For many months now, we have been dealing with budget reductions and their regrettable impacts on you, our campus, and its educational, research and service mission. Program cuts and consolidations, pay reductions, and furloughs, all threaten to overshadow the promise and possibilities that brought most of us to UC Santa Cruz.
Today, on the cusp of a new academic year, I want to focus for a moment on a few of those possibilities.
Nearly 4,150 new undergraduates are enrolled this fall. It's a bright, highly diverse group. Over a third will be first in their families to earn college degrees. They arrive at UC Santa Cruz teeming with curiosity, energy and potential - and, perhaps, a bit of normal anxiety.
We share a collective opportunity and responsibility to help these students - and all undergraduate and graduate students - reach their intellectual potential.
UC Santa Cruz research aspirations have never been more promising. We've broken ground on a new center for biomedical research. This fall, we will dedicate a new Digital Arts Research Center. We are progressing on plans to develop a multi-institutional research and educational center in Silicon Valley, at NASA/Ames.
We all share the uncommon opportunity to support an internationally acclaimed portfolio of research that already has uncommon global impact.
Our local community relies on and benefits from the considerable economic boost our students and their families, as well as faculty and staff, bring to the region. That is in addition to the incalculable impact of our collective public service efforts, including internships, volunteer activities, and other forms of intellectual engagement.
It is perfectly understandable that some of you are frustrated about certain policy decisions, the impacts of budget cuts, or the certainty of additional budget cuts next year. I understand that on some campuses, including ours, labor actions could impact the opening of classes this Thursday. I hope that those who participate in this action try to minimize disruption to our students - the people we are here to serve.
Recently, I had the opportunity to re-read a beautiful essay by Michael Gould, a proud UCSC alumnus and communications professional. This essay captures far better than I can the essence of UC Santa Cruz - what makes it such an exceptional and uncommon place to study, work, and serve.
I encourage you to take a few minutes to read it ... and hope it makes you feel as good about being a part of this great institution as it does me.
