Napolitano Gives Speech on Expanding UC Education
In a speech commemorating the University of California’s 150th anniversary, UC President Janet Napolitano gave a speech outlining proposals to expand UC education access at the Commonwealth Club of California last Wednesday, March 7.
“I am committed to working closely with leaders at the California Community Colleges, at our own Academic Senate and other stakeholders to make sure we get this right,” said President Napolitano.
She proposed working with the UC’s Academic Senate to provide guaranteed admission to a UC campus to all qualifying California Community College students. Napolitano also stressed the need for university chancellors to work on improving graduation rates.
“Today, I’m calling on UC’s chancellors to explore how we can further streamline the degree pipeline and ensure that at least 70 percent of our undergraduates earn their degrees within four years,” she said. “Raising UC’s four-year graduation rate from its current 64 percent would make room for more undergraduates and generate an additional 32,000 undergraduate degrees between now and 2030. It’s almost like adding another campus.”
According to Napolitano, this would be achieved by increasing online classes, summer session enrollment and study abroad enrollment.
President Napolitano also noted the disparity between the UC’s continually increasing undergraduate enrollment and its stagnant enrollment funding. Current state support has not been sufficient enough in recent years but more public investment would help.
“Great American strides have always required public investment in the common good, whether it was the GI Bill or the New Deal,” Napolitano said. “Now is the time for Californians to once again invest in the common good, and for all of us to partner on a bold plan to expand access to the University of California, while sustaining its academic quality and supporting its research excellence. I may be a bit biased, but I believe the University of California is an institution worth investing in and worth fighting for. UC is a special, daring public experiment that becomes a priceless public good. It belongs to all of us and every Californian deserves the opportunity to reap its rewards.”
Laundry Rooms Open in Student Center
UC Irvine recently opened a Greenway Cleaners II laundry service on campus.
The laundry room is located on the Student Center Terrace next to Wells Fargo and the Esports Arena. Services include dry cleaning and bed comforter wash and dry.
The service is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. A grand opening special offers 20 percent off all services and ends Wednesday, March 14.
UCI Announces New Dean of Humanities
After a nationwide search, the UC Irvine School of Humanities has found its new dean.
Tyrus Miller, vice provost and dean of graduate studies at UC Santa Cruz, is set to replace current School of Humanities Dean Georges Van Den Abbeele when the latter returns to his faculty position at the end of the school year.
Miller received a B.A. and M.A. in Humanities and M.A. in Creative Writing from John Hopkins University and an English Ph.D. from Stanford. He served as an English and Comparative Literature professor at Yale from 1995-1999 and the University of California’s Study Center Director in Budapest from 2001-2004. He is also a UCSC tenured professor and has been vice provost and dean of graduate studies since 2009.
Miller has won numerous awards and scholarships and has written many books and articles. His research interests center on the avant-garde, modernist literature, politics and art.
Miller will take over as School of Humanities dean effective July 1, 2018.
