Monterey Institute of International Studies and UC Santa Cruz delay merger

In a joint statement issued today (November 2), Monterey Institute President Steven J. Baker and UC Santa Cruz Acting Chancellor Martin M. Chemers announced that severe limitations in state funding preclude incorporation of the Monterey Institute of International Studies into the University of California at this time. However, they reaffirmed through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) a shared intent to continue advancing feasible collaborations that will benefit students of the two institutions. Among other points, the MOU reflects interim steps for creating academic program affiliation and articulation agreements between the Monterey Institute and UC Santa Cruz.

Budget limitations forestall incorporation; Memo of Understanding outlines plans for continued collaboration

"There are several areas of distinction at the Monterey Institute that align favorably with programs at UC Santa Cruz," noted Chemers. "During the past months of serious analysis of the potential for a formal affiliation, a number of examples for mutual partnership have emerged, and we expect to pursue them to the extent possible, even without the additional funding that would be required for a full-scale merger." As one example, UCSC's strengths in international economics and leadership in research on social justice issues suggest opportunities to pursue with the Monterey Institute's Fisher Graduate School of International Business and the Graduate School of International Policy Studies.

Commenting on the MOU, Baker said, "The effort to bring the Monterey Institute and the University of California closer has underscored the many assets and positive contributions of each organization. Although I would welcome a chance to integrate our two institutions, the state's fiscal crisis makes that impossible at this time." With Chemers, Baker emphasized that the two institutions will continue to work together, stating, "Genuine opportunities remain to amplify the achievements of our individual campuses through a close working partnership, and we owe it to our students and to our society to make the most of these prospects."

The concept of possible incorporation of the Monterey Institute of International Studies into the University of California, with UC Santa Cruz as the lead campus, was first proposed in April 2003. Chester Haskell and M.R.C. Greenwood, at the time the Institute's president and the UC Santa Cruz chancellor respectively, launched an effort to explore the academic and financial feasibility of integrating the Monterey Institute into the University of California.

Situated on 5.2 acres in downtown Monterey, California, the Monterey Institute of International Studies comprises four separate graduate schools: translation and interpretation, language teaching, international business, and international public policy. These schools are augmented by three major research centers-the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, the Center for East Asian Studies, and the Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. Total enrollment at the Institute is approximately 700, with enrollment this past spring semester reaching the highest spring semester figure in its 49-year history.

UC Santa Cruz currently enrolls nearly 15,000 students, of whom approximately 1,500 are graduate students. It offers undergraduates a selection from among 61 majors, 31 minors, and 56 concentrations in the fields of Arts, Engineering, Humanities, Physical & Biological Sciences, and Social Sciences. UC Santa Cruz graduate study is available in 32 academic fields, with students enrolled at the certificate, master's, and doctoral levels.