San Francisco Chronicle 3/262008

Squeezing a state legislature for more higher education money during a multibillion dollar budget shortfall will be old hat for Mark Yudof if he is picked this week as the University of California's next president.

The UC Board of Regents is expected to name Yudof on Thursday to replace outgoing President Robert Dynes in June, just in time to inherit a lean budget for the 10-campus system that university officials predict will compel them to raise student fees, reduce services or both.

Yudof began his tenure as chancellor of the University of Texas system nearly six years ago in much the same way — pleading with Texas lawmakers for more money as the state stared down a historic $10 billion budget deficit.

"He's seen the budget shortfall movie before," said Republican Rep. Dan Branch, who served on the House budget-writing committee. "It's an important skill and experience to have heading into some serious headwinds in Sacramento."

Despite the state's budget woes, Yudof walked away from that session with what higher education officials described as the most lucrative deal the Texas system had seen. Lawmakers included about $500 million more in higher education funding than had been initially proposed.

"That session turned out to be one of our most successful in history," said Charles Miller, who was chairman of the UT Board of Regents at the time. "We got some legislation in place that we'd been working on for decades."

The marquee accomplishment of that session — and arguably of Yudof's time leading the system — was a measure that allowed universities to set their own tuition rates. It's also been the source of one of the top criticisms lobbed at him, since the average UT tuition has soared more than 40 percent since then.

As president of the Texas system, he also worked to cultivate a presence in Washington D.C. to increase federal research dollars. Annual research expenditures since Yudof took office have increased by a third, to almost $460 million a year.

"He didn't just go to the Legislature and say 'give us more money.' He went to every source of revenue we could and tried to optimize it," Miller
said. The result was "better research dollars, better endowment earnings, better contributions and some increases in state funding ... in every way, financially, we did extremely well."

Under Yudof's leadership, endowment funds have almost doubled, to more than $15.6 billion at the end of the last fiscal year, according to NACUBO, a college business officers' group that tracks endowments.

The eye-popping balance put the UT system at the top of the heap, ranked fifth under the likes of Harvard, Yale and Stanford.

"The reputation of the UT system nationally is the best that it has been in its history," Miller said. "We didn't have that kind of reputation six or eight years ago. We just didn't."

A former law professor, dean and provost at the University of Texas at Austin, Yudof has presided over the UT system since August 2002. At $775,000 a year in total compensation, the position has been lucrative personally. He also lived in a home owned by the UT System in Austin's posh Tarrytown area.

One of his biggest failures came in 2007, when the Legislature rejected an overhaul of the state's top 10 percent law. The law, which grants automatic college admission to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, was criticized by Yudof and others who argued that it limited the university's ability to recruit a well-rounded student body.

The issue will likely be left to Yudof's successor as it becomes more problematic for popular schools such as UT Austin, which announced last week that it has reserved a record 81 percent of its fall admission offers this year to students guaranteed a spot under the law.

In another key disappointment, Yudof pushed tirelessly but failed to acquire the management of Los Alamos National Laboratory from the University of California.

His effort to raise the system's national scientific profile suffered a setback when federal officials in 2005 rejected its bid in favor of maintaining its decades-long agreement with UC and engineering giant Bechtel Corp. Winning the contract could have resulted in more research opportunities for professors and students and bolstered the system's national reputation, the bids supporters said.

On the academic side, Yudof's initiatives in the UT system have included an accountability plan that measures student and university performance and makes the results available online. He also promoted a $2.56 billion partnership with private donors to boost competitiveness in science, technology, engineering and health.

If the UC regents approve his appointment, Yudof would lead a university system with 10 academic campuses, five medical centers and contracts to manage three national laboratories. It has an $18 billion annual budget, more than 220,000 students and 170,000 faculty and staff.

Yudof served as president of the University of Minnesota system for five years before he became chancellor of the UT system, which has nine campuses, six health institutions and a $11 billion annual budget.

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Presumptive UC president knows lean times for higher education

Wednesday March 26, 2008 April Castro Squeezing a state legislature for more higher education money during a multibillion dollar budget shortfall will be old hat for Mark Yudof if he is picked this week as the University of California's next president. The UC Board of Regents is expected to name Yudof on Thursday to replace outgoing President Robert Dynes in June, just in time to inherit a lean budget for the 10-campus system that university officials predict will compel them to raise student fees, reduce services or both. Yudof began his tenure as chancellor of the University of Texas system nearly six years ago in much the same way — pleading with Texas lawmakers for more money as the state stared down a historic $10 billion budget deficit. "He's seen the budget shortfall movie before," said Republican Rep. Dan Branch, who served on the House budget-writing committee. "It's an important skill and experience to have heading into some serious headwinds in Sacramento." Despite the state's budget woes, Yudof walked away from that session with what higher education officials described as the most lucrative deal the Texas system had seen. Lawmakers included about $500 million more in higher education funding than had been initially proposed. "That session turned out to be one of our most successful in history," said Charles Miller, who was chairman of the UT Board of Regents at the time. "We got some legislation in place that we'd been working on for decades." The marquee accomplishment of that session — and arguably of Yudof's time leading the system — was a measure that allowed universities to set their own tuition rates. It's also been the source of one of the top criticisms lobbed at him, since the average UT tuition has soared more than 40 percent since then. As president of the Texas system, he also worked to cultivate a presence in Washington D.C. to increase federal research dollars. Annual research expenditures since Yudof took office have increased by a third, to almost $460 million a year. "He didn't just go to the Legislature and say 'give us more money.' He went to every source of revenue we could and tried to optimize it," Miller said. The result was "better research dollars, better endowment earnings, better contributions and some increases in state funding ... in every way, financially, we did extremely well." Under Yudof's leadership, endowment funds have almost doubled, to more than $15.6 billion at the end of the last fiscal year, according to NACUBO, a college business officers' group that tracks endowments. The eye-popping balance put the UT system at the top of the heap, ranked fifth under the likes of Harvard, Yale and Stanford. "The reputation of the UT system nationally is the best that it has been in its history," Miller said. "We didn't have that kind of reputation six or eight years ago. We just didn't." A former law professor, dean and provost at the University of Texas at Austin, Yudof has presided over the UT system since August 2002. At $775,000 a year in total compensation, the position has been lucrative personally. He also lived in a home owned by the UT System in Austin's posh Tarrytown area. Yudof's dealings with the state have not all been successful. One of his biggest failures came in 2007, when the Legislature rejected an overhaul of the state's top 10 percent law. The law, which grants automatic college admission to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, was criticized by Yudof and others who argued that it limited the university's ability to recruit a well-rounded student body. The issue will likely be left to Yudof's successor as it becomes more problematic for popular schools such as UT Austin, which announced last week that it has reserved a record 81 percent of its fall admission offers this year to students guaranteed a spot under the law. In another key disappointment, Yudof pushed tirelessly but failed to acquire the management of Los Alamos National Laboratory from the University of California. His effort to raise the system's national scientific profile suffered a setback when federal officials in 2005 rejected its bid in favor of maintaining its decades-long agreement with UC and engineering giant Bechtel Corp. Winning the contract could have resulted in more research opportunities for professors and students and bolstered the system's national reputation, the bids supporters said. On the academic side, Yudof's initiatives in the UT system have included an accountability plan that measures student and university performance and makes the results available online. He also promoted a $2.56 billion partnership with private donors to boost competitiveness in science, technology, engineering and health. If the UC regents approve his appointment, Yudof would lead a university system with 10 academic campuses, five medical centers and contracts to manage three national laboratories. It has an $18 billion annual budget, more than 220,000 students and 170,000 faculty and staff. Yudof served as president of the University of Minnesota system for five years before he became chancellor of the UT system, which has nine campuses, six health institutions and a $11 billion annual budget. Go Back

Presumptive UC president knows lean times for higher education