UCI Chancellor’s Vision Is Ambitious : But Her Statement Acknowledges Fiscal Restraints

UCI Chancellor Laurel Wilkening’s anticipated vision statement for the university was ambitious for its stated goal of advancing the university’s standing among research institutions, and it was appropriately restrained in its recognition of fiscal realities for higher education in California.

While there was little that was not already somewhere in the pipeline as a part of the university’s thinking, it was important that Wilkening present her own cohesive and defining picture after coming on board last year. At that time, it already was clear that the university was going to have to operate in a fundamentally altered financial environment because of budget cuts.

The passing of the torch from former Chancellor Jack Peltason, a consummate builder who now presides over the entire university system, was a benchmark. It marked not only the inauguration of a new chancellor in Irvine, but also the advent of a new era of operating within fiscal constraints.

Wilkening has made the best of her listening skills, and she clearly has done her homework and refrained from making premature statements. Rightly, she wanted a chance to assess things for herself.

The university community naturally has been anxious about what a change at the top would mean, coming as it did on the same tide as the fiscal crisis. So if there wasn’t a whole lot by way of new proposals, Wilkening’s “vision thing” set parameters and reaffirmed direction. Without such a statement, the campus would have been left to wonder what had not been addressed. There still may be unanswered concerns for particular segments of the academic community, but at least there is a road map to consult.

Wilkening has challenged her faculty to further the research standing of the university through grants from government and the private sector. She hopes to move the campus into the ranks of the nation’s top 50 research institutions by the year 2000, which is a worthy goal, and suddenly not that far off.

She properly sees the campus’s youth as an asset in this regard, already capitalizing on a growing reputation and unencumbered by programs that might prove to be baggage for older universities, which cannot innovate as quickly.

Since Californians are especially concerned now about where their tax dollars go, it is good politics as well as good policy to meet the challenge of providing strong teaching on campus while this drive for research excellence moves forward. Moreover, with public attention to education growing, the chancellor was wise to agree with the academic planning council that the department of education should not be dismantled.

Diversity was a theme in the chancellor’s inaugural speech in October, and it again turned up as a campus asset in the vision statement, as it should. The statement also gave further evidence of a meeting ground between the Orange County economy and the campus’s unique potential, the attention given to biomedical research.

The trick will be to pursue this wish list while advancing UCI as a well-rounded campus. The chancellor’s vision presented few surprises, but she has presented a plausible and even reassuring picture in a time of fiscal uncertainty throughout the University of California system.