RE: UCSC Arboretum

Hi Nan et al,

Here's a local story about the problem from the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_13364444

"The UC Santa Cruz official who made the controversial decision to pull all
campus funding from the Arboretum says the garden is deep in debt to the
university, which has covered the organization's deficits for at least a
decade.

Alison Galloway, vice provost for academic affairs, said the Arboretum has
racked up a $1.8 million debt with UCSC stemming from years of overspending.
She said the organization runs up a $225,000 annual deficit, which UCSC has
covered as a low-interest loan.

But with the campus facing $50 million in state funding losses with more
cuts imminent, UCSC officials have put on notice affiliated organizations
that are designed to be self-sustaining, such as Shakespeare Santa Cruz and
the now-shuttered UC Extension in Santa Cruz.

Galloway said she does not intend to close the 100-acre garden of rare
plants, as some longtime supporters have charged. In fact, she said she
purposely avoided forcing the organization to make deep cuts until this
year." (more at the link above)

Shakespeare Santa Cruz has been in trouble for the past several years as
well, holding a fundraising drive last December to try to make it through
this season. It's a tough year for everyone, I think...it's too bad the
innocent plants have to suffer for our troubles.

Cheryl

--------------
Cheryl Renshaw
Landscape Designer
cheryl@wr-architect.com
http://www.wr-architect.com/land/

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu [o*@ucdavis.edu]
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Subject: Re: UCSC Arboretum

This is the first I've heard about this.  Can someone fill me in?

Nan

On Sep 13, 2009, at 9:09 PM, billgrant wrote:

> these are the  names and addresses to write to the UCSC
> Arboretum to prevent its closure-= please help!
>> Chancellor George Blumenthal: chancellor@...
>> EVC Dave Kliger: kliger@...
>> VP Academic Affairs Alison Galloway: gallow@...
>>
>> He also sent as an example the following letter sent by UCSC  
>> faculty. I'm
>> sure
>> some of you will also want to write in protest of this move by UCSC.
>> Jill
>>
>> Memorandum
>> Date: September 3, 2009
>> To: Chancellor Blumenthal, Executive Vice Chancellor Kliger, Vice  
>> Provost
>> Galloway
>> From: Karen Holl, Nathaniel Dominy, Laurel Fox, Greg Gilbert,  
>> Kathleen
>> Kay, Jean
>> Langenheim, Michael Loik, Ingrid Parker, Jarmila Pitterman, Lincoln  
>> Taiz,
>> Erika
>> Zavaleta
>> RE: Termination of Salaries for Arboretum Director Harder
>> We, several of the plant science faculty at UC Santa Cruz, are  
>> writing to
>> express our alarm about
>> the recent, abrupt decision to end funding from the campus for the  
>> only
>> state-funded position at
>> the UCSC Arboretum, that of Director Daniel Harder. We realize that  
>> the
>> current
>> budget
>> situation has required unprecedented cuts across campus. We are  
>> writing to
>> indicate that cutting
>> this position will put at risk an extremely valuable world-class  
>> research
>> collection, teaching
>> resource, and public education asset to our surrounding community. We
>> seriously
>> question how
>> much savings this cut will actually achieve when considering some  
>> of the
>> consequences.
>> The UCSC Arboretum is a unique world-renowned facility and is one  
>> of the
>> resources for which
>> UCSC is best known, regionally, nationally and internationally. The  
>> Arboretum
>> contributes to
>> the teaching and research mission of the University by supporting  
>> faculty,
>> graduate, and
>> undergraduate research at UCSC, and also hosting several  
>> undergraduate
>> classes
>> and sponsoring
>> internship students. It has provided unique plant material of the  
>> earliest
>> flowering plant to
>> researchers and botanical gardens worldwide, partnered in plant and  
>> habitat
>> research and
>> restoration regionally and internationally, and provided public  
>> education and
>> outreach programs
>> in our region– recently receiving the Chuck Chuck Haugen
>> Conservation Fund Award
>> for over
>> forty years of service to regional conservation efforts.
>> Over the years, state support for the Arboretum has declined. At this
>> point the
>> only staff position
>> that is state-funded is that for Dr. Harder. By comparison the rest  
>> of the
>> University of California
>> botanical gardens (e.g., Berkeley, Davis, Riverside) have 3.5-7
>> state-funded FTE
>> for their
>> Arboreta. So, in fact, the state-funded portion of the UCSC  
>> Arboretum is
>> quite
>> modest in
>> comparison.
>> Dr. Harder was hired after an intensive international search and  
>> was promised
>> that his salary
>> would continue to be state supported. Over the past several years,  
>> Dr. Harder
>> has put an
>> enormous amount of energy into raising funds for the Arboretum  
>> through
>> grants,
>> contracts, and
>> gifts, which support the staff who in turn raise additional funds and
>> supervise
>> the large group of
>> volunteers who donate their time to the Arboretum. This past year the
>> Arboretum
>> has raised
>> over $600,000 in grants, gifts, and revenue. We fear that cutting  
>> state
>> funding
>> to the person who
>> has raised the funds for and supervised the operation of the  
>> Arboretum,
>> particularly on short
>> notice, will result in the serious degradation or loss of this  
>> valuable
>> collection that many of us
>> and our students use for research and teaching.
>> For a few reasons, we wonder whether cutting Dr. Harder's salary will
>> actually
>> result in cost
>> savings. First, many of the donors to the UC Arboretum are the same  
>> people
>> that
>> donate
>> considerable sums to support other activities on the UCSC campus. The
>> Arboretum's collection
>> is the result of decades of community support, donations and  
>> dedicated
>> volunteer
>> work – making
>> the Arboretum an enormous community gift to UCSC. Eliminating much  
>> of the
>> little
>> remaining
>> campus funding to the Arboretum is certain to have negative effects  
>> on the
>> campus relationship
>> with donors and the Santa Cruz community more broadly. As a  
>> consequence,
>> cutting
>> his salary
>> may actually cost the campus more than it saves.
>> Second, Dr. Harder has brought in $55,000 in indirect costs to UCSC  
>> this
>> year,
>> and those should
>> in part defray the cost of his salary. The University gets very good
>> returns on
>> the money
>> invested in Dr. Harder's salary since his work in large part raises  
>> the funds
>> for the rest of this UC
>> facility. If state funding for his salary is cut it will force him  
>> to cut
>> additional staff positions.
>> The cuts would come on top of the $390,000 in cuts he has already  
>> made in the
>> past year. It
>> would require the permanent cut of other key revenue-generating  
>> positions,
>> which
>> in practical
>> terms, almost assures that the Arboretum's efforts to continue to be
>> self-supporting will be
>> significantly crippled, if not eliminated entirely.
>> Third, the UC Arboretum collection has enormous value, although it is
>> difficult
>> to quantify this
>> value monetarily. Donors have given plants, millions of dollars in  
>> gifts,
>> and $5
>> million to the
>> endowment with the understanding that it would be maintained by  
>> UCSC for
>> use in
>> research,
>> education, and public service. By cutting funds for managing this  
>> collection,
>> the campus puts at
>> risk years of investment of both money and incredible amounts of  
>> staff time.
>> We also write to raise concern about the short-notice that Dr.  
>> Harder was
>> given
>> about his salary
>> being cut. It is our understanding that in late August he was  
>> notified that
>> immediately he would
>> have to raise his own salary. We realize that given the drastic  
>> budget cuts
>> across the campus it
>> may be necessary to ask Dr. Harder to raise part of his own salary.  
>> But, he
>> needs time to be able
>> to develop a fundraising strategy to compensate for the portion of  
>> his salary
>> that would no longer
>> be covered by state-funding. This extremely short notice puts much  
>> of the
>> work
>> and resources of
>> the Arboretum at risk. It also puts at risk the Arboretum being  
>> able to
>> complete
>> grant and
>> contract work to which the Arboretum is already obligated.
>> We write to ask that you reconsider both the time frame and extent  
>> of salary
>> cuts to the
>> Arboretum Director. We would greatly appreciate some information  
>> for the
>> rationale underlying
>> this decision and a response to our concerns. We invite you to meet  
>> with a
>> delegation of
>> signatories in a congenial setting to discuss how to better shift  
>> the UCSC
>> Arboretum Director's
>> salary under the current budget crisis.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
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