When Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi first proposed the 2020 Initiative last September at the Fall Convocation, she said carefully managed enrollment growth could help UC Davis provide the campus’s students with an internationally competitive education while generating additional resources needed to maintain academic excellence in the face of declining state support.

Three months later, in December, the chancellor and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter charged three task forces comprising faculty, staff and students to carefully examine the proposed initiative. The three task forces have focused on Academic Resources, Enrollment Management and Facilities Planning.

For the past six months, these groups have been diligently working to study the costs and benefits of various enrollment models, and to identify measures that would sustain and enhance the excellence of the university and the student experience at UC Davis in the context of planned growth. They have met approximately every other week since January to discuss these issues, with input from campus experts in many areas. The groups have considered a wide range of issues, including:

• Reconciling the California Master Plan for Higher Education with declining state investment in the university.
• How the campus budget would be impacted by increased enrollment, both with respect to student origin (California, national and international) and disciplinary focus.
• The need for immediate investments to provide a strong foundation for future growth in critical areas that have been weakened by recent budget cuts, with particular attention to factors impacting student success.
• The specific challenges associated with increasing enrollment of international students, including the need for substantial investments in recruitment to create a strong pool of applicants and in international student support services to ensure academic success.
• Strategies to support the enrollment of an increased number of students through new construction, increased efficiency in the utilization of current space and consideration of new approaches to teaching and learning.

The three task forces have provided preliminary advice that will guide campus leaders this summer in the development of a refined 2020 proposal.

At the same time, recent reports from the Graduate Education Task Force and the International Advisory Committee address many issues of relevance to the 2020 Initiative and will likewise provide useful input. The refined proposal will be the subject of additional task force meetings and broad campus and community discussion during the fall quarter, including formal consultation with the Academic Senate.

Online: 2020 Initiative (information and updates)

Questions and comments: future@ucdavis.edu

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