Author: admin

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    The Block Bill: The Other Online Higher Ed Mandate

    Byadmin

    Although the online higher ed bill by Senate president Darrell Steinberg (SB 520) has been receiving much attention – as well as opposition from UC – there is another bill on the subject that is also pending in the legislature.*  That bill, by Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego), has received a much softer response from UC, essentially that it might be OK with more faculty control and funding.  The bill, as introduced, requires the UC Academic Senate to undertake certain actions with language for UC indicating that the Regents should first endorse the requirement. Below is the text of the…

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    I’m Outta Here

    Byadmin

    An earlier post on this blog noted that there were concerns about caps on total payouts under the health insurance plan for students at UC.*  Now, apparently, there are also big premium jumps coming. UC-Berkeley has announced it will pull out of the UC-wide plan and run its own.  From the San Francisco Business Times: Following intense pressure from students, UC Berkeley is pulling the plug on participation in a controversial, deficit-plagued student health plan run by the University of California system, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said Thursday. Birgeneau said the system’s flagship Berkeley campus will jump ship effective Aug. 15, when it…

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    It’s always good to hit the target but…

    Byadmin

    We’ll let William Tell us about hitting targets. As we have noted in prior postings, the state received what seemed to be a windfall of $4+ billion in income tax revenue early in 2013 which seemed possibly related to taxpayer concerns about fiscal cliffs, etc.  But the receipts did not reverse later and a key indicator is what happened to income tax receipts in April, the big month for that tax. According to the state controller, April income tax receipts came in as expected under the governor’s budget estimate for the current fiscal year.  See below: So it appears the…

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    The Next ObamaJam Will be June 7

    Byadmin

    The President has not been doing any local fundraisers recently.  But when he does, they inevitably tie up traffic on the Westside.  The hiatus will end on Friday, June 7, when he comes for a lunchtime event in Santa Monica.  Yours truly will be in St. Louis on that day.  For those readers who remain in town and plan to come to UCLA on June 7, however, it would be best to arrive early and leave late. (Or you can attend the fundraiser for a mere $10,000 and up.) Source of these tidings:http://www.smmirror.com/articles/News/Obama-To-Attend-Fundraiser-June-7-At-Peter-Chernins-Santa-Monica-Home/37450

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    Needs Improvement

    Byadmin

    For many years, California had an agency known as CPEC, the California Postsecondary Education Commission.  CPEC was supposed to coordinate the three public segments of higher ed with the private higher ed institutions.  It was a successor to an earlier agency connected with the 1960 Master Plan.  CPEC basically gathered data on higher ed, wrote reports, etc.  However, in 2011, Governor Brown zeroed out the CPEC budget with a line-item veto.  All that remains is a website:http://www.cpec.ca.gov/ CPEC was run by a commission consisting of political appointees and members of public higher ed governing boards – for UC, the Regents…

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    Slow Growth

    Byadmin

    Replacement for the Grizzly Bear on the state flag? The California Dept. of Finance regularly estimates population of the state and its local jurisdictions.  It estimates that the state’s population grew at a 0.8% rate in 2012.  Not surprisingly, the faster growing areas within the state are generally those around the Silicon Valley. It’s not an accident that the making of demographic estimates is assigned to the Dept. of Finance because population growth has a variety of effects on the state budget.  California actually has been growing at roughly the national rate since the end of the Cold War when…

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    Follow Up on the Steinberg Platform

    Byadmin

    A prior post on this blog referred to the recent legislative hearing on California Senate president Darrell Steinberg’s bill that would create a “platform” for various online courses that could be taken for college credit.  At the hearing, he offered amendments to the original bill (SB 520) and was asked to come back with the written versions. The amended bill can be read below: But are you ready for the platform? Update: Don’t tell Steinberg:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/02/survey-finds-presidents-are-skeptical-moocs Update: Anyway, don’t tell Steinberg unless you are sure it is him:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-online-cheating-20130502,0,795806,full.story

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    Boulware at the Regents?

    Byadmin

    Lemuel Ricketts Boulware Today is May Day – often viewed as a labor holiday.  That happenstance brings to mind the role the governor has been playing as an ex officio regent. Governor Brown likes to show his scope of knowledge through quotations, Latin phrases, and historical references.  Earlier this year, when asked about his collective bargaining policy with state unions, he referred to “Boulwarism” as something that he wouldn’t want to do. So what is Boulwarism?  Lemuel Ricketts Boulware was General Electric’s chief bargainer with its unions in the 1950s and early 1960s.  He developed a take-it-or-leave-it style of negotiating,…

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    Hiking

    Byadmin

    Earlier blog posts have noted that CalPERS‘ premiums for long-term care are going nowhere but up.  Another rate hike is being announced with an option instead to move to a lesser-value plan. UC employees and faculty are normally not covered by CalPERS’ pension and health care plans.  However, as state workers, they were offered the chance to enroll in CalPERS’ long-term care program when CalPERS got into that business.  Unfortunately, there was no guarantee concerning what the premiums would be over time.  From the Sacramento Bee‘s State Worker blog: The California Public Employees’ Retirement System today is mailing some 150,000…

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    Duked Out

    Byadmin

    Put up your dukes! According to today’s Inside Higher Ed, faculty at Duke have blocked a program of online undergraduate courses: Duke University faculty members, frustrated with their administration and skeptical of the degrees to be awarded, have forced the institution to back out of a deal with nine other universities and 2U to create a pool of for-credit online classes for undergraduates… The courses were to be offered by Duke and other top-tier universities in a partnership organized by 2U, formerly known as 2tor. Unlike massive open online courses, or MOOCs, only a few hundred students were expected to enroll…