UC May Revive Plans for Campus in Central California

Buoyed by pledges of support from state legislators, the University of California is poised to revive plans to build a campus in the San Joaquin Valley two months after calling off the effort for lack of funds.

UC President Jack W. Peltason will recommend to the Board of Regents today that the search be resumed for a 10th campus site because the system’s financial picture for the next two years is not as bleak as originally feared. Peltason will propose that $1.5 million be allocated in the 1994-95 UC budget to fund environmental impact reports needed for the three finalist sites under consideration.

But UC officials hope the money will be available sooner because of encouraging signs from Central California lawmakers, who may amend legislation to authorize the money immediately.

“It’s necessary to go ahead and plan for the growth of the University of California system, and this is a good effort,” state Sen. Dan McCorquodale (D-Modesto) said Thursday. “I’ll do whatever I can to get a bill through.”

“We’re looking for a (legislative) vehicle as we speak,” added a spokeswoman for Assemblyman Rusty Areias (D-San Jose), a vocal proponent of establishing a campus in the San Joaquin Valley.

The Legislature had included the expenditure for the environmental impact report in this year’s budget, but Gov. Pete Wilson eliminated the item. Since then, Wilson--who as governor is an ex officio UC regent--has expressed support for the site search, saying that he vetoed the funding only after the regents abandoned the effort at the end of May. All nine UC campuses were then facing stiff cutbacks in programs and staffing.

However, UC budget reductions were less than had been predicted because of state budget augmentations approved by the governor and the Legislature last month, leading Peltason to reconsider his earlier recommendation to postpone expansion plans. The site would be the renowned university system’s first new campus since the early 1960s.

University officials emphasized that the long-term financial outlook remains nebulous. Even if the regents approve a resumption of the selection process as expected, “the timetable for actual development of the 10th campus (is) uncertain,” UC Vice President William B. Baker said.

Nonetheless, Peltason’s recommendation elicited cheers from activists who have long lobbied for a campus in the San Joaquin Valley, which has a population of about 3 million.

“That’s really good news,” said Gail McIntyre, chairwoman of the Madera County Board of Supervisors. “It means that the dream of the Central Valley being part of the master plan for higher education is coming back to life again.”

McIntyre and others note that the percentage of students from Central California who attend UC schools ranks below that of students from the northern and southern portions of the state. Many attribute the disparity to the lack of a nearby campus, with the closest ones being in Davis to the north, Santa Cruz to the west and Los Angeles to the south.

“It’s not part of the culture as it is in Los Angeles or San Francisco or San Diego,” all of which have UC campuses, said Mark Aydelotte, the university’s representative in Fresno. “Any kid from the San Joaquin Valley who goes to a University of California campus has to move.”

The university has already spent nearly $4 million in its quest for a site for a 10th campus. Those costs came mostly in the form of consultant fees, surveys and staff travel to the region, which includes Fresno, the state’s eighth-largest city.

UC officials say an additional campus is imperative as the children of baby boomers swell the system’s enrollment. The system serves 166,000 students, a number expected to jump by more than 60,000 over the next decade. Existing schools can accommodate only 40,000 of those new students, officials say.

The three sites under final consideration are the 3,300-acre Academy tract in Fresno County, near Clovis; the 5,200-acre Table Mountain tract, 12 miles north of downtown Fresno in Madera County, and the 7,000-acre Lake Yosemite area, just northeast of Merced.