SUBJECT:	A message from President Dynes regarding UC Academic
	Preparation Programs

The Office of the President on Monday released the following press release which provides an update on the status of the University's budget. As the memo explains, the one issue that is still being negotiated is the Governor's January budget proposal to withdraw $17 million in State funding for UC Academic Preparation Programs. We will keep you apprised as those decisions are finalized.

If you have any questions concerning this notice, please contact Sylvia Lepe-Askari at 4-5357.

Margaret F. Pryatel Associate Vice Chancellor Resource Management

************************************************************************

A MESSAGE FROM UC PRESIDENT ROBERT C. DYNES

June 27, 2005

Dear UC Colleague:

As we head into summer budget negotiations in Sacramento, I want to update you on the status of the University's budget. As I told you in early June, we are very pleased that the Legislature has supported the Governor's compact with UC, promising an end to the last four years of cuts to our general-fund budget and offering new funding for faculty and staff salary increases and student enrollment growth.

One issue still on the negotiating table, however, is funding for our academic preparation programs. These programs help ensure that K-12 and community college students from all walks of life and all corners of the state receive the preparation they need to become college-ready and, ultimately, to become active contributors to our state's economy.

I saw personally the impact of academic preparation in a recent visit with students, parents, and teachers in the Imperial Valley. There, fully 100 percent of the students in UC's summer algebra academies are passing this crucial gateway subject the following year in school. And I've seen the impact in similar visits across the state, from Redding to San Diego. Focusing on students in some of the state's most disadvantaged and low-performing schools, UC's academic preparation programs are helping brighten students'futures and the State's financial support is crucial.

In his January budget proposal, the Governor proposed withdrawing $17 million in State funding for UC academic preparation programs. (This funding is in addition to the $12 million in internal funding that UC has committed to these programs.) Members of the Legislature have included the $17 million in the legislative version of the State budget, but final resolution is dependent upon this funding being included specifically in a budget deal between the Legislature and Governor. And that is what we are working right now to help secure.

I have made several visits to Sacramento to press the case for these programs with our State's elected leadership. Chancellors, Regents, business leaders, and other friends of the University have joined in explaining just how important these academic preparation programs are - not only to the University's mission, but to the future of California. We are telling State leaders that:

· These programs are important investments in the economic
competitiveness of California. Given the inequities in opportunity
in our state's public schools, a UC role in helping students of all
backgrounds become college-ready and workforce-ready is a critical
contribution to ensuring California's continued economic success.

· These programs are making a difference. Students in the programs
are completing the "a-g" curriculum at higher rates, gaining
greater access to Advanced Placement and honors coursework, and
improving their eligibility for college admission. And we are now
putting in place a research structure and accountability framework
that will demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs more
clearly than ever before.

In addition, we are working to ensure that the $750,000 the Governor has pledged for our initiative to train more K-12 science and mathematics teachers also is part of the final budget deal. This initiative, too, will have a major impact on bridging gaps in K-12 educational achievement and in preparing the workforce California needs for its future economic success.

We are now at a delicate point in the negotiation of the State budget. But I do want you to know that I and the senior leadership of the University are focused very actively on securing State funding for these important programs. I will be back in touch as we learn more.

Sincerely, Robert C. Dynes President