We Make Money
- Our gross margin in fiscal 02-03 was $2.5 million - despite SARS and residual effects of 9-11; we expect this year's numbers to be EVEN BETTER!
- We do NOT depend on taxpayer dollars - our revenue comes from private sources, outside the state.
- We help support UC Extension and its other programs, and have done so for 30 years.
Our Students Contribute to the Local Economy
- They spend MORE THAN $2.5 MILLION PER YEAR on food, housing, entertainment, clothing, church affiliations, books, and souvenirs.
- They contribute to the cultural diversity that makes the Bay Area such a unique place to live.
We Are "Berkeley Quality" and
We Have a Strong Connection With Campus
- Our courses provide university level instruction to upper division or post-baccalaureate students.
- We are approved by the Academic Senate to grant credit for our courses.
- Our methodology draws on the latest research in ESL pedagogy.
- Our instructors regularly present papers on their research and practice at professional conferences, and write textbooks.
- We contribute to the social and cultural diversity of the University.
- We provide liaison between Cal students taking modern language courses, and native speakers.
- Our program features weekly guest lectures by UCB Professors and researchers.
- We provide language support and instruction to UCB Visiting Scholars and staff .
- We offer free enrollment to any UCB graduate student who is not a native speaker of English, and is experiencing difficulty completing his/her thesis because of this.
- We prepare students for entry to graduate programs, undergraduate programs, and community college as a first step to junior transfer to UCB.
- We provide international students access to concurrent enrollment in classes on campus.
Programs Like ELP Are NOT "Ubiquitous" - We Are Unique
- Our students pay top dollar to come here; even after they find cheaper local alternatives, they reenroll in astonishing numbers.
- Unlike other "generic" English conversation schools, we offer rigorous, university-level courses in: Art History, Women's Issues, Science and Technology, English Literature, American Culture, International Issues, Film Studies.
We Build Bridges to World Peace and Cultural Understanding
- Each year, up to 3,000 students from more than 50 countries attend our programs
- While here, they gain expertise and confidence in speaking English, and explore each other's cultures and values.
- They become goodwill ambassadors for our program, our University, and our country.
- ELP contributes a profound and powerful antidote to the fear of terrorism infecting our world today.
So...If We Contribute So Much
To Campus and Community,
If We're Making Money,
If Educators Agree That
No International Program Can Exist
Without an English Language Component...
Why Is Extension Closing the
English Language Program?
- Is it because, even though we are not protected by a union, we have consistently asserted our rights, under State law and University policy, to be treated with respect??
- Is it because we have filed more than 12 grievances, and initiated a lawsuit with the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), alleging unfair labor practices, during the past year? (Just before the Christmas holidays, we were assured that our program would continue. We filed the PERB charge on Christmas Eve; in January, management announced the closing.)
- Is it because we are the only full-time, career faculty in Extension and receive full University benefits?
Could they be intending to re-open a school in a couple of years with part-timers, hired at lower wages, and with no benefits? This is common practice in the corporate world.
- Or will they outsource the English language training to a much cheaper local school?
And, Last But Not Least:
Some Questions About the Closure
With Reference to the Procedures Detailed in
Extension's Strategic Plan and
UC Berkeley's Personnel Policies...
- Extension's Strategic Plan includes "Criteria of Berkeley Quality/Berkeley Appropriate," and states: "Programming units evaluated each certificate program and major program type for fit..." Who are the members of these "programming units?" How did they perform their evaluation? Why did none of them visit ELP or interview the staff, administrators and teachers most knowledgeable about the program?
- Why did no one from senior management visit ELP in person during the year in which the program was supposedly being evaluated?
- The overarching goal of the Strategic Plan is to align Extension more closely with Campus. If this is so, why wasn't the Academic Senate Committee that oversees Extension (UEXT) consulted prior to the announcement that the English Language Program was to be closed?
- The Strategic Plan indicates that, if a program receives a low score in the "BQ/BA" screening process, the option exists to "modify the program to mitigate the deficiencies." Despite the willingness of the ELP faculty, expressed over a period of years, to work with management to meet our shared goals, why were NONE of our suggestions acted upon?
- The Strategic Plan further states: "Exceptions can be made for programs that represent a partnership with campus; for example, a UC Berkeley staff development program focused on basic skills." Don't the programs mentioned above (language support and instruction to visiting scholars and staff) constitute EXACTLY this sort of partnership?
- The University's HR website declares: "It is the policy of the University...to consider staffing reductions only after other creative solutions have been considered." What were those creative solutions that were considered? Why was the experience and goodwill of the faculty not enlisted in this process?
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