I am gratified to announce that at their meeting in San Francisco yesterday, the UC Regents voted unanimously to approve the UCSC 2005-2020 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) and Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR). (See story.)
This outcome is the culmination of both campus-wide and community-wide efforts that spanned almost four years. I want to acknowledge and thank all of the participants in this process, whose investment of time and energy has resulted in a framework for the future.
The Regents' action this week authorized UC Santa Cruz to add another 4,500 students to the campus by the year 2020. Now, we have to work on completing our academic plan and deciding how to implement it, including how and at what pace we will grow. These decisions will take place only after extensive discussion on campus, including consultation with the Academic Senate.
More specifically, the plan allows UCSC to offer access and opportunity to California's future undergraduate students, increase graduate enrollment, develop new academic programs, expand our research portfolio, and continue exploring the potential of new professional schools. In short, this plan allows us to continue the upward trajectory that has characterized UCSC over the past decade.
Let me add that I was heartened by the number of faculty, community members, alumni, business leaders, and other friends who addressed the Regents to urge support of the LRDP -- both at the Grounds and Buildings Committee meeting on Tuesday and at the meeting of the full Board of Regents on Thursday.
Not surprisingly, at the Regents Meeting, several elected officials and other members of our campus and surrounding community voiced dissent. Despite their concerns about the LRDP and accompanying FEIR, Mayor Cynthia Mathews and other representatives of the City agreed that continuing discussion with UCSC representatives is essential.
Sharing in that spirit, I want to emphasize that I am personally committed to continuing discussions that will allow us to collaboratively address the community concerns that have been expressed. Besides the ongoing series of meetings between UCSC and City staff, I intend to continue to meet with community leaders seeking to find mutually acceptable solutions to the impacts of our growth.
A key task before us is to engage in the discussion of how UCSC will develop academically. Our new LRDP provides the campus with the means to choose our own future.
