On June 13, we watched online as 58,000 University of California graduates received their degrees. It was a bittersweet moment, marked by the necessity of digitally pre-recorded ceremonies streamed online. We felt a thrill watching the number of viewers tick up into the thousands, knowing that behind that counter sat families and friends celebrating their graduates’ accomplishments.

The following Monday, we returned to a stark reality: The social sciences on our campuses – and quite likely throughout the University of California – stand at the edge of a fiscal precipice. 

While our immediate economic woes arise from the consequences of justified public health measures, this conceals a more somber truth: The problem of declining funds has deep policy and institutional roots at least two decades in the making. If we are forced to make another round of cuts to core instructional resources, the quality of education that we can guarantee our students will plummet. There are alternatives to steep cuts, and we must find them.
 
Read on courtesy of Cal Matters: https://calmatters.org/commentary/my-turn/2020/07/we-must-invest-in-the-university-of-california-not-cut-core-instruction/