UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox can express her first year at the institution in a unique, but very academically appropriate, sentiment: “I would give myself an ‘A’ or ‘A-’ for my first year here,” she joked. “People this day and age rarely get an ‘A+.’”
In all seriousness, Fox said that while some goals were left unfinished, her christening year is a solid precursor of things to come.
“We’re moving forward constantly,” Fox said of the university. “There are things that I hoped would be finished and were not, but I’m confident we’re developing in several areas.”
Fox met with several media outlets on the cusp of her one-year anniversary as UCSD chancellor, to recollect, reassess and plan ahead. After six years as chancellor at North Carolina State University, Fox began her UCSD administration with five specific goals: “Improve students’ quality of life,” “address diversity,” “foster more interdisciplinary activities,” “continue innovation in teaching and research” and “increase international activities on campus.”
Upon arriving, Fox established the Undergraduate Student Experience and Satisfaction Committee, which will report their findings publicly on UCSD undergraduate life early this quarter, she said. For now, the most obvious improvement that can be made to the student experience is housing, Fox said. Her ambitions aimed to bolster the transfer student housing by establishing a $120 million dorm project that would house 1,000 transfer students.
Fox’s plan to complete the development by 2009 may have been delayed severely in her first year by the UC Board of Regents.
“I had high hopes to complete plans for developing more on-campus housing,” Fox said. “Our debt capacity at the state level has thwarted us from approval by the board. But I still hope that it can be accomplished, since I see it as an integral part of improving college and campus life for students.”
Budgetary shortfalls also stunted Fox’s goal to establish a firm outreach plan.
“We fought for the outreach case at the UC level, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put it out of the state budget completely,” she said. “Politicians and legislators are looking for accountability, which is something we’re going to have to be creative in creating.”
The main problem with showcasing outreach as an effective retainment and recruitment tool, Fox said, is tracking students over long periods of time. That difficulty doesn’t deter her from her belief that outreach remains important to education.
“Visiting civic organizations in San Diego, I found some communities and high schools don’t convey what [the] expectations are to their students,” she said. “We need to start early, and establish a line of connection with these students, who otherwise wouldn’t have any opportunities with a UC school.”
Another important byproduct of outreach is diversity, Fox said, which she found to be lacking when she arrived at UCSD. The shortcoming is especially evident in black and Latino populations on campus, Fox said, which numbered at 1 and 2 percent last year, respectively.
Fox highlighted the Preuss School as a prime example of UCSD’s outreach efforts. The school, whose student body is over 90 percent ethnic minorities, provides an intensive college preparatory curriculum to low-income students.
“We’re very proud of the Preuss school,” Fox said. “When we admit them [to Preuss], we don’t ask about their grades, but simply that they are willing to work hard.”
Presenting the Preuss School, where over 90 percent of students attend college, as an accountable outreach model would make a strong budgetary case at the UC level, Fox said.
Some student leaders, however, are wary of the university’s focus on the Preuss School.
“In my experience with certain, specific administrators, [Preuss] seems to be the only outreach UCSD is interested in,” said Kyle Samia, Student Affirmative Action Committee representative to the A.S. Council. “What’s better than bragging about your own puppet school? I’m worried that UCSD puts the majority of its attention on the Preuss School, and forgets and disregards other aspects of outreach and retention.”
Fox’s second year could prove transitional, once again, with several leading administrators departing over the summer, among them former Vice Chancellor of External Relations James M. Langley, former Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Life Carmen Vazquez and former Thurgood Marshall College Provost Cecil Lytle.
Fox’s tenure at North Carolina State University was marred by a 2003 resolution, passed by the North Carolina State University faculty senate, which overturned Fox’s decision to fire two provosts. Fox, however, said the departure of administrators in North Carolina and those at UCSD are under different circumstances.
“I’m a bit dismayed when anyone brings up that topic, since I would hardly call it a mass exodus of administrators,” she said. “This was merely a situation where we lost good people to other jobs and circumstances.”
Vazquez, currently Vice President of Student Affairs at the University of San Diego, had nothing but praise for Fox. Though she has a different leadership style than predecessor Robert C. Dynes, Fox exuded a refreshing sense of importance and urgency in topics, Vazquez said.
“[Fox] is an experienced, strategic and dynamic leader,” Vazquez said. “[She] doesn’t miss a beat, [is] very sharp and has a great sense of humor.”
Some campus employees, however, have complaints about the chancellor, according to San Diego Union-Tribune reports, including Fox being overly confrontational with staff members.
The work to expand UCSD internationally has thrived under Fox, who has pushed global education since her arrival. Over the past year, the university’s Center for Mexican American Studies has tapped a staff person to facilitate exchanges between UCSD students and various Mexican universities and research centers.
Additionally, UCSD, along with several other colleges, came to an agreement over the summer with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that will establish strong ties between university science and engineering departments and Amrita University in Tamil Nadu, India. Amrita’s e-learning center will utilize Edusat, a satellite launched by the Indian Space Research Organization, to transmit educational programming to UCSD students.
But, as with many of her ambitions, Fox feels more progress can be made.
“I’m happy with how the university has grown, worldwide,” Fox said. “But we have a ways to go to interact more with our international partners. UCSD can make the college life expand to the other realms of the student experience.”
In October, Fox will be on hand to cut the opening ribbon for a new hospital in Shanghai that will be offered jointly between UCSD and China. Domestically, Fox will be a member of a newly established committee that will advise the Federal Bureau of Investigation on multiple subjects, including how to better understand academia and potential research topics to enhance national security, according to online publication Insidehighered.
Readers can contact Charles Nguyen at [email protected].
