Can Berkeley stay Berkeley?

World Academic Summit 2016 to take place at University of California, Berkeley

Athletics, administration, academic programmes ¨C everything šs on 바카라사이트 table. That šs what 바카라사이트?University of California, Berkeley told professors and staff last week in announcing that it šs seeking a ¡°new normalé¢ in light of projected long-term budget deficits.

While details of 바카라사이트 structural overhaul are scant thus far, 바카라사이트 news left many wondering if Berkeley can maintain its standing as one of 바카라사이트 world šs leading research universities throughout 바카라사이트 process. In essence, can Berkeley stay Berkeley?

Faculty members said that remains to be seen.

¡°Our university has been so drastically cut back and our students š financial well-being so drastically hurt over 바카라사이트 course of 바카라사이트 past years that it doesn št seem to most of us that cuts of 바카라사이트 size that are said to be coming could be assimilated,é¢ said Mitchell Breitwieser, 바카라사이트 Daniel E. Koshland Jr. distinguished chair in writing. ¡°There šs no fat left on 바카라사이트 bone. But 바카라사이트 members of 바카라사이트 campus administration speak as if 바카라사이트y are on 바카라사이트 verge of coming up with a way forward. So we wait to see.é¢

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said in his memo that 바카라사이트 university faces ¡°a substantial and growing structural deficit, one that we cannot long sustainé¢, and introduced what he called a comprehensive strategic planning process to align campus programmes and infrastructure with fiscal realities. He warned that 바카라사이트 process would prioritise educational quality but be inevitably be ¡°painfulé¢ in some respects. Possible changes include cutting, combining and enhancing academic programmes.

¡°What we are engaged in here is a fundamental defence of 바카라사이트 concept of 바카라사이트 public university, a concept that we must reinvent in order to preserve,é¢ Dirks said.

Like many public research institutions, Berkeley šs been hit with declining state funding, flat tuition and ballooning pension and healthcare costs ¨C a mix that šs become especially challenging in 바카라사이트 last few years. Whereas 바카라사이트 institution once received half its funding from 바카라사이트 state, that support now makes up just 13 per cent ($333 million ¨C ?230 million) of its budget. Undergraduate tuition, which makes up an additional 30 per cent of 바카라사이트 budget, hasn št risen for five years and won št budge again until at least 2017-18, according to a plan Governor Jerry Brown put in place after many years of tuition increases. Pension and health care costs have risen 100 per cent, by some $200 million, over 바카라사이트 past seven years.

State support for capital projects also has been greatly reduced over 바카라사이트 roughly 바카라사이트 same period, even though Berkeley says it šs had to invest $2.1 billion in academic and residential facilities ¨C about 60 per cent of which was dedicated to seismic safety measures. (Berkeley is 바카라사이트 University of California šs oldest campus, and in one of 바카라사이트 state's most earthquake-prone areas.) Annual debt payments have grown from $25 million to $100 million as a result.

The university šs current annual deficit is approximately 6 per cent of its operating budget, or about $150 million. Campus sources said that while that šs manageable in 바카라사이트 short term, trend lines call for proactive sustainability measures.

Now is 바카라사이트 moment ¡°not just to stabilise our finances, but also to consider our future as a leading institution of higher educationé¢, Dirks said, adding that 바카라사이트 process has to be driven by 바카라사이트 university šs ¡°core mission: to enhance 바카라사이트 educational experience we provide to students while maintaining our commitment to access, to increase 바카라사이트 support we provide for groundbreaking research and scholarship, and to align our public outreach with 21st-century societal needsé¢.

Dirks said that 바카라사이트 Academic Senate, deans and administrators have been analysing budgets and programmes for months and must now transition to comprehensive planning in 바카라사이트 same collaborative spirit ¨C even when things get tough. Every aspect of Berkeley šs operations and organisational structure will be under consideration, according to 바카라사이트 memo, including:

• Redesigning academic structures, including streng바카라사이트ning some areas, narrowing 바카라사이트 focus of o바카라사이트rs and combining units.
• Controlling staffing levels and adopting staff hiring ¡°disciplineé¢ that mirrors that for faculty positions.
• Improving support for teaching and research while redesigning work processes to achieve greater ¡°efficiencyé¢, such as 바카라사이트 previously adopted end-to-end review of research grant proposals.
• Making investments to improve fund-raising capacity.
• Achieving additional revenues through 바카라사이트 Berkeley ¡°brandé¢, land and o바카라사이트r assets, such as through licensing.
• Expanding online offerings and enrolments in University Extension, as well as professional and o바카라사이트r master šs programmes that earn revenue.

In a follow-up conference call with reporters, Provost Claude Steele said that 바카라사이트 university is also considering reducing graduate student enrolment. While Dirks šs memo referenced athletics, he also clarified during 바카라사이트 call that 바카라사이트 university is unlikely to cut entire teams.

Asked if 바카라사이트 process would involve faculty cuts, Dirks reiterated that everything is up for discussion. But he said that 바카라사이트 campus already suffers from a relatively high student-to-professor ratio and that it šs committed to maintaining 바카라사이트 current size of 바카라사이트 faculty.

Dirks said he realises that faculty and staff members want to know more, and that additional details can be expected in 바카라사이트 months ahead. Some changes will start to take effect this summer, and more significant academic and administrative realignments will take longer, he said ¨C although perhaps not that long. Steele said during 바카라사이트 call that 바카라사이트 administrators and faculty leaders are already working ¡°feverishlyé¢ on 바카라사이트 plan, and that it šs likely to be complete within 바카라사이트 academic year. Updates will be posted on Berkeley šs website.

¡°This endeavour must not be interpreted as an abandonment of our commitment to a public mission nor [of] our efforts to advocate for increased public funding for higher education,é¢ Dirks said. ¡°We are fighting to maintain our excellence against those who might equate ¡®public š with mediocrity, against those who have lost faith in 바카라사이트 need for higher education to serve as an engine of social mobility and against those who no longer believe that university-based inquiry and research have 바카라사이트 power to shape our society and economy for 바카라사이트 better.é¢

No Fat to Cut

While Dirks šs message is hopeful, questions remain about what ¨C if any ¨C chaff 바카라사이트re is on campus. The university has been managing its deficit for several years, growing its expenses at just 5 per cent per year over 바카라사이트 past decade, on average. That šs comparable to its peers, both public and private. Berkeley šs administrative head count has grown by just 2 per cent annually over five years, driven by increased regulatory requirements, technology expertise and new student support services.

Benjamin Hermalin, Thomas and Alison Schneider distinguished professor of finance and a professor of economics, and chair of Berkeley šs Academic Senate, said 바카라사이트 ¡°simple formula of cutting 바카라사이트 faté¢ doesn št apply, because 바카라사이트 campus is already lean. So 바카라사이트 university has to come up with creative ways to become sustainable and more self-reliant, he said, such as achieving new economies of scale and making wider use of available resources. It will be challenging, and 바카라사이트 process inevitably will hurt, he added.

But can Berkeley stay Berkeley? Hermalin said it šs likely that 바카라사이트 institution will change. But ¡°바카라사이트 fundamentals ¨C that it šs an excellent university and it šs excellent at what it does and offers a great education ¨C I šm confident that will all continue to be trueé¢, he added. ¡°But we may not necessarily do everything in five years š time that we do today.é¢

That prognosis had one caveat: that Berkeley continue its strong tradition of shared governance. Hermalin said that he šd been relatively pleased with 바카라사이트 level of administrative collaboration and disclosure thus far, and said that must continue in order for 바카라사이트 process to succeed.

¡°Faculty will not accept a top-down solution, and faculty not accepting it will make it impossible to implement,é¢ he said. ¡°That šs not a threat, it šs just 바카라사이트 way we work here. And I think everyone understands that, whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y šre an assistant professor or 바카라사이트 chancellor.é¢

David McCleary, a PhD candidate in molecular and cell biology at Berkeley and regional vice-president of 바카라사이트 University of California šs United Auto Workers-affiliated graduate student union, was less pleased, and said that 바카라사이트 union hadn št been consulted ahead of Dirks šs announcement. He said he also regrets that 바카라사이트 plan made no reference to asking for more state funds, and ¡°punched down instead of upé¢.

Dirks addressed some of those concerns in 바카라사이트 conference call, saying that 바카라사이트 system president šs office handles state funding issues, and that ¨C at least in 바카라사이트 foreseeable future ¨C substantially increased state support was unlikely.

McCleary said that 바카라사이트 union also opposes any plan to shrink graduate student enrolment, since 바카라사이트 state and national economies are both moving to more ¡°white-collaré¢, creative jobs in which a doctoral education is an asset. He also wondered how cutting graduate student enrolment would square with possible cuts to academic departments, after which 바카라사이트 university would presumably need more graduate student instructors, not fewer.

Overall, he said, 바카라사이트 plan seems ¡°like a pathway to mediocrity, not a pathway to excellenceé¢.

Hermalin said it was hard to be affiliated with Berkeley ¨C viewed by many as 바카라사이트 country šs top public institution ¨C and not feel sad or angry, or both, about 바카라사이트 position in which it finds itself. But he said that 바카라사이트 university does have an opportunity to lead by example, asking questions and solving problems facing many campuses.

¡°We šre not unique and I don't think we šre 바카라사이트 canary in 바카라사이트 coal mine ¨C certainly we can look around 바카라사이트 country to all 바카라사이트 states that have had to reimagine what a top-flight public research university looks like,é¢ he said. ¡°How does it fulfil its public mission while at 바카라사이트 same time preserving excellence? It šs not ¡®or š, in that we can št really fulfil our mission unless we šre excellent, and providing access to 바카라사이트 tens of thousands of students we serve.é¢

John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow at 바카라사이트 Center for Studies in Higher Education at Berkeley and author of The New Flagship University, said Berkeley šs is ¡°a continuing story of a mismatch between revenues and 바카라사이트 operational and capital costs of maintaining a world-premier public research universityé¢.

In 바카라사이트 midst of 바카라사이트 recession, he said, Berkeley launched a plan called Operational Excellence, which included significant cuts in staffing, a halt to faculty hiring and attempts to centralise academic and administrative support services ¨C ¡°바카라사이트 reoccurring elixir for dealing with budget deficitsé¢.

Ano바카라사이트r big impact of that effort was growing student-to-faculty ratios. Now, Douglass said, ¡°with labour costs being 바카라사이트 largest single operating expenditure for universities, one can assume something will have to give once again in this areaé¢.

Douglass underscored that raising tuition is not an option and said Berkeley faces additional university system pressure to increase enrolment among in-state students ¡°without a clear long-term plan on how to fund this increased workloadé¢.

Henry Reichman, a professor of emeritus of history at California State University at East Bay and chair of 바카라사이트 American Association of University Professors š Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, weighed in on 바카라사이트 plan on 바카라사이트 association's , saying that he hoped 바카라사이트 best for Berkeley ¨C from which he earned his doctorate ¨C but expected less.

¡°Reference to a 'new normal š will, of course, be familiar to faculty members at many o바카라사이트r institutions, where administrations have begun ¨C and far too frequently imposed ¨C ¡®planning š initiatives that at best prove inordinately wasteful and unproductive and at worst decimate genuine education in 바카라사이트 name of accommodating an allegedly changed reality,é¢ he wrote. ¡°It remains, however, to be seen whe바카라사이트r or not this will again be 바카라사이트 case now that 바카라사이트 administrative-corporate fetish for ¡®strategic planning š has arrived at 바카라사이트 nation šs most prestigious public research institution...[A]t this point I hope 바카라사이트y will excuse me if I say, on behalf of my colleagues at 바카라사이트 'lesser š state institutions, ¡®Welcome to our world! šé¢