University of the Pacific

The University of the Pacific has 120 academic programs, 675 faculty, 850 staff, and a budget of nearly $200 million on campuses in Stockton, San Francisco and Sacramento, CA. Pacific’s mission is: to provide a superior, student-centered learning experience integrating liberal arts and professional education and preparing individuals for lasting achievement and responsible leadership in their careers and communities.

Founded in 1851, Pacific was the first chartered institution of higher education in the State of California. The university is centered in Stockton, the 13th largest city in California, on an attractive tree-lined campus that was recently ranked by the Penn Group as the fifth most attractive campus in the United States. The Stockton campus is home to College of the Pacific, the university’s college of arts and sci­ences, and six schools: Gladys L. Benerd School of Education; Conservatory of Music; Eberhardt School of Business; Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; School of Engineering and Computer Science; and School of International Studies. The Pacific Dugoni School of Dentistry is located on the San Francisco campus (85 miles away) and the Pacific McGeorge School of Law on the Sacramento campus (about 50 miles away).

The University of the Pacific has made significant advances in recent years and has been hailed by U.S. News and World Report as a “Great School at a Great Price”, consistently appearing on that publication’s “best value” list. The institution is in sound financial shape, has been enjoying record applications and has an ambitious strategic plan in place. In 2007, Pacific completed a $330 million comprehensive campaign capped by a $100 million estate gift. The University has recently added four new buildings including a biological sciences building, the university center, a multipurpose gym and a research building with a technology center and a Law library now under construction. Pacific is renowned for its emphasis on student-centered learning, broad slate of course offerings, relatively small class sizes (the average undergraduate class size is 18), accelerated degree programs, excellent professional and graduate programs and extensive study abroad and hands-on learning opportunities. Pacific has a highly diverse student body and thriving communities on each of its three campuses. The Stockton campus has more than 100 student organizations, an active Greek life, and the Pacific Tigers competing in Division I athletics.

In July 2009, Pacific welcomed its 24th President, Pamela A. Eibeck, who is leading an effort to elevate the university by enhancing educational quality, building national visibility, and deepening the university’s involvement in the communities in which it operates. President Eibeck has also committed to pursuing a series of goals established in a strategic plan called “Pacific Rising,” which was developed in 2007 to lead the university through the year 2015. This vision aims to help Pacific forge a more distinctive identity based around student-focused learning and development of an integrated “three-city campus,” capitalizing on Pacific’s presence in Stockton, San Francisco, and Sacramento.

About the University of the Pacific

Pacific’s campuses are home to an outstanding student body that includes 3501 undergraduate, 655 graduate, 650 Pharmacy professional students, 514 Dental students and 1081 Law students. Pacific ensures students are provided with an encompassing educational experience designed to prepare them for a wide range of future careers. As part of its emphasis on student success, the university offers a “four-year graduate guarantee,” a promise to waive the tuition of students who fulfill certain requirements but do not graduate within four years.

Throughout its history, the University of the Pacific has been a pioneer: in addition to being the oldest chartered university in California, Pacific launched the first medical school and the first conservatory of music in the west, and it was the first independent campus to enroll women. Pacific was also the first to introduce the “cluster college” concept in the West, modeled after Oxford and Cambridge in England, and was the first to launch a bilingual-bicultural college. Pacific has numerous esteemed alumni, including jazz musician Dave Brubeck; actress Jamie Lee Curtis; famed sports agent Scott Boros; former Solicitor General Theodore Olsen; rock musician and actor Chris Isaak; novelists Steve Martini and Kate Moses; State Senator and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone; and most recently Jose Hernandez, NASA astronaut. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy was on the McGeorge faculty when appointed to the Supreme Court in 1987 and remains on its faculty as an adjunct today. About 10% of Stockton alumni live in the Sacramento metropolitan areas, and 25% live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

With nine schools and colleges, Pacific offers a rare combination of small-university friendliness and programs found at much larger universities. Visit www.pacific.edu for more information. Following are brief overviews of the different schools and the College. For a brief overview of the different schools and the College of the Pacific, please see the following links:

• The Gladys L. Benerd School of Education
• The College of the Pacific
• The Conservatory of Music
• The Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
• The Eberhardt School of Business
• The Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
• The School of International Studies
• The School of Engin eering & Computer Science
• Pacific McGeorge School of Law

Pacific Rising: A Strategic Plan

In 2007, Pacific developed a strategic plan called “Pacific Rising,” which articulates a series of commitments, values, and aspirations to guide the University until the year 2015. The commit­ments laid out in this plan include: innovation and creativity across the University; distinctive programs recognized for their quality, uncommonness, and sustainability; collaborative, mul­tidisciplinary programs that integrate liberal arts and professional education; preparing the whole student, especially for responsible professional and civic leadership in a global context; strategi­cally expanding and improving partnerships among alumni and in local, regional, national and global communities; and resource growth and management to support ongoing improvements in the quality of education and service. To read “Pacific Rising,” see http://web.pacific.edu/Documents/provost/acrobat/pacific_rising.pdf .

A Vision for a Three-City Campus

As part of the plan outlined in Pacific Rising, the University aims to leverage its locations in Stockton, Sacramento, and San Francisco, three of the most dynamic cities in Northern California, to expand its academic offerings and activities. Pacific already launched an initiative focused on the development of a “three-city campus,” in which the different locations are defining distinct identities while also bridging their work as part of a university-wide structure. The concept calls not only for expansion of programs on the Sacramento and San Francisco campuses, but also for the development of new opportunities for students and faculty to work across campuses through unique degree pro­grams and innovative research. If successful, the three-city campus plan has the potential to raise net tuition revenue for the university, increase research opportunities, deliver innovative programs involving creative collaborations among the University’s nine colleges and schools, strengthen the university’s ties to public and private institutions and the greater community, attract top faculty and outstanding students, and raise the profile of Pacific nationally and internationally.

Location

The university’s main campus is located in Stockton. This campus has been called the “quintessential west-coast campus” and has served as a shooting location for numerous Hollywood films, for its ample foliage and Ivy League-style architecture. The city of Stockton is the 13th largest city in California, with a dynamic, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural population of more than 260,000 residents. Known as California’s “Sunrise Seaport,” Stockton is located at the confluence of the San Joaquin River and the Delta Region waterways, connecting Stockton, Sacramento, and San Francisco. The Delta provides a variety of recreational opportunities, including boating, fishing, water-skiing, and sailing. Stockton offers easy access to skiing, hiking, and other recreation in the Sierras, as well as Yosemite, the Pacific Ocean, and the San Francisco Bay Area. With more than 100,000 trees, Stockton was recently recognized by Sunset Magazine as the “Best Tree City” in the western United States. For more about Stockton, please see www.visitstockton.org.