Author: uclafaculty

|

UC Students in Japan

Byuclafaculty

UC awaits word from 80 students in Japan3/11/11 Sacramento Bee, Laurel Rosenhall University of California officials are working to locate 80 students and 32 employees who are studying or working abroad in Japan, where a large earthquake and tsunami struck yesterday causing significant damage to the north part of the country. UC students are studying in seven different locations around Japan, said university spokeswoman Lynn Tierney. UC contracts with private companies to track students and employees while they are abroad. The university is awaiting word from campus officials and the private companies to find out how UC’s students are doing….

| |

Will the State Budget Deal Cut the Heart Out of UC’s Recent Pension Changes? Are We Too Chicken to Make a Case With the Governor?

Byuclafaculty

Perhaps you know of the old radio show in which a chicken heart grew until it took over everything and covered the world. As previous posts on this blog have noted, although the true deadline for getting the governor’s proposed tax extensions on the June ballot is somewhat flexible, we are coming close to the point where it becomes administratively impossible. The governor and the Democrats have evidently concluded that proposed strategies for doing the deal without a 2/3 vote for the ballot measure are impractical. So bargaining is going on with a few Republicans on the price for their…

|

Just one more thing: The eleventh question to add to the other ten

Byuclafaculty

The item below containing 10 questions on the Faculty Center issue was circulated by UCLA communications. Here is an 11th question: Can it be said that in the midst of a major budget crisis, UCLA’s top priority is to build a hotel/conference center whose downside financial risk in one way or another will be assumed by the campus? 10 Questions: Scott Waugh on the residential conference center and faculty club project UCLA is planning a residential conference center featuring 33,000 square feet of meeting and conference space and 282 hotel rooms. Project plans also include a new faculty club with…

| |

The Empire Strikes Back (at BruinGO)

Byuclafaculty

Below is an article from the online edition of the Daily Bruin regarding the BruinGO program, a system of subsidized public transit for UCLA students and employees. Note that the announcement reported by the Bruin is being made at the end of classes and just before exam week when students are not paying attention. There is no paper edition of the Daily Bruin at this time of year. The UCLA transportation powers-that-be have never been happy with BruinGO, precisely because it displaces the parking empire. Prof. Donald Shoup of Urban Planning has been a leader, both in the creation of…

More on the Other Wisconsin Story

Byuclafaculty

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…

| | |

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

Byuclafaculty

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…

| | | |

Unpreparedness: Report by the LAO

Byuclafaculty

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…

| |

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

Byuclafaculty

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…

| | | | |

Prius Public Pensions?

Byuclafaculty

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…