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Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009

Steve Kang: UC Merced catalyst for Valley prosperity

Earlier this fall, UC Merced marked a major milestone as we welcomed our fifth -- and by far our largest -- incoming class of students.

Of the 3,400 students enrolled this fall, compared with just 875 in our inaugural year, about 325 are from Merced and Mariposa counties. These results should make everyone in our community very proud.

We all benefit when the doors of higher education are opened to the future leaders of our region, our state and our nation.

While enrollment growth may be the best single measure of year-to-year progress, economic investment may be the best measure of potential long-term impact. Solid growth continues on this front as well.

Since UC Merced began administrative operations in 2001, the value of construction contracts awarded to San Joaquin Valley businesses and goods and services purchased within the Valley has reached more than $450 million.

In Merced and Mariposa counties alone, that number is about $43.4 million, while the statewide total is approaching $1 billion.

Although this growing level of investment hasn't been enough to offset the most difficult financial climate our region has seen in decades, it is clearly helping to stabilize the regional economy, create new jobs and position us well for future financial progress when the underlying state economy rebounds.

These two factors -- enrollment growth and economic contribution -- are fundamental to our mission as the first UC campus established in the Valley. They're also closely related.

College-attendance rates have long been recognized as a leading indicator of future economic vitality. The Valley's chronic battle with poverty and unemployment is attributable, in part, to a level of performance on this important measure that has been well below state averages for decades.

Now, that's changing.

We are thrilled to report that students from throughout the Valley are applying to the 10-campus UC system at a dramatically higher rate than ever before. Compared with 2004, the year before UC Merced was established, applications from Valley students in 2008 increased by 41 percent and admissions increased by 45 percent.

These results reflect a growing awareness that education is the key to personal opportunity and long-term financial achievement.

As I walk through our bustling campus this fall, I see many other signs that something special is happening here.

I see the most diverse student body of any UC campus, one that proudly reflects the character, the hopes and the aspirations of our culturally rich state.

I see striking new buildings constructed to such high environmental standards that our young campus is already recognized nationally as one of the "greenest" in the country.

I see world-class faculty mixing comfortably with students at all levels in a way seldom seen on larger campuses.

I see students engaged in real-world research projects that expose them to the most fundamental and rewarding form of learning -- the discovery and application of new knowledge.

Despite an extremely challenging economic climate throughout California, UC Merced remains on track to enroll 5,000 students by 2013. We are moving forward with the construction of new academic buildings and student housing to accommodate that growth, using sustainable design and construction techniques that are setting new standards for environmental responsibility.

We are strengthening our basic science curriculum to provide a strong foundation for the development of a fully accredited medical school when the state's economy turns around.

Our faculty members are winning millions of dollars in grants (nearly $23 million in our 2008-2009 fiscal year) to fund primary research into the Valley's most pressing problems, including regional health disparities, water quality and supply, air pollution, energy supply, climate change and more.

Discoveries from this research will have far-reaching benefits throughout the region, the state and the world.

UC Merced's presence in the Valley is also helping to attract significant new levels of federal and state funding for important regional needs.

For example, the major health care reform measure passed Nov. 7 by the House includes $500 million for the development of medical schools in federally designated health professional shortage areas throughout the country, which could potentially help expedite the launch of a medical school at UC Merced.

Similarly, the $11 billion water bond approved earlier this month by the state Legislature includes $10 million in water-research projects to be led by our Sierra Nevada Research Institute. We sincerely hope the communities that welcomed us here are seeing these unmistakable signs of progress.

Times are tough throughout the Valley, but we truly believe the long-term prospects for our region have never been better.

We are extremely pleased to be a catalyst in the process of improving the Valley's quality of life and lifting our region to its fullest potential.

Steve Kang is chancellor of UC Merced.