At the Nov.13 Board of Regents meeting at UCSF’s Mission Bay campus, University of California President Janet Napolitano announced four new initiatives that she wants the UC to undertake.
Among these ideas is a call for change in the UC’s tuition policy. She mentioned a couple of options, one of which offers both a low and predictable tuition for students. Additionally, she proposed a tuition freeze for the 2014-15 year for undergraduates. According to Napolitano, the Capitol has already given her a “good response,” so we’re happy to see that she’s already made an effort to seek change.
We appreciate that Napolitano visited each campus, although we wish she had been more accessible and inclusive to students at large. The four initiatives address some of the UC’s needs; however, we would like to see her acknowledge the current internal issues regarding union workers and TAs.
She also called for the UC to become a zero-net energy consumer by 2025, citing Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent clean energy pact as inspiration. Considering the fact that many UC campuses already try to do what they can to save the environment, it is a welcome idea of solidarity and possible future funds for such projects.
Her other proposals include a “strike team” to improve community college transfer rates as well as finding ways to increase the number of inventions, patents and other research innovations produced by UC researchers. She claims that if these four initiatives are targeted, we will once again invest in ourselves, demonstrating to the nation the unique value of a public research university system.
Although the administration plans on having a more detailed discussion about the proposed tuition changes with the regents in the future, the UC already seems to be headed in the right direction. This public school system may just transform into the one we originally signed up for.
