UC Students and Workers Set Principles for New UC President

Oakland, CA – A coalition of University of California Students and Unions representing University of California employees have issued a Statement of Principles today that establish five basic values that the next person selected as President of the University of California must adhere to in order to protect the long term health of the University System.

“For more than a decade, the University of California has been moving further and further away from fulfilling its public mission. It is important that the next person to serve as President of the University recognize that the corrective actions outlined in our State of Principles are crucial to regaining public trust in the University of California” said Joe Pulido, a 30 year UC Berkeley employee.

The State of Principles document released by the coalition calls for the next president to address the following concerns:

Education – That the University of California returns to its core mission of educating the next generation of Californians and that the fee structure places student needs first and stops placing undue burden on students and their families.

Transparency – That the University of California becomes a transparent organization and encourage public participation in the decision making process.

Patient Care – That the University of California ensures that the primary concern of its five medical centers be the needs of the patients.

Working Families – That the University of California becomes a model employer for California in the proper way to value both the hard work of the employees who make the system work and the communities they live in.

Public Mission – That the University stop all affiliations with entities such as the tobacco industry.

“All five points that we have outlined are important to the well being of UC. In particular, the current University Fees have already had dramatic impacts on affordability and access for all Californians. If the next UC President is not committed to addressing this issue, a UC education and the California dream will fall out of reach for many individuals and families” said Oiyan Poon, PhD Student in Education at UCLA and President, UCSA.

The coalition issuing the State of Principles consists of the University of California Student Association (UCSA), The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 (AFSCME), The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), The California Nurses Association (CNA), The Coalition of University Employee (CUE), UAW Local 2865 and The University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE). This coalition represents approximately 214,000 students and 60,000 union represented employees.

“The reason this coalition came together to issue the Statement of Principles is due to the fact that students, employees and all of California have grown tired of the scandals at the University of California. We are at a very important crossroad in the history of the University. Every Californian demands that the University return to its roots and become the great public institution it was designed to be” stated Edgardo Vazquez, UPTE UC Davis Board Member.