The campus is currently developing a Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) and a Strategic Academic Plan (SAP) and is engaging with various constituencies, including faculty, students, and staff. Because the LRDP touches on many issues that affect the broader Santa Cruz community—such as water use, traffic, and housing—the administration and LRDP co-chairs, Vice Chancellor for Business and Administrative Services Sarah Latham, and Senate Vice Chair Kimberly Lau, are also consulting with the Santa Cruz community and city leaders.
According to a recent message from the Chancellor, the LRDP is “not an OK for enrollment growth” but rather a land use plan that assesses the environmental impacts and related mitigations for different growth scenarios. The outer enrollment envelope the Chancellor has asked the LRDP Planning Committee to consider is 28,000 by the year 2040. According to the Chancellor, this number does not “come out of thin air” but is based on a combination of statewide growth, legislative and systemwide enrollment pressures, and an ongoing commitment to access and social justice.
The SAP is being led by the CP/EVC Marlene Tromp and Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Martin Berger, and they have sent out six updates to the campus community on the progress of the SAP. To date, the SAP team has had interviews with numerous campus leaders, faculty, staff, and students; distributed a Faculty Insight survey; and held eight interactive forums for these constituents. The data that were collected have identified Thematic Academic Groups that will help facilitate faculty proposals about collaborative research and teaching across departments and divisions. The Senate, deans, SAP committees, and the broader campus community will comment on these proposals, and the EVC will identify academic priorities based on the proposals and comments.
The upcoming Academic Senate meeting will be devoted to the LRDP and SAP and questions you may have for Chancellor Blumenthal and CP/EVC Tromp.
The Senate meeting is Feb 21 at Stevenson Event Center, 2:30–5 p.m.
