The faculty steering committee has constituted itself with the charge of leading the UC system in establishing a California-wide Center for Research in Special Education, Disabilities, and Developmental Risk (SPEDDR) as a Multi-Campus Research Unit that will unify and solidify UC resources. Primary aims of the Center are to enhance the University of California’s ability to attract from a national pool of talented students, win large extramural grants, improve national visibility of UC efforts, and enhance the doctoral preparation of the next generation of research, teacher education, and other related public service doctorates. Already, UCSB, UCR, UCSD, and UCLA and the UC Office of the President have each made ongoing financial commitments to the Center, and UCD and UCB have indicated their support.