CAMPUS NOTICE
University of California, San Diego
November 6, 1996
| SUBJECT: | Prop. 209 |
Following are statements from UC President Richard C. Atkinson and
Provost C. Judson King regarding passage of Prop. 209.
Dear Colleagues:
The voters have approved Proposition 209 and the University of
California will comply with the law. At my request, Provost C. Judson
King has written to the University's Chancellors today to give them
specific guidance about implementing the language of Proposition 209.
We are well along in this process as a result of The Regents' action
last year eliminating race, gender, and ethnicity as factors in
admission, hiring, and contracting. We have also worked hard during
the past year to make it clear that the University continues to welcome
students, faculty, and staff from throughout California's increasingly
diverse society.
Now we must also look to the broader issue of how, in light of
Proposition 209, we can best fulfill our responsibilities as a public
university in the nation's most ethnically and culturally diverse
state.
One idea has tended to unite people on all sides of this
extraordinarily divisive and passionate debate. It is that diversity
is an asset to California and can only be achieved by extending
educational opportunity to disadvantaged young people. The question
facing education is clear: How do we establish new paths to diversity
consistent with the law?
I intend to take the following steps:
I. We will accelerate our efforts to strengthen and expand our
outreach programs. The University of California was one of the first
to establish such programs over thirty years ago, and ours have been
among the most successful in the nation. Today we spend more than
$100 million a year on campus and systemwide programs that serve
students and the K-12 schools. But the need far outstrips our
resources. We need to reach more students and to coordinate our
programs across the system to make the best possible use of the
University's wealth of talent and expertise.
II. We will reinvigorate our partnership with California's K-12
schools. UC already has over 800 programs that offer tutoring and
counseling for students, professional development for teachers,
applied and collaborative research for the improvement of schools.
Now we need to involve the University more broadly than ever before in
schools and community colleges that serve large numbers of
disadvantaged and minority students. We will give special attention
to the ways in which the new learning technologies can magnify the
impact of our efforts.
III. The report of the UC Outreach Task Force, due in February of
1997, will be key to these efforts. It is reviewing the scope and
success of our current outreach programs and will recommend specific
strategies the University can use, in cooperation with the schools and
the other higher education segments, to strengthen our programs and
seek new sources of funding for them. The Task Force consists of
leaders from the business world, education, and government. Together
this distinguished team can do much more than any one of them could do
separately.
IV. We have already set aside an additional $3 million in the
University's budget to assist the campuses in launching new programs to
help prepare more disadvantaged and low-income students for study at
the University. We will seek further funding from the State to help us
accomplish the steps I have just outlined, which must be taken if we
are going to preserve the diversity essential to California's future.
V. Finally, a word about our hiring and contracting activities. I
want to emphasize that the University continues to seek a diverse pool
of applicants for jobs and contracts, consistent with Federal law, the
Regents' resolution on hiring and contracting, and Proposition 209.
California is changing and so must we. What cannot change, however,
is the University's historic responsibility to serve Californians of
every background and condition, including greater numbers of
disadvantaged young people. I am confident we have the individual and
institutional resolve to keep the commitment to diversity alive for
the next generation of Californians.
 |
Sincerely,
Richard C. Atkinson |
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November 6, 1996
CHANCELLORS
Dear Colleagues:
In light of yesterday's passage of Proposition 209, and the fact that
it becomes law today, I am writing to provide you with specific
guidance about how to implement the Proposition. I wish to reiterate
that the University of California strongly is committed to the goal of
a diverse faculty, staff and student body and will do all it can,
under the law and within Regental policy, to achieve that goal.
The following specific steps that should be taken are based primarily
on General Counsel Holst's October 4, 1996 letter regarding the
potential impact on the University of Proposition 209. As pointed out
in that letter, it is possible that there could be a court order
prohibiting immediate implementation of Proposition 209; however,
absent such an order, we should proceed with the steps indicated below:
1. Hiring and contracting programs:
Since Regents' resolution SP-2 went into effect on January 1, 1996,
and contains the same prohibitions regarding preferences as does
Proposition 209, there is no need to take any further action in these
areas at this time.
2. Admissions programs:
Admissions decisions made after the date of this letter should not
include consideration of race, sex, color, ethnicity or natural
origin.
a. Graduate and Professional school admissions:
Regents' resolution SP-1 is in effect for graduate and professional
students currently applying to the University, for admission to the
Fall 1997 class. Under SP-1 race, sex, color, ethnicity and national
origin are eliminated as selection criteria and, therefore, no further
action need be taken.
b. Undergraduate admissions:
Implementation of SP-1 for undergraduate admissions was to take effect
for students applying for enrollment for Spring 1998. However, in
light of the passage of Proposition 209, effective immediately,
campuses may no longer use race, ethnicity, sex or national origin as
one of the supplemental criteria used to select admitted students from
the pool of eligible students. Students are applying this month to
enroll in Fall 1997. These applicants were notified of the
possibility of such a change (see page 5 of the Application for
Undergraduate Admission and Scholarship, 1997-98).
3. Financial aid:
The General Counsel has recommended the suspension of all future
financial aid awards under which any recipient is advantaged or
disadvantaged because of race, ethnicity, gender or national origin.
Financial aid commitments to individual students made prior to the
passage of the Proposition should continue to be honored. Students
receiving financial aid awards under Federal financial programs in
which race, ethnicity or gender is a condition of the aid, or must be
a factor in distributing the aid, may continue to receive these
awards. Under Proposition 209, the University can continue to accept
and administer such Federal funds.
For financial aid programs funded through University or State funds,
the University no longer may utilize race, ethnicity, national origin
or gender as factors taken into account to select recipients for
disbursement of these funds. Campuses may continue administering
University financial support recruitment programs (i.e., the graduate
level Academic Career Development Program, and various campus
recruitment programs such as the Chancellor's Scholarships) as long as
race, ethnicity and gender no longer are used as criteria for
selecting aid recipients.
The University has received numerous gifts and endowment funds that
contain specific requirements for distribution by race, ethnicity,
gender or national origin. Policies and procedures for distribution
of these funds are being reviewed by General Counsel and my office
with regard to how to make appropriate uses of these funds.
4. Outreach programs:
The University has made commitments for the 1996-97 academic year to
schools, students, counselors and employees affected by a variety of
existing outreach programs. These programs are expected to continue
and remain open to all students regardless of race, ethnicity and
gender. Proposition 209 may ultimately be interpreted to require
further action, but any action should be deferred pending review of
the Outreach Task Force recommendations.
5. Other UC race, ethnic, or gender attentive programs:
There may be campus-based programs that utilize race, ethnicity, or
gender as factors in determining eligibility to participate, even
though such programs are not exclusionary. No immediate action should
be required if membership for such programs for this year already has
been determined. The Chancellors should assure that race, ethnicity,
gender, national origin, or religion, are not considered in future
eligibility determinations. My office, along with the General
Counsel's office, will be available to work with the campuses in order
to identify such programs and to develop appropriate changes that need
to occur.
Please feel free to contact me or Assistant Vice President Galligani
at (510) 987-9518 regarding clarification of these implementation
procedures.
|
Sincerely,
C. Judson King |