Media Advisory: Major back-to-school news conference next Monday

ATTENTION: Reporters covering higher education, local news

WHAT: Chancellor Nicholas Dirks will give his first campus news conference as the 2013-14 school year begins. He took office as UC Berkeley’s 10th chancellor on June 1.

The chancellor has said he aims to engage the campus community in a collective effort to “imagine new futures for the university.” At the news conference, he and other campus leaders will unveil a collective set of new programs and initiatives for one of his initial priorities – the quality and centrality of education for UC Berkeley’s undergraduate students. Undergraduates are estimated to number 25,770 this fall.

WHEN: 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 26.

WHERE: The Club Room, Haas Pavilion, UC Berkeley. The building is off Spieker Plaza, near the corner of Bancroft Way and Dana Street. See campus map. Reporters should enter the main doors of the pavilion, make a left, and where the corridor dead-ends, make a right. About three-fourths of the way down the hall, the Club Room is on the right.

WHO: Speakers will be:

• Chancellor Nicholas Dirks
• Catherine Koshland, vice provost for teaching, learning, academic planning and facilities
• Harry Le Grande, vice chancellor for student affairs
• John Wilton, vice chancellor for administration and finance
• Anne De Luca, associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment
• Maura Nolan, director of Berkeley Connect and associate professor of English

DETAILS: Short presentations by each speaker will be followed by time for questions from reporters. No press release will be issued, but a press packet with supplementary materials will be available. Reporters who cannot come to the event can call in via a teleconference phone line: (866) 740-1260 (access code 3843618#)

RSVP: Reporters interested in attending, or in participating by phone, should RSVP to Andy Pino, director of communications and media relations, at [email protected].