Cali Uses Ed Funds Well, Study Finds
According to a December report by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems measuring state-by-state spending and performance of higher education programs, California ranks fourth in the nation for the best and efficient overall use of its funds.
For the overall rankings, both federal and state appropriations and tuition revenue were considered. Performance factors examined in the report included undergraduate enrollment as a percentage of the population, awarding of undergraduate degrees relative to enrollment, timely graduation rates, competitive research funding and the percentage of doctoral degrees.
The top-five overall states were Utah, Massachusetts, Colorado, California and North Dakota, respectively. Alaska ranked last in spending compared to student performance.
California ranked third in the research institutions and community colleges categories and 16th in the bachelor’s and master’s institutions category of the report.
UC Grades Own Research Highly
A new UC report indicates that the university is achieving success in the areas of facilitating timely graduation, effective community college transfers, degree production in high-priority areas for the state and the transfer of research innovations to the marketplace.
The report shows that the university has complied with its May 2004 with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger requiring an annual publication of information to the state on the university’s performance on a variety of accountability measures.
The report indicates that last year the university awarded a total of 54,477 bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and professional degrees, an 18-percent increase from four years earlier.
In addition, the report reveals that undergraduate students graduate in an average of 13 quarters and that 80 percent of UC undergraduates finish their degrees in six years or less.
Cymer Donates to UCSD Scholarships
Cymer Inc. announced it will award $175,000 to UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering Scholars Program.
The gift will fund a scholarship for an undergraduate recipient in the amount of $100,000 and a graduate recipient in the amount of $75,000. The scholarships are payable over four years.
Candidates for the two awards will be selected from UCSD’s fall 2006 engineering applicant pool.
Frieder Seible, dean of the Jacobs School, praised Cymer’s contribution.
“I am so pleased that Cymer … [is] giving back to the community,” Seible said.
In 2001, Cymer donated $750,000 to establish the Cymer Endowed Chair in High Performance Dynamical Systems Modeling and Control at the Jacobs School.
University Improves ‘Green’ Buildings
According to a new report released by the UC Board of Regents’ committee on grounds and buildings, the University of California has made significant progress in its quest to maintain its “green” building, clean energy and sustainable transportation policy.
Moving to meet the policy’s goals, the university reported several accomplishments from 2005, including its decision to extend “green” building standards to 53 projects approved before the July 2004 implementation date of the program.
In addition, the university revealed that it will reduce annual energy costs by as much as $5 million by registering 98 projects in California’s “Savings by Design Program,” which provides design assistance, energy analysis and financial incentives to offset the increased costs associated with energy-efficient buildings.
The report also lauded UC Berkeley for its first-in-the-nation Green Building Research Center and UC Merced for its environmental stewardship practices.
