SIO Council Report 2006 

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Council met March 9-10, 2006 in its annual meeting.  The list of attendees and the meeting agenda are attached.

Summary of Presentations to Council
Charlie Kennel gave an overview of the state of the institution, highlighting the impact of Scripps strategic plan, which was developed in part in response to the Council s guidance over the last 5 years.  Scripps research is strong, education is thriving with the largest student body ever in its history, and the financial situation is stabilized and soon will no longer be adding to its deficit.  Charlie also provided a list of challenges he sees for Scripps future, to be dealt with by the next SIO Director. Doug Bennett and Tom Collins provided a more detailed financial report, using a new format that responded to Council suggestions.  The Council expressed appreciation for the clarity of the new reporting. 

Both opening presentations showed that the creation of three sections and other innovations to align incentives with institutional goals seems to be having the desired effects.  Internal communication has improved and some elements of resource allocation decision-making have been distributed to the sections.  A new Executive Committee, which includes the section heads, is reviewing virtually all significant management decisions.  Research productivity is up and a teaching standard has been implemented.  Undergraduate teaching has increased and been better documented and recognized, and new teaching programs are being developed, including an undergraduate minor in marine biology and a major in marine science.

Nigella Hillgarth gave a very positive report on the Birch Aquarium, which has implemented new exhibits and programs informed by its market research and strategic plan.  Attendance is affected by weather and gasoline prices, but in comparison to other major aquaria, the Birch Aquarium has been a leader in attendance growth, and its finances are in good shape.  Scripps is now coordinating its communications strategy more effectively and the Sea of Genes exhibit exemplifies that, having the same theme as the current issue of Explorations, a Scripps video, and it provided a venue for a press conference announcing a new UCSD-Venter Institute collaboration on marine genomics.

The Scripps education program was reviewed by Deputy Director Dan Rudnick, a professor of physical oceanography.  Dan described current teaching programs and gave some information about Scripps alumni and their careers. The Council encouraged Scripps to consider continuing education and other forms of sharing its scientific knowledge with the broader community in non-degree programs.  Such initiatives could generate substantial revenues and would not necessarily impose on the time of faculty.  Short courses could provide teaching experience for graduate students and researchers.

John Orcutt presented information on Scripps status relative to other oceanographic institutions, showing that in terms of the number of researchers and faculty, Scripps is the largest oceanographic institution in the US, and probably in the world.  John also described the salary discrepancy for SIO faculty relative to other oceanographic institutions, relative to other UC campuses, and relative to other scientific and engineering units at UCSD.  Overall, SIO salaries are about 20% lower than comparable positions in UCSD.

Presentations by the three Section Leaders described the Biology, Oceans and Atmosphere, and Earth Science groups at Scripps and gave a few highlights of specific research underway in their sections.  The Council agreed that these presentations were very impressive and reinforced their admiration for the excellence of Scripps science and its importance in light of world environmental challenges.

John Evey summarized SIO Development activities.  Gifts were down last year compared to the previous year.  However, he remains optimistic based on the volume of gift prospects in the pipeline and new investments in development staff and marketing resources.  Development has increased the amount of flexible funding available to the SIO Director, and has added to the SIO endowment.  Some on the Council felt that building endowment would be very beneficial for SIO and should receive a lot of attention, recognizing also that public institutions typically have trouble raising endowment gifts.

SIO Council Discussion and Conclusions
In the general discussion that followed, members noted that Scripps financial situation is very poorly understood within Scripps and beyond.  Some felt there was a crying need for endowment as evidenced by the disproportionate impact of the recent short-term cuts of $5 million on Scripps overall budget an endowment would have provided the flexibility and cushion to weather short-term disruptions.  The Council felt also that a clear statement of Scripps financial condition needs to be widely disseminated so the faculty and staff understand and can be part of moving forward with confidence.

The Council noted the challenges in building successful development programs it takes a long time to build a donor base and accumulate an endowment, but Scripps should develop a message about its excellence to encourage people to invest to support Scripps into the future.  The Council noted that people will invest in excellence, not in financial problems, and since Scripps clearly has the excellence, it should be able to attract substantial private resources including endowment.  It only takes one or two high impact gifts from individuals who are committed to research, teaching and environment to garner a sizeable endowment.  It s hard and infrequent, but it does happen and Scripps should work at it.

There was discussion of whether Scripps is actually complying with the recommended growth strategy from the Kennedy Committee report and strategic plan.  Tom Collins and Charlie Kennel explained that the implementation is underway, but the Chancellor only approved and funded the strategic plan almost a year after it was developed, and now has asked for a hold on new faculty and researcher hiring to conserve resources for the next SIO Director.  This has delayed the full implementation of the growth components of the strategic plan.  The internal restructuring and other elements of the plan are being fully implemented.

There was also discussion of the best way to use donor resources.  Money that goes into endowment has a long-term value but only generates modest amounts in any given year.  Using a gift to build a building, on the other hand, would enable hiring of more researchers who could then submit proposals and win research awards and generate overhead and grow the Institution over a period of time.  The Council noted the importance of hiring only in concert with opportunities or customer base.   The projected increases in NSF funding in areas relevant to Scripps appears to provide that customer base. Limited hiring, constrained by availability of space and of hiring authority decisions, is beginning to impact the proposals Scripps is submitting.

The discussion then turned to facilities needs and how effectively Scripps is using the land and buildings it has.  The Council proposed creation of a small committee including Council members, faculty, and others, to do a comprehensive assessment of SIO space utilization.  The committee would consider questions like replacing older buildings with newer ones; entering into entrepreneurial relationships with private developers for privately financed, shared use facilities; and possibly even selling unused space to generate resources that could be leveraged into more opportunities to meet the growing space needs at SIO.  Everyone recognized that there are significant challenges in getting the funding and the necessary approvals for facilities in the UC system.  There are new buildings in the plans that Scripps has not been able to proceed with yet.  The Council urged SIO to think positively and creatively to find ways to take action, and they expressed confidence that a small group could come up with some new strategies and help move them forward.

The Council also reiterated its view that the excellence of Scripps and its relevance to global concerns makes a compelling case that should sell well.  There was concern about the resistance of some faculty to institutional change, and encouragement to Scripps leadership to persist anyway.  SIO leadership should continue to try to engage the faculty in addressing institutional challenges, and should continue to use the SIO Council as needed to withstand faculty resistance.  There was a suggestion that if the faculty salary equity issue can be address as part of other institutional innovations, perhaps the faculty will be less resistant.

One Council member noted that there is a lot of talk about what can t be done and why, and more focus needs to be more positive and focus on what can be done.  Scripps has an outstanding product that matters to the planet.  Other Council members concurred that there should be strong interest from corporations and foundations because of the importance of what Scripps does and its excellence.  Scientists such as those who spoke to the Council could be the excellent spokespeople for the institution to the public and to prospective funders.  The absence of a large pool of wealthy alumni means that Scripps has to do something different than what Harvard, for example, has been doing to generate resources.  Scripps needs to define its strategic needs and undertake a campaign to acquire the needed resources.

The Council s summary is that the science and education are strong and getting even better, and the ongoing financial situation is improving, but with respect to capital infrastructure, including ships, there are serious problems looming.  The salary inequity issue is also something that needs to be addressed before the problems of recruitment and retention get worse.

The Council suggested that the moment was right to advocate that the Chancellor make a substantial investment in SIO as part of the installation of a new Director to show the Director candidate, the UCSD community and the world how important Scripps is to UCSD and the UC system.  That investment could include such elements as some faculty positions, research funds, and investment in new facilities.  This is also consistent with the University s interest in promoting interdisciplinary collaboration building on the strength of Scripps science.

Council members affirmed their strong commitment to the Institution and to working with the next Director and the Chancellor to preserve and promote Scripps excellence.  The summary of the Council s views is that Scripps is an impressive institution with extraordinary people.  It has large capital needs, which are growing and represent a threat to the future.  At the same time, Scripps presents great opportunity and the Council is here to help.

Discussion with Chancellor Fox
The Council meeting concluded with a meeting with UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox.  The Chancellor thanked the Council for their work and support.  She said Scripps is doing well, has great research, great students, and all is well.  The Council Chair summarized the Council s views as described above.  The Chancellor acknowledged the problems of deferred maintenance and facilities and expressed the hope that the Council will help with the substantial investment needed to address these needs. She described some of the other UCSD challenges with growth in undergraduate enrollments and the overall UC system financial constraints for new investments.  She also stressed the emphasis on interdisciplinary programs between Scripps and the Rady School of Management, Pharmacy, Health Sciences, and other disciplines. 

The Council urged the Chancellor to recognize and promote the importance and value of SIO, one of the greatest assets of UCSD and to ensure that the next Director has the assets s/he will need for growth.  The Chancellor should work to make sure the whole campus understands the value of Scripps to all the other programs at UCSD and to the world.  The Chancellor agreed and said that the increased undergraduate teaching by SIO will improve the visibility of Scripps throughout the campus.  She acknowledged the strong role of Scripps in the success of Calit2, in the recruitment of Mario Molina, and other achievements of the campus.  While the faculty cannot be directed by a Chancellor, she sees herself as a cheerleader.  The vector is going in the right direction.

Science Showcase
On Friday, March 10, the Council was joined by the SIO Director s Cabinet for a half-day science showcase, with presentations from Ralph Keeling, Farooq Azam, Peter Niiler, and Dave Checkley.  These in-depth presentations covered atmospheric chemistry, microbial oceanography, physical oceanography, and the role of ships at SIO and in the future.  The Council appreciated the opportunity to learn from these distinguished speakers and encouraged SIO to continue to provide science talks in this format in the future.  Several Council members then visited the Scripps Marine Facility where they toured the R/V Melville and FLIP.


Attachment 1: ATTENDEES

• Marty Africa
• Bernie Bulkin
• Ed Carson
• Nadine Carson
• Jim Cimino
• Martin Dickinson
• Ed Frieman
• Stuart Goode
• Dick Hertzberg
• Sam Iacobellis
• Wayne Kennedy
• Mac McQuown
• Clyde Ostler
• John Patton
• Richard Snell