Month: March 2011

U of Wisconsin

More on the Other Wisconsin Story
Byuclafaculty March 11, 2011

Inside Higher Ed has been tracking the story of the pursuit by the University of Wisconsin-Madison for more autonomy from the larger U of Wisconsin system. That story has been submerged due to the controversy over the collective bargaining issue. As prior posts on this blog have noted, this effort has the support of Governor Walker but has not been cheered by the system’s regents. In fact, they were opposed. However, today’s Inside Higher Ed notes that the system’s regents have now come up with their own plan for more autonomy of the campuses, reproduced below. But, as the bold…

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CalPERS | pension | pensions | uc retirement

CalPERS reported to be planning to cut its assumed investment return to seven and half
Byuclafaculty March 11, 2011

Pension funds, such as UC’s, use an assumed rate of return to estimate future earnings and calculate their unfunded liability. In the past, UC has had the most conservative rate of 7.5% as compared with CalPERS and CalSTRS. It was useful for UC to be able to note that it was more conservative than the others. Now it is reported that CalPERS will cut its assumed rate to the same level as UC, i.e., CalPERS will assume that for each dollar in the fund, it can earn seven and a half cents. Although there is no direct effect on UC…

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community colleges | CSU | LAO | UC | UC enrollment

Unpreparedness: Report by the LAO
Byuclafaculty March 11, 2011

The Legislative Analyst’s Office has release a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Are Entering Freshmen Prepared For College-Level Work?” On UC: Unpreparedness rates of freshmen at UC have declined slightly in recent years. * In 2009, about 25 percent of regularly admitted freshmen arrived unprepared for college-level writing. * The percentage of freshmen needing remediation varies considerably across UC campuses. In fall 2009, the unpreparedness rates ranged from a low of 9 percent at UC Berkeley to a high of 59 percent at UC Merced. On CSU: The CSU currently admits many students who are unprepared for college-level writing and math. Of…

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miscellaneous | UCLA

UCLA History: The 1961 Bel Air Fire
Byuclafaculty March 10, 2011

The 1961 Bel Air fire burned very close to UCLA. LAObserved today pointed to a film made by the Fire Dept. of that era. Some footage taken by UCLA appears around minute 22. The LAObserved link is at http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2011/03/lafd_film_on_the_1961_bel.php

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governor | politics | State Budget

Deadline day for the state budget has arrived without a budget vote. Is everything out of control?
Byuclafaculty March 10, 2011

As prior posts have noted, Gov. Brown set a deadline of 60 days after his budget proposal was announced to have a budget passed and to obtain a 2/3 vote from the legislature to put his tax extensions on the ballot. Today is deadline day and he still has no deal for the Republican votes needed for the tax extensions. Democrats could pass a budget by majority vote that assumes there will be tax extensions but if there is no ballot vote, the budget would be out of whack. You can read about it at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/03/10/3463706/day-60-what-now.html We also noted in…

Read More Deadline day for the state budget has arrived without a budget vote. Is everything out of control?
governor | pension | pensions | politics | State Budget | UC Regents

Prius Public Pensions?
Byuclafaculty March 9, 2011

An earlier post noted the ongoing negotiations between Governor Brown and certain GOP legislators as he tries to get a couple of Republican votes for his budget proposal. A 2/3 vote in the legislature is needed to put the governor’s tax extensions on the June ballot and at the moment he doesn’t have 2/3. (As previous posts have also noted, there might be a technical work-around the 2/3 rule, but is is more technical than practical.) One of the items for which Republicans are holding out is what is termed a “hybrid pension.” This notion surfaced as part of the…

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faculty center | UCLA

“Demand Narrative” Released for Proposed Hotel/Conference Center to Replace Faculty Club
Byuclafaculty March 9, 2011

Below is an official “demand narrative” related to the proposed hotel/conference center that is the replace the existing Faculty Center. Center members are currently balloting on whether this project should be approved or not. The document in its original form can be found at http://www.senate.ucla.edu/documents/ProposedConferenceCenterDemandNarrative_Morabito-7Mar2011.pdf It is reproduced here in full because it is labeled “draft” and it is useful to preserve the initial language. The narrative does not directly address two issues: Downside risk. All forecasting is done with error. It seems unlikely – if the projections of revenue do not pan out – that UCLA would let this…

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UC budget crisis | UC-Riverside

Quote without comment
Byuclafaculty March 8, 2011

UC Riverside leaders consider sweeping cuts in face of budget crisis (excerpt) Larry Gordon, LA Times, March 8, 2011 Should library hours be cut? Could some academic programs be closed or merged? Will turning down air conditioners and fixing leaky sprinklers save much money? UC Riverside administrators are mulling such questions as they face an expected reduction in the campus’ core budget next year of at least 8%, or $38 million, even as they cope with higher pension costs and energy bills. The decisions could affect the livelihoods of employees and quality of education for more than 20,000 students at…

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health care | pension | pensions | tuition | UC Regents | uc retirement

Regents Ponder Questions (With the aid of a management consultant)
Byuclafaculty March 8, 2011

At the upcoming Regents session scheduled for the Ides of March, the Regents have invited a management consultant to help them ponder questions such as those below: * How can a more diverse student body be supported during a period of flattening or declining federal/or state appropriation? * How do we attract target students with the capacity to provide competitive tuition subsidization that is competitive with peer institutions? * Is the University effectively evaluating alternatives to traditional education practices (e.g. three year degrees, a multi-year tuition schedule) to help address student access and affordability issues? * How robustly is the…

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governor | politics | State Budget

Has Brown’s Budget Plan Been Sunk by GOP Opposition: It’s Not Over ‘Til It’s Over
Byuclafaculty March 8, 2011

From today’s Sacramento Bee (excerpt): Gov. Jerry Brown’s prospects of reaching a budget deal by his deadline this week dimmed markedly Monday when a quintet of Republicans with whom he’d been negotiating declared an impasse. The GOP senators for the first time released a list of demands – covering pensions, spending restrictions and education reforms, among other things – and said the Democratic governor and his legislative allies were unable to fulfill them. “We accepted your invitation to bring you our ideas on important structural reforms and willingly took to heart your admonition ‘to get out of our comfort zone,’…

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Month: March 2011

More on the Other Wisconsin Story

CalPERS reported to be planning to cut its assumed investment return to seven and half

Unpreparedness: Report by the LAO

UCLA History: The 1961 Bel Air Fire

Deadline day for the state budget has arrived without a budget vote. Is everything out of control?

Prius Public Pensions?

“Demand Narrative” Released for Proposed Hotel/Conference Center to Replace Faculty Club

Quote without comment

Regents Ponder Questions (With the aid of a management consultant)

Has Brown’s Budget Plan Been Sunk by GOP Opposition: It’s Not Over ‘Til It’s Over

UC Faculty Associations

Higher Ed Policy

Labor and Advocacy

UC Faculty Associations

Higher Ed Policy

Labor and Advocacy

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