Author: uclafaculty

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Mini-Controversy Over the UC Seal

Byuclafaculty

An alternative seal? There seems to be a controversy simmering in the Daily Bruin about the UC seal.  No, it’s not quite as hot a controversy as the one that arose over the attempt to create a modern replacement for the seal last year. Blog readers may recall that the proposal back then, when inverted, looked like the hindquarters of an elephant and was eventually dropped. A graduating student complained that the seal, with “let there be light” from Genesis, was insufficiently secular.  He also objected to the star and the book on similar, too-religious grounds. See http://dailybruin.com/2013/06/24/seal-does-not-reflect-academia-the-student-body/ To the defense…

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Reconcile Yourself to the State Budget

Byuclafaculty

You might as well reconcile yourself because you won’t find a reconciliation from any official source between the governor’s accrual budget (released in late June) and the state controller’s cash budget (released today). In theory, there are advantages to accrual accounting over cash accounting in judging performance, whether of a state budget or a corporation.  Accidents of timing of receipts and expenditures can distort the results for any given period.  For example, there really is no difference in a check arriving on June 30 or July 1.  But if you are on a July 1-June 30 fiscal year and look…

Waiting for the MOOCows to Come Home

Byuclafaculty

From the Chronicle of Higher Education comes the sad tale of a MOOC in waiting: It was big news last fall when Colorado State University-Global Campus became the first college in the United States to grant credit to students who passed a MOOC, or massive open online course. For students, it meant a chance to get college credit on the cheap: $89…  Yet almost a year after Global Campus made the announcement, officials are still waiting for their first credit bargain-hunters… Full story at http://chronicle.com/article/A-Universitys-Offer-of-Credit/140131/ Our advice is to be patient and wait for a student.  Someday he will come: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0niwn2pOEno?feature=player_embedded]

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UC Egypt Programs Suspended

Byuclafaculty

UCLA student at the Sphinx From the LA Times: Worried about student safety amid the political violence in Egypt, the University of California has suspended its fall semester program in Cairo, officials said Monday. The move affects 22 students who had signed up to study advanced Arabic and other classes at the American University in Cairo… Those students can enroll instead in UC programs in Jordan, Turkey, Morocco and Israel that also offer Arabic classes… The move comes a few days after the safe evacuation of 10 UC students from a UC Davis-sponsored summer program in Egypt and the worsening…

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Acountability Report to Regents: Data Source

Byuclafaculty

At the July Regents meeting, there will be consideration of the “Accountability Report.”  While this report tends to be a booster publication, it contains interesting information on budgets, enrollment, etc.  For example, the impact of the Great Recession and its budgetary aftermath can be seen on the chart above from the report.  Nonresident undergrads – who pay full tuition – were increased as a percent of total enrollees.  (Clicking on the chart will enlarge it and show more detail.) The Accountability Report is at http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jul13/l1attach.pdf.

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Regents to Consider Modifying Code of Faculty Conduct to Protect Academic Freedom

Byuclafaculty

In an earlier post, before the full Regents’ agenda for July was posted, we noted there was an item involving a modification of the faculty code of conduct.  It appears that the main modification to be proposed is explicit protection for faculty to comment on institutional UC policies.  Specifically, there is proposed explicit recognition of the “freedom to address any matter of institutional policy or action when acting as a member of the faculty whether or not as a member of an agency of institutional governance.” The report on this matter can be found at http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jul13/e3.pdf.

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Keeping Online Ed In-House at UC: Regents Report

Byuclafaculty

Readers of this blog will know that the governor and legislative leaders have been pushing UC to do “more” online ed.  The governor originally earmarked $10 million in the UC budget for that purpose but then line-item-vetoed his own language on the promise that UC would do it anyway.  The Regents next week will consider a report on online higher ed at UC.  What is interesting about the report is what is highlighted and what gets little mention.  At the January Regents meeting, guest speakers from commercial MOOCs were given the floor to tout their wares.  But the report for…

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Regents Will Consider Privacy (in Public)

Byuclafaculty

We noted in an earlier post that a preliminary agenda for the Regents’ meeting next week had been posted.  The more detailed attachments for the meeting have now been posted.  One topic to be taken up is UC policy on “privacy.”  At this point, however, it is all processes to set a policy rather than the policy itself.  According to the agenda item, UCLA Chief Privacy Officer Kent Wada is involved.  (Did you know we had a Chief Privacy Officer?  See http://kentatucla.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/uclacpo-ddmemo1.pdf.) The agenda item can be found at http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jul13/a3.pdf It’s harder to keep things secret nowadays than it was…

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The Trail from Riverside to Oregon

Byuclafaculty

Earlier posts on this blog have noted an idea developed by some UC-Riverside students to make tuition free in exchange for a percentage of future student earnings.  (Actually, the idea has been around for a long time.)  In any event, although UCOP is supposedly studying the proposal, it seems to have found its way to Oregon where it is being considered in the legislature.  From Inside Higher Ed today:  …The Oregon plan is similar to, and has its origins in, one proposed by students at the University of California at [sic] Riverside that made headlines last year. Since last winter,…

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That Which Cannot Go on Forever…

Byuclafaculty

Herb Stein Herb Stein, President Nixon’s chief economist, once said, “That which cannot go on forever must come to an end.”  There is a school of thought – to which our governor arguably belongs – that says that because tuition at colleges and universities has been rising faster than inflation, there is a bubble that will inevitably burst, maybe around now.  Bette Billet, president of the UCLA Faculty Women’s Club for 2013-14, passed me an article that argues that both higher ed and medicine are in the same boat. So, one might assume, a university with a med school is…