done to protect the educational future of the state.

If that is privatizing the University, or fully funding the university, or endowing it, whatever way you go, there is a lot to be done. But by squeezing it through incompetence by the legislature is not the way to run a railroad - or a University.

GO BEARS!!