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Standard 4:  Creating an Organization Committed to Learning and Improvement

4.1:  The institution periodically engages its multiple constituencies in institutional reflection and planning processes which assess its strategic position; articulate priorities; examine the alignment of its purposes, core functions and resources; and define the future direction of the institution. The institution monitors the effectiveness of the implementation of its plans and revises them as appropriate.

UC Santa Cruz Summary of Evidence

UCSC engages its core community and related constituencies in periodic reflections on its current path and directions for the future. As noted in Standard 2.4, at the turn of the millennium, the campus invited hundreds of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members to reflect on our past, assess our current condition, and set a course for the future, with those conclusions embodied in the report, UCSC at a Crossroads: Advisory Report of the Millennium Committee.

To ensure that all campus units work in concert pursuing the millennium values while at the same time the administration allocates resources strategically to reinforce those values, the Provost announced a budget process in Planning for 2010 that first asked each unit to align its activities with core campus values and then rewarded those efforts with supporting resources.

Each fall, the Chancellor invites senior leaders from the administration, faculty and student body to reflect on a specific aspect of UCSC portfolio.  Recent topics have included: enhancing undergraduate education, the graduate student experience, renewing the Long Range Development Plan, WASC accreditation.

In October 2003, on the occasion of the first new residential colleges at UCSC in 30 years, the campus convened a panel of national leaders in higher education and industry to the first Clark Kerr Symposium to reflect on the current state of the research university in a program entitled “Rethinking the Student Experience in the 21st Century Public Research University.”  Panel discussions during the daylong conference focused on: the benefits of a diverse student body, the creation of innovative curricula, and the challenge of developing engaged citizens who will make meaningful contributions to society.

Links to Evidence and Related Documents

• UCSC at a Crossroads: Advisory Report of the Millennium Committee (1998)
• Campuswide Long Range Planning Process (2001-02)
• Clark Kerr Symposium (2003)

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