UC Board of Regents discusses funding, pandemic, entrance exams
Published in The Daily Californian
Monday, January 25, 2021
BY MAYA AKKARAJU, TARUNIKA KAPOOR, OLIVIA MOORE AND ANNIKA RAO
On its final day of virtual meetings this week, the UC Board of Regents discussed university donations, alternatives to college entrance exams and the state of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As discussed during the Public Engagement and Development Committee meeting, the UC system received a total of $2.9 billion in donations over the past fiscal year, according to UC Office of the President, or UCOP, Senior Vice President of External Relations and Communications Claire Holmes. Almost half of this money was given in support of health sciences and medicine at UC medical centers and campuses.
John Cash, Marts & Lundy consultant, noted that the majority of donations are restricted to research and department support, and less than 8% of the money was donated for student support. He added that just more than 8% of the donations are to campus improvement efforts.
“Many people are under the impression that donors love to give to buildings, that’s really not true,” Cash said at the meeting. “Raising capital dollars is very, very challenging.”
As for UC Berkeley, Vice Chancellor for University Development and Alumni Relations Julie Hooper reported that $4.1 billion has been raised in the “Light the Way” campaign, which launched last year and aims to raise $6 billion.
The “Light the Way” campaign aims to raise $400 million in scholarship support, according to UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ.
“Often our graduate students really suffer from shortages in basic needs, and a robust graduate scholarship program is essential in both being competitive for the best graduate students and making sure their needs are well attended,” Christ said at the meeting.