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The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University system and the California Community Colleges system.

The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and an endowment of just over $5 billion (7th largest in the United States). Its first campus (now UC Berkeley) was founded in 1868, while its tenth and newest campus opened in the fall of 2005 near the city of Merced, California. All campuses enroll both undergraduate and graduate students, with two exceptions: the University of California, San Francisco campus enrolls only graduate and professional students in the medical and health sciences, and the independently administered Hastings College of the Law (also located in San Francisco) enrolls only law students.

The University of California's campuses boast large numbers of distinguished faculty in almost every field. The University is considered a model for public institutions across the United States, although as of the 2002-03 fiscal year, only 38% of its total budget comes from the State. The University of California is widely considered one of the most prestigious public university systems in the world.

History

When the State of California ratified its first constitution in 1849, it stipulated an educational system complete with a university. Taking advantage of the Morrill Land Grant Act, the California Legislature established an Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College in 1866. Although this institution was provided with sufficient funds, it lacked land.

Beforehand, Congregational minister Henry Durant had established the private College of California in Oakland, California in 1855. Hoping both to expand and raise funds, the college's trustees formed the College Homestead Association and purchased 160 acres (650,000 m²) of land in what is now Berkeley in 1866. But sales of new homesteads fell short.

Consequently, the trustees offered to merge with the state college to their mutual advantage, but under one condition — that there not be simply a "Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College," but "a complete university." Accordingly, the Organic Act, establishing the University of California, was signed into law on March 23, 1868.

The University opened its first medical school on February 20, 1873 in San Francisco. In 1908, a "University Farm" for the College of Agriculture was established at Davis, which became UC Davis in 1959. In 1919, the Legislature arranged for an existing normal school in Los Angeles to become the University's "Southern Branch." In turn, the Southern Branch became UCLA in 1927.

The Riverside campus was founded as the Citrus Experiment Station in 1907 and was elevated to campus status in 1954. The San Diego campus was founded as a marine station in 1912 and became UCSD in 1959. Campuses were established in Santa Barbara in 1958, and in both Santa Cruz and Irvine in 1965. UC Merced opened in Fall 2005.

The California Master Plan for Higher Education of 1960 established that the top 12.5% (1/8) of graduating high school seniors in California would be guaranteed a place in one of the UC campuses. Previously, the top 15% were accepted.

Academics

The University of California is distinguished within academia. UC researchers and faculty are responsible for 5,505 inventions and 2,497 patents. UC researchers create 3 new inventions per day. At 32 million items, the University of California library system contains the third largest collection in the world, after the Library of Congress and the British Library.

Collectively, the system currently counts among its faculty (as of 2002):

• 389 members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 5 Fields Medal recipients
• 19 Fulbright Scholars
• 25 MacArthur Fellows
• 254 members of the National Academy of Sciences
• 91 members of the National Academy of Engineering
• 13 National Medal of Science Laureates
• 28 Nobel laureates. Nobel laureates are present at all campuses except Davis, Merced, Riverside, and Santa Cruz.
• 106 members of the Institute of Medicine

Governance

The University of California is governed by the Regents of the University of California, as required by the current Constitution of the State of California. Eighteen regents are appointed by the governor for 12-year terms. One member is a student appointed for a one-year term. There are also 7 ex officio members — the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, Superintendent of Public Instruction, president and vice president of the Alumni Associations of UC, and the UC President.

The Academic Senate, made up of faculty members, is empowered by the Regents to set academic policies. In addition, the systemwide faculty chair and vice-chair sit on the Board of Regents as non-voting members.

Originally the President ran only the first campus, Berkeley. Now, the Regents appoint a president to run the entire system. The UC Office of the President is located in downtown Oakland and effectively serves as the system headquarters. Individual campuses are managed by Chancellors, who are given a great degree of autonomy.

List of UC Presidents

John LeConte (1868-1870, acting)

1. Henry Durant (1870-1872)
2. Daniel Coit Gilman (1872-1875)
3. John LeConte (1876-1881)
4. W.T. Reid (1881-1885)
5. Edward S. Holden (1885-1888)
6. Horace Davis (1888-1890)
7. Martin Kellogg (1890-1893, acting) (1893-1899)
8. Benjamin Ide Wheeler (1899-1919)
9. David Prescott Barrows (1919-1923)
10. William Wallace Campbell (1923-1930)
11. Robert Gordon Sproul (1930-1958)
12. Clark Kerr (1958-1967)

    Harry R. Wellman (1967, acting)

13. Charles J. Hitch (1968-1975)
14. David S. Saxon (1975-1983)
15. David P. Gardner (1983-1992)
16. Jack W. Peltason (1992-1995)
17. Richard C. Atkinson (1995-2003)
18. Robert C. Dynes (2003-present)

Campuses

• Berkeley
• Davis Davis
• Irvine
• Los Angeles
• Riverside
• Merced Merced
• San Diego
• Santa Barbara
• Santa Cruz Santa Cruz

• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Davis
• University of California, Hastings College of the Law
• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, Merced
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, San Diego
• University of California, San Francisco
• University of California, Santa Barbara
• University of California, Santa Cruz

Administration

While the UC campuses are operated fairly efficiently, the system does have a reputation among its students and alumni for mediocre customer service. The most common symptoms are the long lines which students often must stand in to get even the simplest administrative tasks accomplished, the long wait times before phone calls are answered, and the overcomplicated paperwork that is often required. In August 1990, UC Berkeley attempted to ease the tedium of standing in line by setting up televisions which showed comedians making jokes about standing in line.

During the 1990s, some campuses (like UCLA) aggressively streamlined many internal procedures with Web applications. Others (like UC Berkeley) were slower to adapt — as of 2006, Berkeley students still enroll in classes via the aging Tele-BEARS system, which is a Web interface on top of an older touch-tone telephone system (this despite the fact that UC Berkeley is one of the universities prominent in the development of many Internet technologies).

Labor unions

Like practically all California government employees, UC employees participate in labor unions (which go on strike quite often). Some of the unions in the UC system include:

• University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) - health care, technical and research workers
• Coalition of University Employees (CUE) - clericals
• University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT) - faculty and librarians
• UAW United Auto Workers - Academic student employees
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) - service workers and patient care technical employees.
• California Nurses Association (CNA) - Nurses
• Society of Professionals, Scientists and Engineers ] - UC Scientists and Engineers at LLNL

Admissions

Each UC school handles admissions separately, but a student wishing to apply for undergraduate admission uses one application for all UCs. The application is then scanned into a computer (if it is not already in electronic form) and distributed to the individual campus undergraduate admission offices. Graduate and professional school admissions are handled directly by each department or program for whom one applies to.

Prior to 1986, students who wished to apply to a UC for undergraduate study could only apply to one campus. If the student was rejected at that campus, but otherwise met the UC minimum eligibility requirements, he or she would be redirected to another campus with available space. For students who did not wish to be redirected, the application fee was returned. In 1986, that system was changed to the current "multiple filing" system, in which a student can apply to as many or as few UC campuses as he or she wants on one application, paying a fee for each campus. This system significantly increased the numbers of applications to the Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses, since students could choose which campus they wanted to attend after they received acceptance letters, without the fear of being redirected to a campus they did not want to attend.

Currently, the University of California is required to accept the top eighth of high school graduates, or the top 4% of any given high school class. Redirection to a UC with open space still occurs for students who meet the qualifications but are not accepted at any UC applied to.

Undergraduate admissions are conducted on a two-phase basis. In the first phase, students are admitted based solely on academic achievement. This accounts for between 50-75% of the admissions. In the second phase, the university conducts a comprehensive review of the student's achievements, including extracurricular activities, essay, family history, and life challenges, to admit the remainder. Very rarely, students that do not qualify for regular admission are admitted by exception. In 2002, 2% of these exceptions were granted. The process for determining admissions varies. At some campuses, such as Davis, Santa Barbara, and San Diego, a point system is used to weight grade point average, SAT Reasoning/ACT scores, and SAT Subject scores, while at Berkeley, Irvine, and Los Angeles, academic achievement is examined in the context of the school and the surrounding community.

Race, sex, national origin, and ethnicity are not used as UC admission criteria; the state constitution prohibits it (see Proposition 209). However, this information is collected for statistical purposes.

Peripheral enterprises

The University of California has a long tradition of involvement in many enterprises that are often geographically or organizationally separate from its general campuses, including national laboratories, observatories, hospitals, continuing education programs, travel and conference facilities, and an art institute.

National laboratories

The University of California directly manages and operates two United States Department of Energy National Laboratories:

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) (Berkeley, California)
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) (Livermore, California)

UC is a limited partner in a private company, Los Alamos National Security LLC, that manages and operates a third Department of Energy national laboratory:

• Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) (Los Alamos, New Mexico)

Laboratory Missions

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory conducts unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines with key efforts in fundamental studies of the universe; quantitative biology; nanoscience; new energy systems and environmental solutions; and the use of integrated computing as a tool for discovery.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory uses advance science and technology to ensure that the US’s nuclear weapons remain safe, secure, and reliable. LLNL also has major research programs in supercomputing and predictive modeling, energy and environment, bioscience and biotechnology, basic science and applied technology, counter proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and homeland security. It is also home to the most powerful supercomputers in the world.

Los Alamos National Laboratory focuses most of its work on ensuring the safety and reliability of the US's nuclear weapons. Other work at LANL involves research programs into preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and US national security, such as protection of the US homeland from terrorist attack.

The UC's ties to the three laboratories have occasionally sparked controversy and protest, because all three laboratories have been intimately linked with the development of nuclear weapons. During the World War II Manhattan Project, Lawrence Berkeley Lab developed the electromagnetic method for separation of uranium isotopes used to develop the first atomic bombs. The Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore labs have been involved in designing the nation's nuclear weapons from inception until the shift into stockpile stewardship after the close of the Cold War.

Historically the two UC national laboratories in Berkeley and Livermore named after Ernest O. Lawrence, have had very close relationships on research projects, as well as sharing some business operations and staff. In fact, LLNL was not officially severed administratively from LBNL until the early 1970s. They also have much deeper ties to the university than the Los Alamos Lab, a fact seen in their respective original names; the University of California Berkeley Radiation Laboratory and the University of California Radiation Laboratory at Livermore. The two UC laboratories in California have a combined workforce of 12,000 UC employees and operate on federally financed budgets totaling nearly $2.5 Billon.

UC distances itself from Los Alamos National Laboratory

The University of California's ties to the labs have so far outlasted all periods of internal controversy. However, in 2003, the U.S Department of Energy for the first time opened the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) contract for bidding by other vendors. UC entered into a partnership with Bechtel Corporation, BWXT, and the Washington Group International, and together they created a private company called Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS). The only other bidder on the LANL contract was a Lockheed-Martin Corporation created company that included among others; the University of Texas System. In December 2005, a seven-year contract to manage the laboratory was awarded to the Los Alamos National Security, LLC.

On June 1, 2006, the University of California ended its direct involvement in operating Los Alamos National Laboratory, and management control of the laboratory was taken over by Los Alamos National Security, LLC. Approximately 95% of the former 10,000 UC employees at LANL were rehired by LANS to continue working at LANL. Other than UC appointing three members to the eleven member board of directors that oversees LANS, UC now has virtually no responsibility or direct involvement in LANL. UC policies and regulations that apply to UC campuses and the two national laboratories in California (LBNL, LLNL) no longer apply to LANL, and the LANL Director no longer reports to the UC Regents or UC Office of the President.

Other national research centers

The University of California also works with the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California. In September 2003, a ten-year contract valued at more than $330 million was awarded to the UC to establish and operate a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) — the largest grant ever awarded the University. UC Santa Cruz manages the UARC for the University of California, with the goal of increasing the science output, safety, and effectiveness of NASA's missions through new technologies and scientific techniques.

Observatories

The University of California manages two observatories as a multi-campus research unit headquartered at its Santa Cruz campus.

• Lick Observatory
• Keck Observatory

The Astronomy Department at the Berkeley campus manages the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Shasta County, California.

Hospitals

The University of California has medical schools at Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. UCSF is consistently ranked in the Top 10 nationwide, and UCLA in the Top 15, by U.S. News and World Report. The affiliated teaching hospitals are also highly regarded, with UCLA Medical Center ranked No. 1 on the West Coast by U.S. News and World Report.

In the latter half of the 20th century, the UC hospitals became the core of full-fledged regional health systems; they were gradually supplemented by many outpatient clinics, offices, and institutes. In 1984, San Diego County sold its public hospital to UCSD and agreed to reimburse it for treating the indigent, so that UCSD is now also responsible for San Diego's public healthcare system.

UC Extension

For over a century, the University has operated a continuing education program for working adults and professionals. At present, UC Extension enrolls over 500,000 students each year in over 17,000 courses. One of the reasons for its huge size is that UC Extension is a dominant provider of Continuing Legal Education and Continuing Medical Education in California.

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

The University of California division of Agriculture and Natural Resources plays an important role in the State's agriculture industry, as mandated by the UC's legacy as a land-grant institution. In addition to conducting agriculture research, every county in the state has a field office with county farm advisors. The county offices also support 4-H programs and have nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisors who assist local government

Travel and conference facilities

• UCLA operates both its own on-campus hotel, the UCLA Guest House, and a lavish conference center at Lake Arrowhead. During the summer, the conference center hosts the Bruin Woods vacation programs for UCLA alumni and their families.
• UC Berkeley's California Alumni Association operates travel excursions for alumni (and their families) under its "BearTreks" brand. BearTreks is unusual in that the tour guides are usually Berkeley professors. CAA also operates an exclusive resort in the Sierra Nevada, the Lair of the Golden Bear, also just for Cal alumni and their families.
• The University Inn and Conference Center, located in downtown Santa Cruz, is owned and operated by UC Santa Cruz.

Other affiliated institutions

• University of California, Hastings College of the Law
• San Francisco Art Institute
• The University of California Center for Animal Alternatives
• Kearney Research and Extension Center

Trivia

• Three UC campuses have carillon towers: UC Berkeley's Sather Tower, UC Santa Barbara's Storke Tower, and UC Riverside's Carillon Tower.
• According to UCLA's Daily Bruin campus newspaper, UCLA is so well-known in Asia that the university has licensed its trademark to 15 UCLA-branded stores across East Asia.
• Eight campuses operate on the quarter system, while Berkeley and Merced are on the semester system. However, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and all UC law schools operate on the semester system; all American law schools must be on the semester system in order to retain ABA accreditation. This often leads to odd scheduling issues at Los Angeles and Davis.
• Traditionally, all UC chancellors get to live for free in a large on-campus mansion that is usually known as University House . UCSD's mansion has been closed due to its age, but the university plans to replace it.
• When Anson Blake died in 1962, he gave his mansion to the University of California. In 1967, Blake House and the surrounding eleven-acre estate became the official residence of the UC President.
• Isaac Bonewits earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Magic at the Berkeley campus in 1970 through a self-designed, inter-disciplinary independent study program. This was so controversial that the program was changed to prevent anyone from ever doing so again.
• A campus in the fictional city of Sunnydale is a setting in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, sharing characteristics of the real-life Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz campuses.

See also

• California State University
• Colleges and universities
• University of California Washington Center
• University of California Students Association - The officially recognized student voice of the UC system
• California Master Plan for Higher Education
• Innovative Vector Control Consortium
• University of California Natural Reserve System

External links

• Official Website
• Office of the President
• University of California Office of Laboratory Management (official website)
• Charter
• UC Observatories
• University of California Students Association
• UC Nuclear Free
• Los Alamos National Security, LLC (Official website)

References

1. Tanya Schevitz, "UC Berkeley's lack of services leaves many undergrads to sink or swim: 'Little fish in a big pond,' " San Francisco Chronicle, 6 May 2001, A1.
2. Diane Curtis, "UC Charged With Research Before Teaching," L.A. Daily News, 13 May 1990, N4.
3. Renee Koury, "Cal Trying To Lighten Up," San Jose Mercury News, 18 August 1990, 1B.

• University of California
• Universities and colleges in California