WHY WE STRIKE
A data-driven fact sheet on why UC's graduate students are striking
Our mission at UC Strike is to communicate in a transparent and data-driven manner the issues surrounding the strike across University of California campuses and the Higher Education Crisis as a whole.
This is a student-led effort and is not affiliated with UC or UAW.
This US is in a Higher Education Crisis. This is the largest strike in academic history. This is just the beginning.
We strike for student loans, for overcrowded dorms, for increasing tuition and enrollment, for overstuffed classrooms. We strike for the professors of tomorrow, for our children's eduction. We strike for affordability and accessibility of the greatest equalizer we have - education. We strike for public state schools to be an option for the average person.
We strike for you.
We are one of many Universities. Here is our story...
University of California states that it is a student-centered, research-focused, and service-oriented university. At some point, that focus was lost.
The strike at across all campuses of University of California is representative of a much larger issue in the current state of higher education in the United States for all levels, from undergraduates to faculty. Academic employees are no longer the top priority. Research and teaching are no longer the top goal.
These issues have been bubbling up over time, both at University of California and across the US. This strike happens now because the breaking point happened sooner than it would have due to the additional strain from COVID-19, both economically and mentally.
Graduate students should not be homeless. Graduate students should not go hungry. But in 2022 in California, they do both. Or they quit.
This site is an ongoing effort to communicate issues in higher education with UC (and often UCSD) as example cases. Please check back regularly for updates.
Some Key Findings
From UC Themselves: UC's Accountability Report
The following is all content pulled directly from University of California's 2022 Accountability Report (UCAR), an "annual comprehensive assessment of the University's progress in meeting key teaching, research, and public service goals across its 10 campuses" .
It is included here without change. The following text are direct quotes. The figures are UC's own production.
For further analyses on key strike issues, please see the associated pages listed at the top right.
This page is solely direct quotes and figures from UC.
Figures and excerpts taken from University of California's 2022 Accountability Report (UCAR) without change
University of California’s multi–year plan: UC 2030
"The University of California multiyear framework — UC 2030 —– began with a three–point plan on how
the University would strengthen California by:
Goal #1: Producing over 200,000 additional degrees, on top of the one million undergraduate and graduate degrees currently projected by 2030;
Goal #2: Achieving a 90 percent overall graduation rate and eliminating gaps for timely graduation and graduate degree attainment for Pell, first‐generation, and underrepresented groups
Goal #3: Investing in the next generation of faculty and research by adding 1,100 ladder‐rank faculty by fall 2022 who better represent California’s diversity."
Goal #1: Award 1.2 million degrees between 2015-16 and 2029-30
"Of the additional 200,000 degrees UC will produce, over 40,000 will be graduate degrees, and this growth will primarily be achieved through increased graduate enrollment across the system."
"While UC undergraduate enrollment has grown, funding for graduate enrollment has not kept pace, which both restricts the opportunity for bachelor degree recipients to get a graduate degree and UC’s ability to meet graduate degree attainment goals."
Goal #3: Add 1,100 ladder-rank non-recall faculty over 4 years
"As with other populations, UC faculty faced increased workload and stress during the pandemic, the struggle to shift courses to remote instruction, stalled research and scholarship, and increased anxiety due to work‐life balance issues, health concerns, and dependent care responsibilities."
"The California Governor and University Join in a Compact to Advance Key UC 2030 Goals"
"Under a compact agreed upon in the 2022–23 state budget, UC will receive annual five percent increases to its core budget over each of the next five years, with the understanding that it will focus resources on achieving UC’s 2030 goals."
"UC graduate stipends remain below competitive offers"
"UC net stipends remain below competitive offers, although the gap decreased substantially between 2013 and 2020.
Doctoral students are crucial to a university’s research enterprise and instructional programs.
A considerable gap remains between UC’s average net stipend and growing living costs in California." UCAR 81
"Decreasing PhD enrollment"
"The doctoral enrollment percentage has declined since 2012.
University-wide graduate academic applications have increased substantially since 2012, while admits and new enrollments have remained relatively flat. "
UCAR 77
Graduate degree enrollment is less than other public and private institutions.
- UC: 21%
- US public universities: 28%
- US private universities: 56%
UCAR 79
UCAR 79 -- highlights show decreased enrollment
"Inadequate support poses challenges in recruitment of students, and for enrolled students, inhibits their ability to appropriately meet basic living needs.
California’s high cost of living is also detrimental to UC faculty recruitment and retention.
This is a significant problem with negative implications for graduate education and UC research which, without intervention, will negatively impact California’s industry innovation and the ability of the state to meet its advanced workforce needs." UCAR 81
"UC faculty salaries remain below comparison institutions"
Public 4: Universities of Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, and University at Buffalo.
"Lecturers have been used increasingly to help meet the instructional needs of UC's growing enrollment
"Lecturers have been used increasingly to help meet the instructional needs of UC's growing enrollment
While appointment in all faculty categories has grown, the most pronounced increase has been among lecturers, who increased by over 46 percent during this period.
At the undergraduate level, full time permanent faculty and lecturers are teaching increasing numbers of student credit hours."
UCAR 96, 106, 154
"Faculty separations have grown modestly"
UCAR 105
"Since 2016, UC has partnered with Harvard’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) on a research project to survey faculty who leave UC for employment at other universities."
Top Reasons Faculty List for Leaving UC:
- Quality of colleagues
- Salary
"True costs of UC research exceed recovered amounts by hundreds of millions of dollars annually"
Federal funds support most of the research conducted at UC
In inflation-adjusted terms, total research expenditures have been flat over the past four year, with modest increases in federal support offset by decreases in University support
With federal funding supporting about half of UC research, the vitality of the UC research enterprise is
dependent on agencies whose funding is reviewed annually.
USAR 157
"At the National Institutes of Health, only one proposal is funded for every five
received, compared to about 32 percent fifteen years ago.
The administrative effort of drafting, reviewing, submitting, and tracking proposals is one of the less‐visible costs of conducting research — costs that are not fully recovered from federal sponsors."
Direct costs: amount spent on salaries, benefits, equipment, and materials directly linked to the project
Indirect Costs: facilities and administration overhead required to support the research project, including debt service,
maintenance, and libraries
"Number of full-time employees supported by research funding"
"Number of full-time employees supported by research funding"
"This figure, principally representing projects with research grants, underrepresents the time faculty
spend on research.
As in all research universities, career advancement at UC (including tenure), requires a significant body of scholarly or creative work."
