M7. California Golden Bears

Let There Be Light

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. The urban campus occupies 5 km2 of land.

In addition to the University of California’s ten campuses, higher education in the state includes the 23 campuses of the California State University System, the 108 campuses of the California Community College System, and independent institutions throughout the state.

The California Master Plan for Higher Education, adopted by the state in 1960, helps integrate the missions of these colleges and universities in meeting the educational needs of Californians.

The Master Plan designates UC as the primary state-supported academic research institution. It also gives UC exclusive jurisdiction in public higher education for doctoral degrees (with the exception that CSU can award joint doctorates) and for instruction in law, medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine.

The Master Plan also established an admissions principle of universal access and choice, assigning UC to select its freshmen students from the top one-eighth (12.5%) of the high school graduating class and CSU from the top one-third (33.3%). The California Community Colleges were to admit any student capable of benefiting from instruction. The Master Plan was subsequently modified to provide that all California residents in the top one-eighth or top one-third of their high school graduating classes who apply on time be offered a place somewhere in the UC or CSU system, respectively.

The community college transfer function is an essential component of this commitment to access. Under the Master Plan, UC and CSU set aside upper division places for and give priority in the admissions process to eligible California Community College transfer students.

The Master Plan is one of California's truly outstanding accomplishments, because it helped in major ways to create the nation's largest and most distinguished system of higher education. Furthermore, California's economic vitality and its unequaled climate of opportunity are due in large part to the innovation, creativity, research and educated workforce that are the products of its higher education institutions.

In the 1970s, and again in the 1980s, the Legislature reaffirmed its support for the Master Plan as the state's blueprint for providing high-quality and affordable higher education to California's residents. It has served the state well for more than four decades, embodying a strong commitment on the part of the state and the segments to provide educational opportunity and make it affordable for all qualified Californians.

The legislature is now considering a Master Plan for Education, Kindergarten through University that would incorporate California's elementary and secondary school system into the current higher education plan.

Robert Gordon Sproul assumed the presidency in 1930 and, during his tenure of 28 years, UC Berkeley gained international recognition as a major research university. Prior to taking office, Sproul took a six month tour of other universities and colleges to study their educational and administrative methods as well as to establish connections through which he could draw talented faculty to the campus in the future. In spite of funding cutbacks caused by the Great Depression and World War II, Sproul maintained academic and research excellence by campaigning for private funds.

The position of Chancellor was created in 1952 during the reorganization and expansion of the University of California; there have since been nine inaugurated chancellors (one was acting chancellor).

The Chancellor heads the Berkeley campus. He oversees six divisions, each of which is led by a vice chancellor (Ornanizational Chart).

The "Executive Vice Chancellor" (EVC) serves as the Chancellor's leading senior executive responsible for day-to-day campus operations; convenes as appropriate Vice-Chancellors and other senior administrators to address issues that cut across divisional lines; manages the campuswide budget process, including in-year operating budget allocations and capital finances; and leads strategic campus initiatives as may be determined in close collaboration with the Chancellor.

The "Provost" serves as the chief academic officer of the Berkeley campus and has principal responsibility for the planning, development, implementation, assessment and improvement of all academic programs, policies and supporting infrastructure including facilities and information technology. The Provost has responsibility for ensuring Berkeley's academic preeminence through planning for faculty recruitment, retention and renewal as well as through rigorous review of faculty appointments, tenure and promotion for Berkeley's 1,700 faculty. The Provost also has overall responsibility for the planning, quality and delivery of education provided to Berkeley's 23,500 undergraduate students and 10,000 graduate students. These activities are carried out in consultation and cooperation with the Academic Senate under Berkeley's shared governance model (Ornanizational Chart).

In the Fall of 2005, UC Berkeley had a total enrollment of 33,558, of which 10,076 were graduates. More than 6.5 thousand undergraduates (28 %) live on campus.

Berkeley's 130-plus academic departments and programs are organized into 14 unique colleges and schools. ("Colleges" are both undergraduate and graduate, while "Schools" are generally graduate only, though some offer undergraduate majors, minors, or courses)