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Indybay Feature

Towards Mediocrity: Administrative Mismanagement and the Decline of UC Education

by via UAW 2865
What Can be Done to Address our Public Education Crisis? For the evidence of the decline of educational quality and access at UC and how we can fix it, see the full report.
towards-mediocrity.sept-2013.pdf_600_.jpg
Summary of Findings

• The quality of education in the UCs is in decline. Weaker graduate
programs harm faculty research and undergraduate educational quality and
access. Revitalized graduate programs are central to the revitalization of UC
education.

• Increased class sizes and student faculty ratios means decreased access for
underrepresented minority students and student-families. The core of UC's
public service remains high-quality education for California’s disadvantaged
students. Weaker graduate programs threaten educational quality for those
students.

• Graduate student programs play a pivotal role in quality research, frontline
education, and undergraduate engagement, but the UCs lag far behind
comparable institutions in the support they provide graduate students.

• Lessened support and decreased access have top applicants heading
elsewhere, contributing to further decline in quality.

• These problems can be significantly ameliorated within current fiscal
constraints.

http://www.uaw2865.org/wp-content/uploads/Towards-Mediocrity.Sept-2013.pdf
I received my B.A. ('87) and my Ph.D. ('07) from UCSC — before its major decline — in computer science. As I finished my Ph.D., one could already see the beginnings of the campaign to rip the guts out of a once great university system (admired throughout the world).

I was appalled the at the exploitation I saw of student and non-student workers. I also saw UC's repressive attempts to shutdown a nascent student movement in reaction to this and other forms of UC repression. I was shocked when my advisor called student protestors hooligans and stated the university is not a democracy. That runs against my principles of open, transparent, accountable government — the UC is sorely lacking in all three of these.

I urge students and non-student UC workers to join my Facebook page linked to below:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/OpenTransparentAccountableGovernment/

I offer my services as an experienced, effective Freedom of Information (FOI) investigator to submit FOI requests for UAW 2865 to the UC (if you will pay the minuscule fees if any). Most often I am able to obtain documents in electronic form, making my requests almost completely free.

I look forward to helping UAW 2865 in you struggle for social justice and economic equality.

In solidarity,
John E.. Colby, Ph.D. (UCSC computer science '07)

linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-colby/3/920/baa
twitter: @jecolbe
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