5. UC Resources
The University of California has ten campuses - Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz - but UC's presence extends far beyond these. UC campuses and programs are integral contributors to the health and prosperity of California communities across the state. The size and breadth of the University's intellectual and scientific resources give UC a unique ability to tackle many of the challenges facing California, the nation, and the world on the scale that modern challenges require.
The University's fundamental missions are teaching, research and public service. The ten campuses of the University of California provide exciting environments that foster world-class educational and research opportunities and generate a wide range of benefits and services that touch the lives of Californians throughout the state. The UC family includes more than 209,000 students, more than 170,000 faculty and staff, 45,000 retirees and more than 1.4 million living alumni. UC's academic offerings span more than 150 disciplines, with more departments ranked in the top 10 nationally than at any other university.
Instructional programs at the undergraduate level transmit knowledge and skills to students. At the graduate level, students experience with their instructors the processes of developing and testing new hypotheses and fresh interpretations of knowledge. Education for professional careers, grounded in understanding of relevant sciences, literature and research methods, provides individuals with the tools to continue intellectual development over a lifetime and to contribute to the needs of a changing society. Through our academic programs, UC helps create an educated workforce that keeps the California economy competitive. And, through University Extension, with a half-million enrollments annually, UC provides continuing education for Californians to improve their job skills and enhance the quality of their lives.
Its basic research programs yield a multitude of benefits for California: billions of tax dollars, economic growth through the creation of new products, technologies, jobs, companies and even new industries, agricultural productivity, advances in health care, improvements in the quality of life. Finally, through its public service programs and industry partnerships, UC disseminates research results and translates scientific discoveries into practical knowledge and technological innovations that benefit California and the nation.
In addition, UC is involved in the management of three U.S. Department of Energy laboratories - Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore in California, and Los Alamos in New Mexico. These laboratories are performing cutting-edge research in fields ranging from national security to energy efficiency. With nearly 19,000 employees, the three laboratories have become unparalleled research and development centers. The laboratories also contribute to the nation's economic competitiveness through partnerships with industry, and all are leaders in math and science education, helping to enlighten, educate, and train students and teachers at all levels.
The University of California has always played a key role as a center of innovation and technology development. By attracting research funds, enhancing employment and productivity, and producing business spinoffs, UC has been instrumental in the success of some of the world's most dynamic regional economies in the world. UC contributes to innovation through two primary pathways: research-and-development activities that enhance both labor and capital productivity; and technology transfers and business spinoffs that carry UC discoveries into the marketplace. Both impacts have proven very beneficial to California.
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