Tools for Successful Advocacy
The Role of a Bruin Advocate
Opportunities for Advocacy
Advocacy 101: Preparing to Persuade
The California Budget Process and the UC
The Federal Budget Process
Your Advocacy Tool Kit
Facts and Figures
About UCLA
Academics at UCLA
Research at UCLA
Arts and Culture at UCLA
UCLA in the Community
Financial Facts
The Role of a Bruin Advocate
As a volunteer advocate, you will be called upon to take the UCLA message to local, state and federal government legislators and agency officials – on a wide range of subjects, and through a variety of communication channels – all in an effort to nurture public support for UCLA’s many important missions. We will work closely with you to identify the issues that
you feel best suited to address – matching advocacy opportunities to your professional expertise, personal interests and unique talents. We will train you for advocacy activities through regularly scheduled orientation sessions, frequent subject updates and action alerts delivered via the Internet, and focused briefing sessions before every
legislative visit.
Opportunities for advocacy include:
- Bruin Caucus – Members contact legislators by e-mail, phone or in-person to speak up on behalf of UCLA, the UC system and public higher education.
- District Office Outreach – Teaming up with UCLA Government & Community Relations staff, volunteer advocates meet in a legislator’s district office, or at a UCLA-affiliated site in the district, to discuss issues of mutual concern to the legislator, district residents and UCLA.
- UCLA Days: Los Angeles, Sacramento and Washington, D.C. – Taking our message to the seat of government, volunteer advocates join UCLA Government & Community Relations professionals for meetings with legislators, policy-makers and their staffs to discuss the importance of legislative and budgetary support for the University and the UC system.
- Legislator-to-Campus Visits – Volunteer advocates, particularly those who are friends, constituents or supporters of the legislator, assist UCLA staff in hosting legislator visits to campus and participate in meetings between the legislator and UCLA faculty, staff, administrators and students.
- Regional Advocacy Programs – Extending the advocacy effort to UCLA’s many regional support groups, volunteer advocates join Government & Community Relations staffin recruiting, training and educating new members of Bruin Caucus.
Advocacy 101: Preparing to Persuade
Before you place a call, write an e-mail or pay a visit to an elected official whose support UCLA seeks on a crucial issue, you will need to do some homework so that you have a clear understanding of the issue, the elected official’s views on that issue and the legislative process through which the bill or funding authorization will proceed. We will provide information on the issue at hand and on the elected official you will be contacting through our Internet action alerts and in pre-meeting briefing sessions. First, though, we thought it would be helpful to provide a quick refresher course in the legislative and budget
approval processes at the city, state and federal levels.
The California Budget Process and the UC
Each year, the Regents’ Budget for the University of California is submitted to the state Legislature as a component of the governor’s overall budget package. The Regents’ Budget is a request for the entire UC system that includes both operating and capital-improvements budget items. The operating budget covers salary adjustments and employee benefits, fixed costs, enrollment growth and maintenance costs, and funding for new or expanded programs. The capital budget covers major campus improvement projects, which are considered on a projectby-project basis. During the year, University staff discusses budget issues and priorities with the state Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office and legislative committee staff. In late summer, discussions begin with the governor’s
Department of Finance – before the UC Regents even approve the budget.
The Federal Budget Process:
In early February…
The president submits his proposed federal budget to Congress.
Between February and June…
The House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees hold hearings and draft individual spending bills.
Between May and August…
The subcommittees vote on draft bills. Each subcommittee submits the bill and a draft report to the full Appropriations Committee, which votes on the bill and sends it to the House and Senate for consideration.
Then, from July to September…
House and Senate conference committees meet to resolve
differences between the bills. The conference agreement is sent
to each chamber for a final vote. If passed, the budget
resolution is sent to the president for signature or veto.
Finally, on October 1…
The fiscal year begins. Programs in bills not signed by
the president remain unfunded unless Congress passes a
continuing resolution to provide temporary funding.
Your Advocacy Tool Kit
OK. You attended a Bruin Caucus orientation. You were briefed on an issue, and you have background information on the elected official you will be communicating with. You are ready to speak up on behalf of UCLA. How to proceed?
If you will be writing a letter:
- Timing is important. If your letter arrives after the city council, state legislature, or Congress acts, it is an opportunity lost. And if it arrives too soon, the issue might fade from the elected official’s radar screen.
- Limit each letter to a single page and a single subject. Avoid jargon.
- State your reason for writing in the first paragraph; explain that you are a UCLA alumnus or volunteer (or both!) and provide any other relevant information. If you are a constituent of the elected official, mention it.
- In the second paragraph, discuss the issue and its importance to UCLA. Cite relevant facts. Try to discuss the issue from a personal point of view, and also link it to the elected official’s local, state or national perspective.
- In your closing, respectfully ask for a specific action or support. Thank the official for considering your views.
- Include your name and contact information.
- Traditional correspondence is more easily handled in most elected officials’ offices and generally considered more credible. But with increased concern about postal security in government offices today, be sure to allow enough time for security handling before your letter is received.
To address an elected official, use the following format:
The Honorable [first name][last name]
Followed by either…
Los Angeles City Hall Office
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Councilmember [last name]:
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Office
822 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Supervisor [last name]:
California State Assembly
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Assemblymember [last name]:
California State Senate
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Senator [last name]:
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Representative [last name]:
or…
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator [last name]:
If you will be meeting with an elected official:
- Do your homework. Learn about the official you are meeting and the status of the issue you will discuss. (If you need help, just contact Government & Community Relations. We are here to help!)
- Plan what you will say and stay “on message.”
- Discuss the issue in non-technical, jargon-free language. And be brief.
- If you are part of a group of UCLA advocates, choose a spokesperson (preferably a constituent) and decide on a common strategy.
- Expect to meet for 15 minutes. Arrive early and leave on time. And be sure to thank the elected official for considering your point of view and your request.
- Expect schedule changes – an elected official’s business must come first. If there is a delay, a staff member will handle the appointment. That’s fine: staffers often are the most knowledgeable issue experts in the office and can be very influential.
- Remain positive and courteous.
- Follow up with a brief thank-you letter that reiterates the purpose of your visit and invites the elected official to call upon you and UCLA’s Government & Community Relations staff for help.
- Think long-term: Work to build an ongoing relationship with elected officials and their staffs. They will be more likely to look after UCLA’s interests and to be proactive on our behalf.
Facts and Figures
Want to really impress the elected officials and aides you meet with? Throw a few UCLA facts their way. It is a great way to let them know that you really know your stuff – and know exactly why you are advocating on the University’s behalf.
About UCLA:
- UCLA began as the Los Angeles State Normal School, a teachers college, before becoming the southern branch of the University of California on May 23, 1919.
- The College of Letters and Sciences awarded the first Bachelor of Arts degrees in June 1925 to 100 women and 24 men.
- We moved from Vermont Avenue to the then-rural outpost of Westwood Village in
- 1929.
- Our enrollment today is almost 39,000 – and includes some of the best and brightest students anywhere in America.
- We are California’s largest university, public or private.
- Nearly one-third of our undergraduate students participate in community service programs each year.
- We offer one of the widest selections of courses of study among major American universities.
- We educate more financially disadvantaged undergraduates than any other major research university in the nation.
- Thirty-one of our Ph.D. programs rank in the top 20 in their fields – third best in the U.S.
- We are one of the world’s largest research institutions, with more than 5,000 funded research projects underway at any given time.
- Our faculty has included 5 Nobel Laureates, 9 National Medal of Science awardees, 2 Presidential Medal of Freedom honorees, a Pulitzer Prize winner, more than 280 Guggenheim Fellows, more than 300 Fulbright Scholars and some 115 Sloan Foundation Fellows.
- We are home to several major interdisciplinary initiatives: research in the new biology that encompasses such fields as nanosystems, biomathematics and biological imaging; expanding information technology as a tool for teaching and research and as a communication phenomenon with sweeping effects on society; and educational and public service ventures designed to strengthen our engagement with our home city and the surrounding region.
- Our medical center ranks among the top five nationally and has been ranked “Best Hospital in the West” by US News and World Report for 16 straight years (as of 2005).
- Bruin athletes have won 118 NCAA championships, including 97 team championships – both national records.
- Public attendance at UCLA’s visual and performing
arts programs surpasses 500,000 each year.
Academics at UCLA
UCLA’s wide array of degree programs and international studies opportunities offer students an unsurpassed academic foundation and the global perspective necessary for success in a rapidly changing world.
Undergraduates choose among scores of degree options:
Graduate students pursue advanced studies in:
UCLA’s international studies programs:
- Are among the most diverse in America.
- Offer opportunities in 11 study centers, including 7 designated as Centers of Excellence by the U.S.
- Department of Education.
UCLA Extension:
- Is the foremost continuing education program in the nation – in size, scope and quality of instruction.
- Is the largest urban-based continuing-education program in America.
- Provides 4,500 courses a year for 100,000 continuingeducation students in centers throughout Los Angeles.
Research at UCLA
UCLA researchers venture every day into uncharted worlds
– from molecular to galactic.
- We consistently rank among the top five U.S. universities in sponsored research funding, with more than 70% of grants coming from federal agencies.
- More than 5,000 research projects are underway at any given time at UCLA.
- Among our more notable achievements, we
— introduced the first practical seawater desalination system in 1959
— streamlined tissue-typing for organ donors in 1964
— launched the Internet in 1969
- Our medical researchers continue to develop more effective cancer and AIDS treatments every year.
- Researchers at our on-campus lab elementary school discover better ways to teach children.
- We investigate urban concerns, chart economic trends, develop new insights into classic literature and probe the origins of the universe.
Arts and Culture at UCLA
As the Western United States’ leading arts center, UCLA is
a treasure trove of arts and cultural opportunities, including:
- UCLA Library, housing more than 7.6 million volumes and providing access to more than 90,000 current periodicals and scholarly journals, ranks among the top three university research libraries in North America.
- Fowler Museum of Cultural History, home to an outstanding collection of arts and artifacts of non-
Western societies, presents state-of-the-art exhibits on the contemporary, historic and prehistoric cultures of Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania.
- UCLA Hammer Museum, features exhibitions drawn from its permanent collection of 19th and 20th century American and European paintings and lithographs, as well as special exhibitions organized by UCLA and other major institutions. The museum also presents music, dance, poetry, gallery talks, symposia and docent tours.
UCLA in the Community
Long recognized as one of America’s best academic institutions, UCLA also ranks at the very top in terms of service to community. In fact, in the first-ever assessment of “what colleges are doing for the country,” Washington Monthlymagazine declared UCLA the nation’s No. 1 public institution of higher learning. As a university that attracts outstanding students and faculty and empowers them to be “engines of social mobility,” UCLA earned high praise from
the magazine for its power to “produce the academic minds and scientific research that advance knowledge and drive economic growth; and…inculcate and encourage an
ethic of service.”
Financial Facts, 2004-2005
Revenues (in thousands):
State government $609,230 17.89%
Federal government 586,312 17.22%
Local government 28,678 0.84%
Tuition and fees 283,964 8.34%
Private gifts, grants
& contracts 243,896 7.16%
Educational activities 427,451 12.55%
Auxiliary enterprises 241,450 7.09%
Teaching hospitals 938,326 27.56%
Other sources 45,559 1.34%
Total revenue $3,404,866 100%
Expenditures (in thousands):
Instruction $851,368 25.68%
Research 555,235 16.75%
Public service 68,275 2.06%
Academic support 253,578 7.65%
Student services 57,124 1.72%
Institutional support 104,923 3.16%
Operations and maintenance of plant 76,337 2.30%
Student financial aid 67,329 2.03%
Medical centers 901,814 27.20%
Auxiliary enterprises 193,064 5.82%
Depreciation 173,765 5.24%
Other 12,830 0.39%
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