Lean Times Foreseen for UC System

With little likelihood of major increases in its state or federal funding, the University of California will face tough policy choices in the months and years ahead, including possible enrollment caps, steep hikes in student fees or a decline in the quality of academic programs, UC officials said Wednesday.

The warning, delivered by the university’s top administrators, sounded a grim note as UC’s Board of Regents launched a long-term planning discussion that is expected to continue over several board sessions.

Some regents, however, said they had heard similar concerns in the past and wanted more specifics and ideas for solutions.

UC President Robert C. Dynes pointed to what he and some other officials described as early signs of trouble for the 10-campus system, often considered the nation’s top public university. They cited faculty and staff salaries that have slipped below par with comparison institutions, rising student-faculty ratios and declining financial support for graduate students, among other factors.

“We can no longer go on band-aiding,” Dynes told the regents, referring to several years of tough budgets. “We’re going to face some stark decisions [regarding] the quality, the accessibility of the university. Something has to break.”

The presentation, intended as an overview, drew complaints.

Regent John J. Moores expressed frustration with the presentation. He said he had not heard enough concrete details or “anything particularly innovative.”

“Currently our plan, it appears, is to whine a lot about the inability of the Legislature to fully fund” the university and to “hope something magic happens,” Moores said.

But administrators said the idea Wednesday was to begin a long-term discussion, with more details to come when the regents take up UC’s 2006-07 budget in November.

Chairman Gerald L. Parsky said he and other regents hoped that administrators would consider all options.

The regents are expected to discuss and vote today on a proposal to use private funds to supplement the salaries of UC’s top executives, a move the university’s leaders say is necessary to attract and keep the best administrators.