Author: uclafaculty

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The GSEIS “Problem” Continues

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed continues its coverage of the controversy in a course at GSEIS involving… well, it’s not quite clear what is involved, despite the lengthy article.  It does seem like the kind of development that needs some Academic Senate review.  [Excerpt] For the first time since graduate students staged a sit-in during a class they said exemplified what’s wrong with race relations at the University of California at [sic] Los Angeles, the course met again late last week. But in an apparent attempt at compromise between the aggrieved students and the instructor, its configuration was changed – raising concerns…

Bullying Experiment Featured in Daily Bruin

Byuclafaculty

Excerpt: As she watched a man getting shoved to the ground, Caitlin Estudillo sprang from a bench near Powell Library and tried to stop what she perceived as a bullying incident unfolding in front of her. For the third-year sociology and world arts and cultures/dance student, the act was instinctual. “I didn’t give it a thought; it was just something I had to do,” Estudillo said. “I didn’t think of the consequences.” At the time, Estudillo did not know that the conflict was a staged fight designed to gauge how people would react to seeing someone else be bullied. Various…

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If You Don’t Want to Talk to the Piper, Why Not Talk to the Piper’s Paymaster?

Byuclafaculty

As blog readers will know, there is currently a potential ballot initiative on public pensions and other retiree benefits (health care) that as written sweeps in UC.  We won’t rehash why it would be best if UC was excluded – as it ultimately was from the governor’s pension bill.  But let’s just say for purposes of this posting that excluding UC would be a Good Thing. At present, there is no rush needed to get signatures for 2014, or possibly 2016.  And we have suggested in the past that the folks in UCOP might want to talk to San Jose…

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Location, Location, Location

Byuclafaculty

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…

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

Byuclafaculty

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

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

Byuclafaculty

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…

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Loneliness of the long distance MOOC runner

Byuclafaculty

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…

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Core Competencies for Regents?

Byuclafaculty

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…

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New Normal for UC in the UCLA Anderson Forecast

Byuclafaculty

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…

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Again

Byuclafaculty

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.