Albert Carnesale  Carnesale has
served as chancellor of UCLA since 1997. Â Â
The approach of Fall Quarter is always a time of great
excitement at UCLA. This is when we welcome new and returning
students and faculty, and complete our preparations for the
academic year. It is a season of beginnings, for our university and
for everyone who is a part of it.
In each of the last three years, UCLA received more applications
for freshman admission than any other university in the country.
During that period, UCLA also has garnered national and
international recognition for its achievements and innovative
leadership in many areas, including faculty scholarship,
undergraduate education, multicultural programs, academic medicine,
and private fund-raising.
Clearly, there is much to celebrate. But we must not rest on our
laurels, as impressive as they are. The excellence that draws every
reader of this column to UCLA is not a guaranteed entitlement; it
is the product of hard work, and it must be protected and nourished
in order to endure and grow.
Achieving that objective has become increasingly difficult. This
is because research universities like UCLA are confronting
unprecedented challenges ““ challenges born of the constant
change that buffets the major institutions of our society.
 MICHAEL SHAW/Daily Bruin For example, the volume of
knowledge is growing exponentially, along with the extent to which
it is interconnected. This knowledge explosion poses significant
challenges for universities, even as they continue to fuel it
through the engine of academic research. Moreover, many of
today’s complex research problems demand an
interdisciplinary, collaborative approach, and universities must be
organized to facilitate scholarship that crosses the boundaries of
the disciplines and professions.
Universities also must respond to the widespread and
transforming impacts of information technology. New tools are being
developed at an extraordinary rate; our challenge here lies not
only in determining how best to use them in our own educational and
research activities, but also in understanding the full
significance of the information technology revolution for society
in general.
Funding higher education is another challenge with special
ramifications for public universities, which traditionally have
enjoyed generous support from state government. Today, public
resources for higher education are shrinking relative to need, even
though the number of students has increased and will continue to
grow. About 21 percent of UCLA’s budget comes from the state
of California, far below the 80 percent it once was.
Consequently, UCLA and other public research universities must
rely upon multiple funding sources, including federal grants,
partnerships with industry, and private philanthropy ““ while
ensuring that the academic agenda is not determined by what
businesses and the government choose to finance.
A fourth challenge ““ deriving in part from the combined
effects of the knowledge explosion, the information technology
revolution, and the problems of funding higher education ““ is
the changing role of the research university itself. All such
universities, including UCLA, are actively transforming and
reinventing themselves, assessing anew whom to teach, what to
teach, and how to teach.
I like to view the challenges facing higher education as
opportunities for innovation, for growth, and for the forging of
mutually beneficial partnerships that we might not have pursued in
the past. Here, I believe, is where the true excitement of
university leadership lies ““ in assessing potential,
identifying possibilities, and moving forward in new and creative
ways.
This year, UCLA will launch major initiatives in three areas
that build upon the University’s strengths and cut across the
full scope of its endeavor. Each of these areas is, in effect, an
interdisciplinary “frontier” advanced through the
accumulation of knowledge and experience. And each offers the added
benefit of strengthening undergraduate and graduate education in
the College of Letters and Science and the professional
schools.
The first of these “frontiers of knowledge” is the
new biology ““ the rise of the life sciences and medicine
““ which is distinguished by its flourishing connections to a
host of other disciplines, from mathematics and engineering to
philosophy, business, and law. An extraordinary new scientific
future is upon us, and UCLA is already at the forefront as a
pioneer in such emerging fields as biomathematics, nanoscience,
biological imaging, and computational biology.
The second frontier of knowledge is the growing importance of
information technology, both as a tool for teaching and research,
and as a communications phenomenon with sweeping effects on our
society. This theme also is of great interest to UCLA scholars in
fields ranging from the arts to the physical sciences. Our faculty
and students are exploring everything from Internet use to
molecular computing, and the “My.UCLA” service is a
first in undergraduate education.
The third frontier is “UCLA in Los Angeles,”
inspired by the University’s active engagement in our home
city and the surrounding region. UCLA considers greater Los Angeles
to be its foremost partner and principal resource, as reflected in
a myriad of educational and public service ventures that link our
campus with the broader community.
Beginning this year, we intend to strengthen those connections
by focusing on three target areas: programs that benefit children
and youth, including, in particular, expanded K-12 outreach
programs; partnerships with the business community; and activities
in support of the visual and performing arts.
The challenges confronting UCLA, and the frontiers they open up,
are relevant for all members of our campus community ““
students, faculty, and staff members alike. Because of new
technologies, altered funding patterns, and the growing storehouse
of knowledge, our UCLA experience already differs significantly
from the experience of those who preceded us here. We don’t
know precisely what the future will bring, but we can be certain
that there will be more to learn, better ways to teach, and a host
of new linkages between UCLA and other organizations.
I am looking forward to all that we will accomplish together in
academic year 2000-2001, and I feel fortunate to be part of the
Bruin family as we continue our exciting journey to UCLA’s
““ and to your ““ great future.