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SANTA CRUZ - 11/08/04 - State budget woes have put the brakes on a proposed merger between the Monterey Institute of International Studies and the University of California (UC). But the two institutions plan to keep talking about possible collaborative efforts, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

"Although I would welcome a chance to integrate our two institutions, the state's fiscal crisis makes that impossible at this time," said Steven Baker, president of the Monterey Institute, which specializes in graduate education.

Martin Chemers, acting chancellor of UC-Santa Cruz (UCSC), told the paper, "During the past months of serious analysis of the potential for a formal affiliation, a number of examples for mutual partnership have emerged, and we expect to pursue them to the extent possible, even without the additional funding that would be required for a full-scale merger."

Among those opportunities are links between UCSC's undergraduate programs in international economics and social justice with the Monterey Institute's graduate schools in international business and international policy studies.

The financial squeeze made it impossible for UC to buy the institute, which has a 5-acre campus in Monterey. According to the Institute's fall newsletter, its debt totals $25 million while its property is valued at $37 million.
 
"There's no money," said Alison Galloway, who chairs the UCSC Academic Senate, the faculty governing body. "It's a disappointment."

Another issue was the status of the 70 full-time faculty at the Institute. Many of them are non-tenured, requiring evaluation under the UC review process.

A year of graduate study at the Institute, including living expenses, costs $35,00; graduate costs at UC range from $26,900 to $40,800 a year, depending on whether students are California residents or from out of state.

Both schools have changed leaders since the merger discussions were made public in April 2003 by then-Institute President Chester Haskell and then-Chancellor M.R. Greenwood.

At the time, the Institute had laid off 18 support staff as the result of financial problems while Greenwood was pushing to expand graduate programs at UCSC.

Since then, the state's budget picture deteriorated and funding for UC was cut, even as enrollment increased.

Meanwhile, the 49-year-old Institute improved its financial situation, closing the fiscal year in June with a surplus.
 
Enrollment jumped 16% a year ago and has remained at those levels, with 782 students on campus this fall.

According to the paper, the Institute inked a partnership with Network Omni, the No. 2 firm in the US in telephone interpreting services, and received $2.5 million worth of software from Schlumberger to train MBA students.

An agreement with the University of the Pacific (UOP) in Stockton for a three-semester Master's degree for graduates was announced in February, and a new vice president for development joined the staff in August.

The Institute is small in numbers compared to UCSC, which has 15,000 students, with about 10% in graduate programs.

Despite the financial setback, Baker remained optimistic about working with the University of California.

"Genuine opportunities remain to amplify the achievements of our individual campuses through a close working partnership, and we owe it to our students and to our society to make the most of these prospects," he said.

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