The University of California (UC) has nine campuses around the state, with a combined student body of more than 192,000; a tenth campus is under construction near the city of Merced and is scheduled to open in Fall 2005. The flagship and original campus is in the city of Berkeley.
The University system though separated as individual and independent collect an unsurpassed faculty of researchers and educators. Most of the universities boast a number of top scholars in every field as well as the majority of Nobel Laureates in the world. In recent years, physics at UCSB, economics at Berkeley and UCSD, have been winners of Nobel Prizes, proof to the influential presence of UCs in academia.
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2 Governance 3 Campuses 4 Laboratories 5 Observatories 6 Affiliated law school 7 External links |
When the state of California wrote its Constitution in 1849, it stipulated for an educational system complete with a university. Taking advantage of the Morrill Land Grant Act, the legislature established an Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College in 1866. However, although this institution was provided with sufficient funds, it lacked land.
Beforehand, Congregational minister Henry Durant had established the College of California in Oakland, California in 1855. With an eye for expansion, the college's trustees purchased 160 acres of land in where is now Berkeley in 1866. But unlike the state's Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College, it lacked the funds to operate.
The trustees offered to merge with the state college to their mutual advantage, but under one condition--that the there be not simply a "Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College," but a "a complete university." Accordingly, the Organic Act was signed into law establishing the University of California on March 23, 1868.
The University of California opened its first medical school on February 20, 1873 in San Francisco. In 1908, a "University Farm" was established at Davis, which became UC Davis in 1959. A "Southern Branch" was opened in Los Angeles in 1919. The Riverside campus was opened in 1954, Santa Barbara in 1958, San Diego (actually in the suburb of La Jolla) in 1959, and Santa Cruz and Irvine in 1965.
The University of California is governed by the Regents of the University of California, as stipulated by the Constitution of the State of California. 18 regents are appointed by the governor for 12-year terms. One member is a student appointed for a one-year term. Then there are 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 UC president.
The Academic Senate, made up a faculty members, is empowered by the Regents to set academic policies. In addition, the faculty systemwide chair and vice-chair sit on the board as non-voting members.
The Regents appoints a president to run the entire system, while individual campuses are assigned chancellors, who are given a great degree of autonomy.
The University of California manages three national laboratories on behalf of the United States Department of Energy:
The University of California manages two observatories as a multi-campus research unit headquartered at it's Santa Cruz campus.
History
Governance
List of UC Presidents
Campuses
Laboratories
Observatories
Affiliated law school
See also: Colleges and universities