UC Officials Seek Branch Office in Irvine

Top University of California administrators, who have been permanently based on the UC system’s mother campus in Berkeley, want a branch office in Irvine.

The proposal, if approved later this month by the Board of Regents, would put the branch in the Jamboree Center business complex in Irvine. It would not be a part of the UC Irvine campus.

UC officials said Friday that the branch would serve UC President David P. Gardner and other administrators and would be the first such office away from Berkeley since 1936-37, when UC President Robert Sproul had offices at UCLA and in Berkeley.

A Southern California branch administrative office is needed because most UC growth is in this part of the state, said Ron Kolb, director of news and communications for the UC system. In addition to UCI, the other Southern California campuses are UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and UC San Diego. There are four Northern California campuses.

No Cost Estimate

“We will be asking the regents for 6,000 square feet of office space to provide a modest facility in Southern California for use of the vice presidents and the president and their offices,” Kolb said.

Kolb said regents are scheduled to discuss the request at their May 14-15 meeting in San Francisco. No cost estimate is available, he said. If the request is approved, the branch office would be opened this fall, Kolb added.

“The main reason we picked Irvine is geography,” Kolb said. “Irvine is at the center of the five UC campuses in Southern California, and the proposed site there is near a major airport.” He was referring to John Wayne Airport, which is near the Jamboree Center in Irvine.

“The office of the president should have a presence in the south and be available to the campuses there,” Kolb said. “They should also have access to and use of the facility. . . . We want to diminish the (perception that the) president’s office is the exclusive domain of Northern California. He is nearly as often in the south as he is in the north, and as the university has grown, it has become increasingly important to function efficiently in Southern California.”

Kolb said the proposed Irvine administrative branch would have “conference facilities, a few offices, and a small permanent staff.”