Author: uclafaculty

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Chancellor Says We Need Patience & Prudence on the Hotel Business Plan: No Plan Available for Now

Byuclafaculty

Chancellor Block says the hotel/conference center business plan – which is the only way to determine the viability of the plan and whether it will end up costing the campus money – can’t be made available now for reasons of prudence. See the letter below. So I guess we are expected to be patient until it is prudent. Letter to the Editor, Daily Bruin, 11/9/11 The proposal to build a $152 million conference and guest center on campus is not one UCLA made in haste. In fact, it is supported by $50 million from alumni Meyer Luskin, a highly successful…

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So Glad the UC Budget Will Be in Good Hands

Byuclafaculty

California legislators head to Maui for retreat funded by special interests The LA Times headline says it all. But you can read it at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/la-me-legislature-maui-20111109,0,4657777.story As our earlier post noted, President Yudof will be submitting his budget for 2012-13 to the Regents next week. In an article in the Daily Bruin, UC VP Patrick Lenz notes that the last time the legislature enacted the UC budget as requested was in 2000-01 (peak of the dot-com boom and the revenue therefrom). See http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/11/uc_president_mark_yudof_proposes_budget_plan_to_increase_university_funding_from_the_state_although_

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Updated Audio Post of Sept. 13, 2011 Regents meeting

Byuclafaculty

As noted in our earlier post of the Sept. 13, 2011 Regents meeting, the audio received from the Regents appeared to be incomplete. Below is the complete audio. Regents Committee Meeting: Sept. 13, 2011 1:00 pm Committee on Compliance and Audit (Regents only session) 1:15 pm Committee on Compliance and Audit (open session – includes public comment) 2:30 pm Committee on Grounds and Buildings (open session – includes public comment) Note: The audio begins after about 40 seconds.

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UC Budget Proposal for 2012-13 Readied for Regents

Byuclafaculty

President Yudof’s UC budget proposal for 2012-13, scheduled for discussion at the Regents on Nov. 17, is now posted. The key links are http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/nov11/f12.pdf and http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/nov11/f11attach.pdf The proposal includes a request for increased “core” funding by 8%. Notably included is a contribution to the UC pension – which the state has not been doing since contributions resumed. There appears to be an arbitrary request for one fourth of the employer contribution ($87.6 million). See the last page of the second link. Why just one fourth is requested is not clear. Since this seems to be public pension year, given the…

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Scoping!

Byuclafaculty

The report for the scoping review on the newly revised hotel/conference center is now available. Earlier posts on this blog have noted the absence of the report in view of the upcoming session about it to be held Monday, Nov. 14, 7-9 PM, at the Faculty Center. But the report is now online. You can find the report at http://www.capital.ucla.edu/PDF/111108CC2InitialStudy.pdf To attend the Nov. 14 meeting, RSVP by Nov. 9 to mrule@support.ucla.edu Here is an alternative link to the report: Open publication – Free publishing – More ucla Update: Here is the legal announcement in the LA Times: Open publication…

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LAO Report on UC and Other Public Pensions

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst has just released a report on the governor’s proposal for public pensions. The report states that the “Governor’s Proposal Is a Bold, Excellent Starting Point” and then goes into a detailed analysis. Most of the report is not about UC, although it does note that changing the UC plan might well involve amending the constitution. But it does have a section on UC reproduced below: What About UC? UCRP Also Has a Major Funding Problem. From 1990 to 2010, UC and its employees enjoyed a remarkable two–decade pension funding holiday due principally to (1) substantial overfunding of…

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No Smoking Better Than No Scoping

Byuclafaculty

In case you haven’t noticed the signs near the Westwood Blvd. entrance to UCLA, the health center is going entirely no smoking on Nov. 17. It’s good to have no smoking. But as yesterday’s post pointed out, no scoping is not so good. We are still awaiting the scoping report on the new hotel/conference center plan which is supposed to be discussed at a public meeting next week. http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/11/waiting-for-scoping-report.html

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DB or Not DB: That is the question

Byuclafaculty

One of the characteristics of a defined benefit (DB) pension such as the current UC plan is that – in contrast to defined contribution (DC) plans – it provides a strong incentive to retire for long-service employees. The two-tier version enacted by the Regents for new hires still preserves the DB format. For faculty renewal, this feature can be important. The governor’s proposal for state and local pensions (including UC) would substitute a “hybrid” plan which is a mix of DB and DC. The more DC there is in a plan, the less you get the incentive to retire. As…

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Waiting for the Scoping Report

Byuclafaculty

As a prior post indicated, there is supposed to be a “scoping” report regarding the revised and relocated proposal for a UCLA hotel/conference center. The presentation of the scoping report is scheduled for a week from today. It will take place on Monday, November 14, 7-9 PM, at the Faculty Center. It is getting late to release the report so there can be a public examination of it prior to November 14. We are waiting patiently, but it would be nice to see the scope up on the web. If you are interested in attending the November 14 meeting, send…