After several years of planning, UC Davis is ready to open its doors to research companies and public organizations that promise mutually beneficial relationships by locating on campus.

A campus task force headed by Kevin Smith, vice chancellor for research, is proposing that a private developer build a research park on 27 acres on campus land south of Interstate 80 off Old Davis Road.

In creating this "enterprise campus," the task force said, the primary goal of inviting research enterprises here is to enhance academic programs and enrich the research environment.

"The Academic Senate committees that reviewed the proposal were very favorable about the concept of an enterprise campus because they thought, in general, that it would be a good development for the campus," said Jeffery Gibeling, chair of the Academic Senate and a member of the task force. "All of this makes sense if you have the right kind of business enterprises that clearly have a relationship with our academic enterprise."

Although there are other research parks or potential for such parks in the region, this park would be complementary rather than a competitor, says Mona Ellerbrock, campus director of research outreach.

"We are a public land-grant university, and therefore we have a commitment to the people of the state of California, and a mission of teaching, research and public service to uphold," she said. "Participating in economic development through the enterprise campus can enhance the application of our mission, contribute to the regional economy and provide opportunities for our students through internships and collaborative research."

Locating on campus will be attractive to certain companies, says task force member and private entrepreneur Charlie Soderquist of West Sacramento.

"Within the great city of Davis you’ve got three proposed research parks, and there is lots of land in Dixon controlled by developers interested in similar parks, but in the enterprise campus, you’ve got a 25-acre piece of land that is contiguous to campus -- it’s a bicycle ride away. That makes it unique."

After receiving supportive comments and constructive suggestions from the Academic Senate, Provost Robert Grey has given Smith the green light to proceed on the project. Beginning next week, Ellerbrock and John Yates, special projects director in the Office of Administration, will begin drafting a request for master developer proposals. Yates expects to pre-qualify a number of developers and then to ask a handful of the most promising to submit proposals. According to Yates, the master developer could be chosen as early as the end of the calendar year. The developer would construct and lease facilities to various public and private research entities approved by the campus.

Campus committee to oversee development

The university will have final oversight and approval for development, carried out by an enterprise campus board composed of academic and administrative campus leaders. The task force recommended that the board include the provost and executive vice chancellor; the vice chancellor for research; the chair of the Academic Senate; and the chair of the senate’s Committee on Research. In addition, it would include the coordinating deans of the administrative councils for Environmental Sciences; Biological Sciences; Mathematical, Physical Sciences and Engineering; and Social Sciences.

Of particular importance is that the business structure allow for timely decisions, often a challenge at the university. The process adopted will allow for market-driven decisions to be implemented efficiently. At the same time, proposals must either cost the campus nothing or create revenue.

Part of 1994 campus development plan

When the 1994 Long Range Development Plan was written, about 70 acres were included for potential research parks. Twenty-seven of the acres are located south of I-80, and the remainder are west of Highway 113.

"Companies have been interested in coming to UC Davis for several years," Ellerbrock says. "We’ve been working on the process and the programming to make that happen."

The review of the task-force report by the Academic Senate was a necessary step in the planning process.

The task force took advantage of Soderquist’s experience on a similar committee for UC Santa Cruz, which is developing a research park on former Fort Ord property. In the process of developing a proposal for UC Santa Cruz, Soderquist visited UC Irvine, which has chosen the Irvine Co. to master-develop a piece of campus property into a research park, and UC San Diego.

Proponents see benefits for campus, community

The concern for UC campuses is how to use these valuable pieces of public property so they play an integral role in the core mission of the university and don’t become simply a vehicle for outside economic development, Soderquist said.

Soderquist believes the UC Davis plan will not only offer the opportunity for shareholders and businesses to create wealth, but for the campus to provide good-paying high-tech jobs for its graduates, and for interaction between the campus and the private sector.

"And, since many of the companies are in the life sciences and computer sciences, these companies are doing things that are flat-out good for society," Soderquist said.

The campus should be able to handle the conflict between a private enterprise’s need to compete by maintaining proprietary information and a university’s mission to freely exchange such knowledge, says senate Chair Gibeling.

Avoiding conflicts for graduate students

"There is always a point of tension for students who do research in collaboration with a company and need to be free to publish their dissertation," he said. However, those concerns can be dealt with through upfront communications from the beginning and by the graduate students choosing dissertations in areas that don’t pose a conflict, he said.

Many faculty members already have consulting relationships with private companies based on early negotiations that result in agreements acceptable to both parties, says Gibeling, a professor in the College of Engineering where many such relationships exist between faculty members and the private sector.

Mixed opinions among faculty

A variety of opinions exist among the UC Davis faculty about bringing private companies to campus, according to Alan Jackman, chair of the Academic Senate Committee on Academic Planning and Budget Review.

"There are people on campus pretty far on both sides of this issue," Jackman said. "Some would gladly allow the university to give access to any company that remotely benefited them. Others question the concept of a corporate enterprise being conducted on a university -- it’s the ‘selling of the university’ issue."

Mouse lab’s arrival creates optimisim

Jackman said he is cautiously optimistic about the plan, given the arrival of The Jackson Laboratory, which is producing genetically modified mice for research. He said many faculty members believe that The Jackson Laboratory will be very beneficial to a large number of researchers across campus.

Jackman said his committee took a "middle-of-the-road" approach for two reasons.

"One, we realized it was a done deal with The Jackson Laboratory already on the way. The administration has shown a very strong intention to carry this forward," Jackman said. "Two: if it does happen, there are benefits that the university will see as a result of it. The committee concern is how great are these benefits and at what price."