By Barbara Ortutay
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UC Board of Regents will be meeting today and Thursday in
Covel Commons, discussing, among other issues, the UC’s
2001-02 budget and the importance of graduate education.
Among the items on the budget is $6 million scheduled to be
allocated to student services throughout the UC’s nine
campuses. Student services include counseling, career guidance and
summer retention programs.
Although UC officials praised the $6 million allocation as a
good start, some student organizations, such as the University of
California Student Association, are calling for more funding.
UCSA is asking for $30 million, said Debbie Davis, chair of the
organization.
Funding for students services, she added, has not increased
since the early ’90s, while enrollment at the university
continues to grow. At that time, the state cut $433 million from
the UC’s budget.
“If they don’t approve it, we are going to the
legislature,” Davis said.
UC spokesman Brad Hayward said student services are an important
priority for the UC.
“The reason we included the $6 million is so we can
adequately fund student retention issues, including counseling and
career guidance,” he said.
The regents will also be discussing the significance of graduate
education Thursday, including how best to attract an increasing
number of graduate students, Hayward said. While undergraduate
enrollment has been constantly increasing and is projected to grow
as a result of Tidal Wave 2 ““ a projected enrollment increase
of 60,000 students over the next 10 years ““ graduate
enrollment at the UC has mostly remained the same.
The regents are also scheduled to vote on the approval of the
Student Programs, Activities and Resource Complex fee, supported by
UCLA students in last spring’s student government elections,
but must be approved by the regents before enactment. The SPARC fee
will raise student fees by $84 per year upon its scheduled
completion in the 2004-05 school year
Although discussion of SP-1 ““ which ended the use of race
and gender in university admissions ““ is not on the agenda
for the meeting, several student groups calling for the
reinstatement of affirmative action will protest the meeting
Wednesday.
Among the groups is UCLA’s newly re-started Affirmative
Action Coalition.
Two unions, the Coalition of University Employees, and the
University Professional and Technical Employees, will also be
protesting the meeting, calling for the end of casual employment at
the university.
CUE is the largest UC union, representing 18,000 clerical
employees, and UPTE represents 10,000 employees.