February 1, 2008

Around the UC: sustainability, transitions, freshmen survey, financial aid

Progress made in UC sustainability efforts

The UC has been a leader in its sustainability practices and gained momentum in 2007 by expanding its sustainability policy, completing energy efficiency projects that are providing more than $5 million annually in operational savings and gaining national recognition for its green efforts.

UC officials delivered their annual report on UC's progress in implementing their Policy on Sustainable Practices to the UC regents on Jan. 15. The 4-year-old policy establishes a set of ambitious goals to advance environmental practices at UC campuses, ranging from efficient energy use to innovative sustainable purchasing practices.

UC Davis was noted for receiving a LEED Platinum rating for the Tahoe Environmental Research Center, a joint project with Sierra Nevada College and the University of Nevada, Reno.

The report also highlights a number of other UC accomplishments in 2007, including:

• Expanding the policy on sustainable practices in the areas of renovation projects, climate protection, sustainable operations, waste reduction and purchasing.
• UC President Robert Dynes signing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment on behalf of all 10 campus chancellors. In signing the commitment, UC has joined a collaborative effort by the nation's higher education institutions to address the challenges of global warming.
• Completing energy efficiency projects that cumulatively are providing UC with more than $5 million annually in operations savings.

For more information on UC sustainability and clean energy efforts, see www.ucop.edu/facil/sustain.

Pattiz to federal labs, Lenz to budget

At its January meeting, the UC Board of Regents approved Norman Pattiz to serve as chairman of the Board of Governors of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC and Los Alamos National Security, LLC. The two companies were created to manage the federal labs following the university's surrender of its sole stewardship in 2006. The appointment will take effect once current chairman Gerald Parsky resigns in 2008.

The regents also appointed Patrick Lenz, an expert in educational finance, as the UC's new system wide vice chancellor for budget.

Freshman survey: The parents are all right

While college officials nationwide say they have seen an increase in parents who are heavily involved in the college experiences of their children, a strong majority of today's college freshmen believe their parents are involved the "right amount," according to UCLA's annual survey of the nation's entering undergraduates.

The freshman survey is part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program and is administered by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

The report suggests freshmen show a dependency on parents when making college-related decisions.

"When parents intervene in their children's college life and decision-making, students may not necessarily develop their own problem-solving skills, which may limit developmental gains in their learning experiences," said John Pryor, a co-author and director of CIRP.

To read the report, visit www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri.

UC financial aid boost?

To meet the rising costs of undergraduate education, the UC should develop a $2 billion endowment for extra financial aid, according to a report given to the UC Board of Regents at its January meeting.

Those funds could come from private donations over the next 10 years and include some state money, recommended UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, who headed a UC study group on the affordability of undergraduate education.

To not offer more financial aid would jeopardize the ability of low- and middle-income students to attend UC, he said. "We must make it possible for them to attend," said Birgeneau, according to the Los Angeles Times.