Students and police chief have differing ideas of campus safety

While the UC Davis campus police budget rose by nearly $2 million from 2019 to 2020, the amount the campus spends on police for its Davis campus could decrease in the 2020-21 school year, according to UC Davis Police Chief Joe Farrow. The overall operating budget is divided between the UC Davis campus and the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento.

The Regents Report on Campus Policing, released July 29, showed that the 2019-20 police budget was $13,393,000 and the 2020-2021 projected budget was $15,121,000. 

During 2019-20, Farrow said $8,550,000 went to the UC Davis campus police, while $6,571,000 went to the Sacramento UC Davis Health campus.

While the report shows a near $2 million overall increase, Farrow said that UC Davis will decrease its Davis campus police budget in 2020-21. The proposed 2020-21 total budget is $15,000,066 – an overall decrease from the projected budget by $120,934; however, this still represents a higher budget than the 2019-2020 school year.  

Farrow noted that while the UC Davis operating budget under this proposal is decreasing, the UC Davis Health campus police budget is increasing. He said that $7,712,000 will go to Davis, with $7,354,000 going to health services in Sacramento in fiscal year 2021.

The Davis campus police department budget is set to decrease in response to the upcoming school year’s decreased student and faculty presence as UC Davis transitions to virtual instruction. Three positions were terminated, two police officers and a dispatcher. 

UC Davis operations — including the Medical Center — lost $120,330,686 during the March 16 to April 30 period. The losses caused many benefits and contracts within the UC Davis Police Department to become absorbed in response to COVID-19 budget changes. 

The budget response therefore allocates more funds than usual to the Sacramento health center campus — where additional personnel are required to maintain successful operations at the hospital. 

“The health services side requested an additional officer to work in the emergency area full time, and that equates to four officers,” Farrow said. “So you’ll see a [budget] increase because that is an increase in some officers that we added on the Sacramento campus, as well as an additional canine.” 

In light of the political climate and UC campus-wide calls for police reform, the police department budget proposal for the 2021 school year has sparked conversation among students.

 Fourth-year political science and philosophy double major Jafar Khalfani-Bey suggested that lowering the campus police budget could allow funds to be allocated to student resources, such as the ASUCD Pantry or lowering tuition.

“I don’t think we should be looking to reform police, I think we should be looking to lessen their presence,” Khalfani-Bey said.

Stett Holbrook, senior communications strategist for the UC Office of the President, said, via email, that UCPD officers frequently participate in trainings for managing implicit bias, de-escalation techniques and non-violent crisis intervention.

“The University of California stands with those demanding an end to police brutality and racist violence, which have no place in today’s society,” Holbrook said. “We recognize and empathize with the sentiment behind calls to defund or disband police departments at UC and across the country, which reflect the rightful call for increased scrutiny of officer misconduct and abuses.”

UC Davis campus police follow President Obama’s 2014 “Task Force on 21st Century Policing” reform and guidelines, according to Farrow. The department also regularly attends Chancellor May’s task force on reimagining policing. 

Farrow said he wanted campus police to prioritize campus concerns and student voices.

“During a very turbulent time in law enforcement, I think it’s really important for us to be good listeners and to adjust and adapt to what’s been going on across the nation,” he said. “The entire incident about George Floyd devastated us. We are so alarmed by what we all saw.”

While the UC Davis police department cannot control the actions of other police departments, Farrow also said the department can control its own narrative by listening to the community and making UC Davis the safest campus possible.

Khalfani-Bey said that taking police off campus would ultimately help him feel safest.“As a Black student, a student of color, when I learn about the police budget increasing by nearly two million dollars from 2019 to 2020, knowing the implications of how people of color are treated by police, it feels like a slap in the face,” Khalfani-Bey said. “I have a legitimate fear that if I interact with a police officer on campus, they might not believe I’m a student. But I shouldn’t have that fear.”

Written by: HANNAH BLOME — campus@theaggie.org

COVID-19 prompts cancellations, impacting students and university

The cancellation deadline for the residence halls has been extended to Aug. 30. For returning and transfer students living in apartment housing, the cancellation deadline has been moved to Aug. 23. 

“This extension will allow students and their families to make a more informed decision,” said Mike Sheehan, associate vice chancellor for Student Housing, Dining and Divisional Operations, via email. 

To initiate the cancellation process, students must turn to the myHousing Portal on myUCDavis. 

“Once cancellation is initiated, prior to the cancellation deadline, and finalized, the appropriate refund will be posted to their UC Davis student account,” Sheehan said. 

Nandini Sharma, a first-year chemical engineering major, said the process was “pretty simple,” upon cancelling her contract in June.

“It was a click of a button [to] cancel,” Sharma said. “A couple of days later I had a negative sum on myBill. But they kept changing the deadline for the cancellation of housing.” 

When deciding whether or not to cancel housing and dining contracts with the university, Sheehan said he advises students and families to “take into consideration the multiple dynamics that might be impacting them.” 

“I encourage them to consider important variables when making the decision, which could include academic schedule, financial aid, housing insecurity, personal/family health and overall expectations of experience,” Sheehan said.

Student experience, remote learning and coronavirus concerns influenced many students’ decision to either cancel or continue their contracts. 

Alyssa Miro, a second-year student who is currently undeclared, decided not to cancel her contract.

“I really enjoyed living on/close to campus and I’m hoping that I’ll get to continue with that opportunity this year,” Miro said, via Facebook Messenger.

On the other hand, Cristina Avelar, a first-year student majoring in Chicana/Chicano studies, cancelled her contract. 

“I made the decision to cancel my contract because there is really no point to be on campus for me if all classes are going to be remote,” Avelar said. “It just really wasn’t worth the extra cost to move there. It’s not at all what we planned, like most people, but in the end I think it was the best choice for me financially and logistically.” 

Similarly, Sharma said that remote learning influenced her decision to stay in Qatar. 

“California doesn’t seem to be doing too well with [the] coronavirus,” Sharma said. “Also, all my classes are online, even my lab, so I didn’t really see a point being on campus. It’s not like I would get a lot of the normal, conventional freshman year experience as well.” 

Sheehan said that strategies being developed to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in the dorms include increased sanitization, education, accountability, daily symptom monitoring, testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine. These directives were created through a collaboration between UC Davis, Yolo County Health and experts in the medical and public health field. 

If the campus becomes fully functional starting Winter Quarter, both Sharma and Avelar said they would be open to moving to Davis. 

“Winter and spring housing options will be dependent upon the level of COVID-19 infection,” Sheehan said. “Significant changes in the infection rate, treatment options and possible vaccine options will inform what happens in the winter and spring quarters.”

As of now, however, Sheehan said that it is difficult to predict how many students will choose to continue their contracts with UC Davis Housing and Dining Services. 

“We are seeing an increase in cancellations as our county and state continue to see an elevated number of COVID-19 cases,” Sheehan said. 

According to the UC Davis website, as of Aug. 15, 42 employees and 18 students have tested positive for COVID-19. Looking at Yolo County at large, there have been a total of 1,966 cases and 46 county-wide deaths as of Aug. 14, according to the coronavirus dashboards on Yolo County’s website. 

On Aug. 6, UC Davis Student Housing and Dining Services sent out an email stating that “a very significant number of students cancelling housing contracts,” would reduce the number of Community Advisor (CA) and After Hours Assistant (AHA) positions by approximately 50 percent. 

According to the 2020-2021 CA job description, community advisors are responsible for creating a “positive community environment.” 

AHAs provide after-hour on-site assistance related to facilities, respond to after-hour community needs, and staff area service desks typically from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., according to the 2020-2021 AHA job description. 

Students were given the option to voluntarily withdraw from their position, according to the email. If not, offers would be rescinded based on responses to a survey students were encouraged to complete.

When Laura Yang, an incoming community advisor for the student housing apartments, received the email, she said she was excited to get an update about where she was going to be living next year. 

           But she said she read the email multiple times after opening it. 

“In that email, I didn’t really understand how to process it,” Yang said. “First of all, I was like, ‘This is really inconvenient.’ I really think they should have communicated to us better what they were doing.” 

In response to this email, Yang started a petition on Change.org. 

“The overarching goal of my petition was to get more awareness because compared to the whole student body, there are not a lot of RAs,” Yang said. “[I wanted to] get more people to know what’s going on. I also wanted student housing specifically to give us options, not just rescind our offers. The first email that was sent out was really alarming, considering how vague and how little detail there was in it.” 

Since it was posted, Yang’s petition has garnered 2,802 signatures and over 3,000 shares as of Aug. 15. 

“When I sent out the petition, I honestly was expecting two to three hundred signatures,” Yang said. “I did not expect this to get this big. I was really trying to build support for it. It really felt good because a lot of people were reaching out to me.” 

On Aug. 7, Director of the Office of Student Development Branden M. Petitt sent a follow-up email apologizing for “the confusion and worry that [Student Housing and Dining Services’] communication has caused.” 

Approximately 20% of the CA and AHA staff had already resigned, according to the email sent out by Petitt. 

“I sympathize a lot with the stuff that’s going on because it’s a really big institution,” Yang said. “There’s a lot of stuff you need to figure out.” 

Yang said that she plans on continuing her position as part of the CA staff. 

“A big reason why I wanted to be a CA, especially an apartment CA, was because […] a lot of my friends who transferred from back home […] would talk about how behind they felt, and how isolating it was, because you don’t get that dorm experience as a transfer,” she said. “I completely understand what it’s like to feel isolated and have anxiety, because it’s a really big transition. I really want to be there for the transfers.” 

In terms of next steps, Petitt said in the email that “a number of factors […] are still evolving” and that “even without concrete plans,” they still plan on providing students with “update, solicit information.” 

Sheehan said that UC Davis Student Housing and Dining Services have been maintaining communication with students via email and their website, which is being updated regularly as changes occur. Moreover, they have been sending a “COVID-19 focused Aggie Reader.” 

“We are sensitive to the impact COVID-19 has on students and families as they make housing decisions they feel best support their educational pursuits,” Sheehan said. “We have and will continue to communicate updates and work with families to support their housing decisions.” 

“This extension will allow students and their families to make a more informed decision,” said Mike Sheehan, associate vice chancellor for Student Housing, Dining and Divisional Operations, via email. 

To initiate the cancellation process, students must turn to the myHousing Portal on myUCDavis. 

“Once cancellation is initiated, prior to the cancellation deadline, and finalized, the appropriate refund will be posted to their UC Davis student account,” Sheehan said. 

Nandini Sharma, a first-year chemical engineering major, said the process was “pretty simple,” upon cancelling her contract in June.

“It was a click of a button [to] cancel,” Sharma said. “A couple of days later I had a negative sum on myBill. But they kept changing the deadline for the cancellation of housing.” 

When deciding whether or not to cancel housing and dining contracts with the university, Sheehan said he advises students and families to “take into consideration the multiple dynamics that might be impacting them.” 

“I encourage them to consider important variables when making the decision, which could include academic schedule, financial aid, housing insecurity, personal/family health and overall expectations of experience,” Sheehan said.

Student experience, remote learning and coronavirus concerns influenced many students’ decision to either cancel or continue their contracts. 

Alyssa Miro, a second-year student who is currently undeclared, decided not to cancel her contract.

“I really enjoyed living on/close to campus and I’m hoping that I’ll get to continue with that opportunity this year,” Miro said, via Facebook Messenger.

On the other hand, Cristina Avelar, a first-year student majoring in Chicana/Chicano studies, cancelled her contract. 

“I made the decision to cancel my contract because there is really no point to be on campus for me if all classes are going to be remote,” Avelar said. “It just really wasn’t worth the extra cost to move there. It’s not at all what we planned, like most people, but in the end I think it was the best choice for me financially and logistically.” 

Similarly, Sharma said that remote learning influenced her decision to stay in Qatar. 

“California doesn’t seem to be doing too well with [the] coronavirus,” Sharma said. “Also, all my classes are online, even my lab, so I didn’t really see a point being on campus. It’s not like I would get a lot of the normal, conventional freshman year experience as well.” 

Sheehan said that strategies being developed to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in the dorms include increased sanitization, education, accountability, daily symptom monitoring, testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine. These directives were created through a collaboration between UC Davis, Yolo County Health and experts in the medical and public health field. 

If the campus becomes fully functional starting Winter Quarter, both Sharma and Avelar said they would be open to moving to Davis. 

“Winter and spring housing options will be dependent upon the level of COVID-19 infection,” Sheehan said. “Significant changes in the infection rate, treatment options and possible vaccine options will inform what happens in the winter and spring quarters.”

As of now, however, Sheehan said that it is difficult to predict how many students will choose to continue their contracts with UC Davis Housing and Dining Services. 

“We are seeing an increase in cancellations as our county and state continue to see an elevated number of COVID-19 cases,” Sheehan said. 

According to the UC Davis website, as of Aug. 15, 42 employees and 18 students have tested positive for COVID-19. Looking at Yolo County at large, there have been a total of 1,966 cases and 46 county-wide deaths as of Aug. 14, according to the coronavirus dashboards on Yolo County’s website. 

On Aug. 6, UC Davis Student Housing and Dining Services sent out an email stating that “a very significant number of students cancelling housing contracts,” would reduce the number of Community Advisor (CA) and After Hours Assistant (AHA) positions by approximately 50 percent. 

According to the 2020-2021 CA job description, community advisors are responsible for creating a “positive community environment.” 

AHAs provide after-hour on-site assistance related to facilities, respond to after-hour community needs, and staff area service desks typically from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., according to the 2020-2021 AHA job description. 

Students were given the option to voluntarily withdraw from their position, according to the email. If not, offers would be rescinded based on responses to a survey students were encouraged to complete.

When Laura Yang, an incoming community advisor for the student housing apartments, received the email, she said she was excited to get an update about where she was going to be living next year. But she said she read the email multiple times after opening it.

“In that email, I didn’t really understand how to process it,” Yang said. “First of all, I was like, ‘This is really inconvenient.’ I really think they should have communicated to us better what they were doing.” 

In response to this email, Yang started a petition on Change.org. 

“The overarching goal of my petition was to get more awareness because compared to the whole student body, there are not a lot of RAs,” Yang said. “[I wanted to] get more people to know what’s going on. I also wanted student housing specifically to give us options, not just rescind our offers. The first email that was sent out was really alarming, considering how vague and how little detail there was in it.” 

Since it was posted, Yang’s petition has garnered 2,802 signatures and over 3,000 shares as of Aug. 15. 

“When I sent out the petition, I honestly was expecting two to three hundred signatures,” Yang said. “I did not expect this to get this big. I was really trying to build support for it. It really felt good because a lot of people were reaching out to me.” 

On Aug. 7, Director of the Office of Student Development Branden M. Petitt sent a follow-up email apologizing for “the confusion and worry that [Student Housing and Dining Services’] communication has caused.” 

Approximately 20% of the CA and AHA staff had already resigned, according to the email sent out by Petitt. 

“I sympathize a lot with the stuff that’s going on because it’s a really big institution,” Yang said. “There’s a lot of stuff you need to figure out.” 

Yang said that she plans on continuing her position as part of the CA staff. 

“A big reason why I wanted to be a CA, especially an apartment CA, was because […] a lot of my friends who transferred from back home […] would talk about how behind they felt, and how isolating it was, because you don’t get that dorm experience as a transfer,” she said. “I completely understand what it’s like to feel isolated and have anxiety, because it’s a really big transition. I really want to be there for the transfers.” 

In terms of next steps, Petitt said in the email that “a number of factors […] are still evolving” and that “even without concrete plans,” they still plan on providing students with “update, solicit information.” 

Sheehan said that UC Davis Student Housing and Dining Services have been maintaining communication with students via email and their website, which is being updated regularly as changes occur. Moreover, they have been sending a “COVID-19 focused Aggie Reader.” 

“We are sensitive to the impact COVID-19 has on students and families as they make housing decisions they feel best support their educational pursuits,” Sheehan said. “We have and will continue to communicate updates and work with families to support their housing decisions.” 

Written by: Aarya Gupta — campus@theaggie.org

Program creator says it will reduce financial inequity, but students and administrators voice concerns about price and obscure opt-out mechanism

This article was updated on Aug. 16 to reflect that the opt-out period begins on Aug. 25.

Equitable Access, announced in mid-2019, is an online textbook program that gives students access to all of their required texts for a flat fee of $199 per quarter. The program was built to address the inequity caused by differing college textbook prices, which vary significantly across majors. Starting this summer, however, students have questioned how much Equitable Access will actually increase accessibility. 

Though every undergraduate student is automatically opted in to this program each quarter, many are unaware of the program’s existence. 

The email alerting students to the program is easily mistaken as a promotional advertisement for the bookstore, Reddit users said in a thread, and was sorted out of people’s inboxes by spam filters. Some users said they never received the email at all. 

The opt-out period lasts from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10, with the final opt-out date almost three weeks before classes start.

For students who add classes on the first day of fall quarter, or who choose to wait until the first week of school to purchase textbooks, the program is inconvenient. 

Yu Cheng Wang, a second year computer science major, said his typical process for acquiring textbooks starts the first day of class: he decides what classes he likes, then checks if he needs a textbook.

“Then I ask, ‘Is this textbook required? Is it available for free in the library?’” he said. “It takes 10, 20 seconds to copy and paste the textbook [title] into Amazon, and that’s going to save you more money than you ever will under the ‘Equitable Access’ program.”

Other students wonder about the implications of using this program while taking a series of classes such as CHE 2, BIS 2 or MAT 16. 

“Imagine if you were taking a series of classes and had to pay for the book repeatedly since Equitable Access is a subscription model,” said Reddit user Miniland1333. “And of course, you can’t resell your digital textbook.”

According to Executive Director of Student Affairs and architect of the program, Jason Lorgan, these fears are grounded in a lack of comprehensive information about Equitable Access.

He said students are able to opt out up until the end of the add-drop period for class registration as long as they email equitableaccess@ucdavis.edu or go to guest services at the bookstore. 

Similarly, students will be able to access their books after the course is over using the bookshelf tool through Canvas, he said.

“If you make a bookshelf account, once the term is over and [the book] is not on your Canvas page anymore, it will still be in your bookshelf,” Lorgan said. “With Equitable Access, as long as you put [the books] into your bookshelf, you’ll be able to keep it.”

Wang questioned whether the bookstore would be able to handle the volume of emails they may receive as students try to opt out after they are able to do so on MyBill.

“I’m not sure how in the beginning of fall quarter everyone trying to email the bookstore is going to work out,” said Wang. “And we all know how hard customer service is.”

Lorgan said he wasn’t surprised by the backlash that the program has received from students. 

“Complaints about textbooks have been happening for over 100 years,” Lorgan said. “So the fact that students are complaining about textbooks is absolutely nothing new.”

Lorgan explained that he predicted student concerns surrounding Equitable Access based on student reception of similar programs such as Inclusive Access, which he also spearheaded.

“We’ve always expected that at least 15% of our students will opt out of the program, and 15% of the undergraduate population is 4,500 students,” Lorgan said. “There’s currently a petition out there against this program, but it’s within what we fully expected. We expect to get the most opt-outs in the first term when people don’t understand the program.”

Mikayla Wall, a third year genetics and genomics major, started a Change.org petition calling for the program’s cancellation. It has amassed nearly 4,000 signatures, and one of Wall’s reasons for creating the petition was the cost posing an additional barrier to her education. 

“I don’t know if I’m even going to be able to afford to keep going to school, let alone pay this enormous fee for e-books,” Wall said. 

In addition to the high price tag, Wall criticized the publishing companies the bookstore negotiated with in order to create Equitable Access for blatantly charging more than e-books are worth. 

“[An E-book is] not worth as much as a physical copy because with physical copies there’s the cost of printing the papers, there’s the cost of writing the whole thing, there is the cost of publishing again,” Wall said. 

She added that an E-book, after the initial labor that came with writing it, could be distributed by the publisher to as many people as they like with no extra cost.

“Why would you charge ridiculous amounts for something that you’re barely paying for?” Wall asked.

But students aren’t the only ones concerned about the new program. Academic Senate Chair Kristin Lagattuta and Vice Chair Richard Tucker expressed their apprehension for the program in an email to Chancellor Gary May, Provost Ralph Hexter and Interim Vice Chancellor Emily Galindo.

“Although we believe it is a worthy goal to pursue textbook cost reduction for students, we cannot support the Equitable Access pilot program in its current iteration,” Lagattuta and Tucker wrote. “We simply do not have evidence that this program will collectively benefit students and faculty.”

The letter introduces eight concerns regarding the program, including excess influence on faculty when deciding required texts for classes, the opt-out rather than opt-in nature of the program, removal of student agency over financial aid and cost.

Still, Lorgan said that the cost of Equitable Access for many students may be far less than the price of new or even used textbooks.

Tables created by UC Davis Bookstore comparing the price of new and used textbooks with the flat rate of Equitable Access. 

A search on the UC Davis Textbook Marketplace Facebook group yields different results. The STA 013 book is listed for $5, the BIS 2A text for $50 and an Iclicker for $10. There was a lab notebook listed for $5. Without the BIS 2A discussion manual, the CHE 2A lab manual and the chemistry textbook with OWL access, this totals $70. 

“Anyone that tries will be able to get their materials for under $200 per quarter,” said Reddit user from_narnia. “Most of the time under $50 or even free. I’m a STEM major and the most I’ve had to pay is $30. This is only because the professor required us to buy ‘online access’ to do homework.”

Though all UC Davis students pay the same rate for tuition, fees, and health insurance, the prices for textbooks vary widely from major to major, with STEM students paying the most for their texts.

“Equitable Access will reduce this financial inequity so that every student has access to the same academic opportunities, regardless of the field in which they choose to study,” the Inclusive Access website reads.

“From our perspective, we’re adding an option that doesn’t exist today, but all of the options that students have used for hundreds of years are still there,” said Lorgan. “And so if you don’t like this, keep doing what you’re doing.” 

Written by: Jessica Baggott — campus@theaggie.org

American universities lack standardized system to track COVID-19 cases

According to a recent survey conducted by The New York Times, more than 6,600 coronavirus cases have been found on college campuses nationwide. 

The survey included data from UC Davis, which currently has 47 cases, making it the fifth most heavily affected UC campus as of this week. 

By comparison, UC Berkeley has 123 cases, UCLA has 101 cases, UC Irvine has 77 cases, UC Riverside has 16 cases, UC Santa Cruz has 11 cases and UC Santa Barbara has 6 cases.

UC Davis has implemented an online process that allows employees, staff, and students to report confirmed cases of exposure to or diagnoses with COVID-19 in the university community. 

The site also includes a workflow outlining both medical and public relations responses to reports of the virus. The first step involves UC Davis Medical Center coordinating a plan with members of the Yolo County health department. Then, “affected areas” will be isolated “as needed,” guided by Student Health or Occupational Health. 

These two organizations will determine whether the aforementioned area has been sufficiently disinfected and whether the affected individual can return to campus. In turn, campus leadership is informed and the appropriate departments are notified. 

Certain campus communities are at a particularly high risk of catching COVID-19. There are more than 630 cases of coronavirus on 68 different campuses across 130 universities competing in Division-I football, for example. Clemson University currently has 47 cases of COVID-19 in the entirety of its Division-I athletic department, making its department the most heavily affected according to the survey. UC Berkeley’s Division-I athletic department currently has 3 cases.

The survey had only partial data from some colleges that weren’t tracking COVID-19 diagnoses, refused to disclose statistics due to privacy concerns or did not respond to inquiries. Of the universities that responded to the survey, the University of Texas Austin appears to be the most heavily affected, with 449 recorded cases. The publication of these statistics comes as universities decide whether to continue with online instruction or offer socially distanced in-person classes to students. 

UC Davis will be offering all Fall Quarter classes with greater than or equal to 50 attendees remotely, but will offer some in-person classes outdoors, according to a letter from UC Davis Provost Mary Croughan and Kristen Lagattuta sent to teaching faculty and staff on July 17. 

“When feasible, this in-person instruction will take place outdoors under tents, with necessary AV and audio equipment, physical distancing of six feet and all participants required to wear masks,” Croughan and Lagattuta wrote.

The information in the survey also remains incomplete because American college campuses lack a “standardized” system currently in place for monitoring the virus on American college campuses. According to the New York Times survey, information is not being publicly tracked at a national level.” At least 14 COVID-19 related deaths have happened at universities nationwide, the article asserted.

UC Davis updates its COVID-19 case data every Monday. 

Melissa Lutz-Blouin, UC Davis Director of News and Media Relations, said via email that the campus leadership will not be sending out weekly updates detailing current COVID-19 cases. When asked by The California Aggie to explain why, Lutz-Blouin did not comment. 

Written by: Rebecca Bihn-Wallace — campus@theaggie.org 

Drake’s base salary to be 56% higher than current President Janet Napolitano’s, coming in at $890,000

Dr. Michael V. Drake, the current president of Ohio State University (OSU), was unanimously appointed by the UC Regents as the next president of the UC system on July 7. He will be the first Black president — and president of color — in the university system’s history.  

The appointment concluded the Regents’ search committee’s six-month search, headed by Regents Gareth Elliott and Sherry Lansing. Outgoing UC President Janet Napolitano announced her intention to step down last September.

“Dr. Drake becoming the president of the University of California is a sign that good things are still possible this year,” said John A. Pérez, chair of the Board of Regents. “He has demonstrated a commitment to […] seeing all students and understands the importance of the public and private partnerships the university uses to effect [its] mission.” 

During public comment — before Drake was appointed —  speakers laid out what they believed should be the priorities for the incoming UC president. UC Berkeley fourth-year Sarah Bancroft called for the incoming president to divest from the involvement in the thirty-meter telescope on Mauna Kea. 

“UC students do not want our money to fund the destruction of indigenous land,” Bancroft said. “We need that money for a cost of living adjustment, lecturers and instructional programs, not a telescope.”

She also urged the Board of Regents to sue the Trump administration for the ICE memo that was released on July 6, which would force all international students whose course loads only included online classes to either transfer to a university with in-person classes or go back to their home country.

Perez responded to that call by saying that the appointment of the president did not allow the board to find an appropriate solution, but that the Regents would discuss it at a full board meeting later in July.

Drake, who is turning 70 in the fall, has a history with UC, unlike Napolitano. Drake is a graduate of UC San Francisco with a M.D. in ophthalmology. From 2000 to 2005, he served as the UC vice chancellor for health affairs, then proceeded to serve as the chancellor of UC Irvine from 2005 to 2014. Napolitano, on the other hand, previously served as the Secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama and was the governor of Arizona.

With a base salary of $890,000 a year, Drake’s salary is significantly higher than Napoilitano’s, whose base salary was $570,000 per year — this amounts to a 56% increase above Napolitano’s base pay. That’s also a salary increase from what he made at OSU, where he was paid a base salary of $856,000 according to 2018 data. 

This salary increase also comes after all UC chancellors and Napolitano took a voluntary 10% pay cut in the wake of a $1.2 billion budget shortfall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Drake will handle finding a new replacement test for the SAT/ACT as well as the budget cuts UC may be facing without aid from the federal government. 

Still, he said that he was looking forward to working with UC and returning to the system after having worked outside it for the past 6 years. 

“The experience feels like being home for so many years, then leaving and then coming back,” he said. 

Drake assumes the role of UC President on Aug. 1.

Written by: Janelle Marie Salanga — campus@theaggie.org