Author: uclafaculty

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Database on Higher Ed Including UCLA

Byuclafaculty

The database described below should get an award for being user-unfriendly. However, it does include UCLA and I did succeed (somewhat) in obtaining some data from it. I invite anyone with more patience to see what might be uncovered. Follow the directions as best you can. The database is at: http://www.tcs-online.org/Reports/Report.aspx An excerpt from a description from Inside Higher Ed:Follow the Money July 9, 2010 In a sea of often bewildering data about college spending practices, a small island of clarity is emerging. In conjunction with its third annual “Trends in College Spending” report, released today, the Delta Project on…

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Competition with the Private Universities & Endowments

Byuclafaculty

A recent working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that private universities react asymmetrically to shocks to their endowments. In particular, they overreact to negative shocks by cutting their operating budgets. That may suggest that, in the aftermath of their recent big financial losses, the privates were not as aggressive in raiding UC as they could have been but also that this effect is likely to wear off. That is, the endowment-loss effect may have shielded UC for a time, but we cannot count on it continuing. Below is a summary of the paper: Why I Lost…

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Governor’s Pension Symposium of July 8

Byuclafaculty

Governor Schwarzenegger ran a public pension symposium on July 8. It was essentially a panel of academics, legislators and former legislators (including former assembly speaker Willie Brown), local officials, past CalPERS members, and academics. You can see a video of the roughly 1-hour symposium by going to the governor’s website: www.gov.ca.gov and clicking on “multimedia.” The symposium concentrated on CalPERS and, to a lesser extent, CalSTRS. UCRS was mentioned in passing at roughly minute 39, but was not explicitly discussed. In particular, the important $2-for-$1 issue that separates UCRS from other public pensions in California was not discussed. (Approximately $2…

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Quality Matters

Byuclafaculty

Unusual Research Finding From Nazi Policies at Universities http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/07/08/nazi July 8, 2010 An economist’s research into the Nazi regime’s dismissals of Jewish mathematics professors in the 1930’s has led him to conclude that in Ph.D. supervision, big is beautiful. Between 1933 and 1934, about 18 per cent of all mathematics professors in Germany were stripped of their posts by the Nazis, including some of the most eminent scholars of the day. Fabian Waldinger, assistant professor in the department of economics at the University of Warwick, in Britain, studied the impact of those dismissals on the mathematicians’ doctoral students. He found…

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Post-Employment Benefits session audios

Byuclafaculty

The UC Post-Employment Benefits Taskforce was hosted by the UCLA Academic Senate on 5-4-10. Below are links to audios (videos with a still picture) of that session. The audios are in 10 parts. Parts 1-8 run about 14 minutes each. Parts 9 and 10 run about 8 minutes each. You can access these audios at the following addresses: PEB audios 5-4-10 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 (end)

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Awareness of UCOF soon-to-be released report is growing

Byuclafaculty

(As the op ed below suggests, folks are beginning to become aware of the potential controversy that will surround the report of the UC Commission on the Future, to be released soon. NOTE: The same op ed appeared June 21 in another newspaper and was posted to the now-defunct savingUCLA website and then copied to this website earlier.) Bakersfield Californianhttp://www.thecalifornian.com/print/article/20100705/OPINION02/7050302/Thomas-Elias-UC-regents-to-put-pressure-on-Sacramento July 5, 2010UC regents to put pressure on Sacramento By Thomas Elias It’s almost as if the Board of Regents that runs the University of California can’t wait to fire a warning shot across the figurative bow of Gov. Arnold…

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UCOF Audios from Dec. 7, 2009

Byuclafaculty

The UC Commission on the Future met at Covel Commons, UCLA, on Dec. 7, 2009. There were four basic segments: Public, Staff, Faculty, and Students. The Public and Staff Segments are in 7 Parts: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 (end) The Faculty Segment is in Three Parts: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (end) The Student Segment is in 4 Parts: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 (end)

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State Fiscal Developments as of July 1

Byuclafaculty

The new state fiscal year has begun with no budget enacted. In the short term, there are few consequences although the longer the no-budget period drags on, the more notable the impact as various state suppliers and local entities are not paid. UC has typically been able to deal with prolonged budget delays although certain payments to it are delayed. A list of what the state controller can and cannot pay can be found at: http://www.sco.ca.gov/July_2010_payments.html Until a day or so ago, there were 3 budget plans: the governor’s May revise and separate plans from the Democrats in the assembly…