The Role of History in Developing the Missions of California's Public Higher Education Systems. Draft.

The California Master Plan of 1960 defined relevant student populations and differentiated the missions of the University of California (UC), the California State Universities and Colleges (CSU), and the community colleges. Modern social forces are now complicating those missions. As the demand for high-quality instruction in the liberal arts and sciences has grown, the ability of UC to meet this demand has fallen behind, and CSU has graduated an increasing share of the baccalaureate students in these areas. The CSU's ability to attract high quality faculty has resulted in a much more research-oriented faculty, blurring the distinction between the CSU's and the UC's research missions. Concurrently, an increase in the pressures on institutions to meet access and equity objectives, coupled with the overall decline in the quality of secondary students entering the CSU and the UC and the increased participation of nontraditional student populations, have led to an increased need for these institutions to provide extensive remediation services, a role which was reserved for the community colleges under the Master Plan. Finally, the declining resource base within the state has caused all three of the public systems to reconsider their roles and missions. (Contains 11 references.) (JDD)