UC Performance Measures Reveal Timely Graduation Rates, Effective Technology Transfer

The University of California (UC) is demonstrating success in several key areas under a compact designed to facilitate timely graduation. Findings of the first annual report reveal the university is achieving success in degree production in high priority areas for the state, effective community college transfer, and transfer of research innovations to the marketplace, according to the UC press office.

The university submitted its report last month in accordance to a compact made with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in May 2004. Under the compact, UC is to "continue its efforts to achieve improved student and institutional outcomes and place a high priority on providing needed classes so that students are able to graduate in four years or less." The report identifies performance measures during the academic year 2004-05. Some of the key findings include:

• One-third of bachelor's and master's degrees and nearly 60 percent of all doctoral degrees were awarded in mathematics, science and engineering. At the doctoral level, degrees awarded in these fields have grown 15 percent over the past four years.
• Eighty percent of entering freshman graduate UC within six years, compared to an average of 58 percent among freshman at four-year institutions, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
• Fifty-four UC faculty and researchers have won the National Medal of Science since it was established in Congress in 1953.
• UC has received more patents than any other university in the world, and royalty income from inventions that have been transferred to the marketplace brought in $79 million to the university in 2003-04.

Increasingly, technology transfer activities are extending beyond the traditional patenting and licensing of inventions to the development of a variety of relationships with business, industry and government, the report states. Compared with 2002-03, royalties and fees increased by 18.4 percent for the university.

In terms of research, expenditures totaled $3.1 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent over the previous year, the report indicates. Overall research expenditures increased, despite a 1.7 percent reduction in General Fund support.

University of California Higher Education Compact Performance Measures is available at: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/budget/compact2005report.pdf

Links to this paper and more than 3,000 additional TBED-related research reports, strategic plans and other papers can be found at the Tech-based Economic Development (TBED) Resource Center, jointly developed by the Technology Administration and SSTI, at http://www.tbedresourcecenter.org/.