Author: admin

  • |

    Location, Location, Location

    Byadmin

    We earlier blogged about the content of the UCLA Anderson Forecast that took place last week.  But we also like to remind readers from time to time of the location.  Sometimes the Forecast is in Ackerman.  Sometimes it is in Korn Hall at Anderson.  This time, it was at Covell.  Note that these are all venues that can accommodate large conferences and can do so without the creation of the UCLA Grand Hotel.  You can even have food service at any one of them, as the picture at the top shows.  If, when the Grand Hotel becomes available, the Forecast…

  • |

    UCLA and the Covered California Exchange (the State Component of “Obamacare”)

    Byadmin

    Just FYI.  For persons in the individual health care market that has been set up as part of the federal Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), UCLA is advertising for business.  This option is not for UC employees or retirees covered by a university health plan.  However, the info might be useful if you know folks shopping in the individual market. The image above is from http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=2895

  • | |

    Advice to Whoever is Appointed Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Buckle Up!

    Byadmin

    You may have gotten today’s email from Chancellor Block:  [excerpts] Today I am announcing a significant step in our efforts to respond to incidents of bias and discrimination on our campus and to build an environment of inclusion and tolerance: the creation of the new position of Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The new Vice Chancellor, who will report directly to me, will provide leadership across the campus in these important areas. Although we have many dedicated individuals deeply committed to this work, I have come to see that we need a clear and powerful voice at the…

  • |

    Loneliness of the long distance MOOC runner

    Byadmin

    In a recent study at the U of Pennsylvania, it turned out – as many other studies have noted – that few takers of MOOCs actually complete the course.  What’s interesting about the study is that many takers don’t even start them. Emerging data from a University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) study show that massive open online courses (MOOCs) have relatively few active users, that user “engagement” falls off dramatically—especially after the first 1-2 weeks of a course—and that few users persist to the course end. Presented today by Laura Perna and Alan Ruby at the…

  • |

    Core Competencies for Regents?

    Byadmin

    Yours truly noted with interest this item from the State Worker blog of the Sacramento Bee: CalPERS’ governing board aims to up its collective understanding of everything from financial statements to financial markets with a new set of “core competencies” that will help shape education and training. The policy, which the board is imposing on itself, also requires board members to have familiarity with topics ranging from health care and pension plans to board governance and communication…  Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/05/5974549/calpers-sets-knowledge-standards.html Now if the Regents were to adopt such a policy, what would their core competencies be?  Pension funding?  Capital…

  • | |

    New Normal for UC in the UCLA Anderson Forecast

    Byadmin

    Above are two charts from yesterday’s UCLA Anderson Forecast. [Click on them to enlarge and get a clearer image.]  There is a much overused phrase nowadays: the “new normal.”  But when you combine those two charts with the chart below (slightly modified) from the recent Legislative Analyst’s report on the state budget outlook, the phrase takes on special meaning for UC. As can be seen on the Forecast charts, California’s economic base was hard hit around 1990 by the end of the Cold War.  Its population stopped growing relative to the nation as a whole.  And it lost jobs as…

  • | |

    Again

    Byadmin

    From Facilities Management: Northbound I-405 (all lanes) will be closed between Wilshire Boulevard and Moraga Drive from midnight until 5 am on the mornings of Thursday, December 5th and Friday, December 6th. Southbound I-405 will remain open during this time. When: Midnight-5 am on Thursday, December 5th and Friday, December 6th Where: I-405 Northbound between Wilshire and Moraga  And note that  the friendly folks on the 405 project often start blocking things as early as 10 pm.

  • |

    Password Hint

    Byadmin

    From time to time, yours truly receives email messages – particularly from people with Yahoo or gmail accounts – that result from someone guessing their passwords.  The culprit then concocts a story about being stranded in Outer Slobovia and needing money.  If you get one of these messages, don’t send money and do let the account holder know his/her account has been hacked.  The moral is to have a password that is hard to guess. But then comes this word: Steven M. Bellovin, a computer science professor at Columbia, uncovered a startling fact. The launch code for all U.S. Minuteman…

  • |

    Bad Dream for Princeton Prez: Faculty May Want to Milk Their Own MOOC

    Byadmin

    Inside Higher Ed today points to an article in the Princeton University student newspaper in which it is reported that faculty there are interested in having their own MOOC rather than relying on Coursera (with which Princeton has an affiliation). Members of the faculty discussed the possibility of creating a University-specific alternative to Coursera, as well as the proposed creation of a new committee to oversee the continuation of online courses, on Monday at the December faculty meeting. Philosophy professor Gideon Rosen noted that the University is free to explore options outside of Coursera in order to avoid conflicts of…