Author: uclafaculty

|

Wrong Irk; Right Irk

Byuclafaculty

Op Ed: Yours truly will concede that everyone is entitled to his or her own pet irk.  There is a headline in the Capitol Alert blog of the Sacramento Bee entitled “Cap-and-Trade Loan in Budget Deal Irks Environmentalists.”*  Actually, there is nothing unusual about borrowing by the general fund from other earmarked funds of the state.  The controller routinely does such borrowing when the general fund is short of cash – which was the situation much of the time during the last few years.  What is the real irk here is that as part of the budget that looks likely…

| | | | |

Want a Riverside Med School? Legislature Says (Commands?) Do It Yourself

Byuclafaculty

There has been ongoing agitation from UC-Riverside and UC for the state to put up money for a med school.  As bits and pieces about the state budget leak out, it appears that the legislature has not provided extra money but instead has told UC to take it out of its general allocation.  Apparently, the legislature doesn’t view this matter as a suggestion; more of a command. From the Riverside Press-Enterprise:The Legislature’s budget conference committee late Monday altered the funding mix for a school of medicine at UC Riverside, eliminating a $15 million augmentation but directing the UC system to…

| | |

What Ever Happened to the Campus Climate Survey?

Byuclafaculty

The Chronicle of Higher Ed published the chart above back in January based on national freshmen reports about the neighborhoods from which they came. [http://chronicle.com/article/BackgroundsBeliefs-of/136771] The data were gathered by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute (HERI).  [Click on the chart to enlarge and clarify.]  It was around that time that UCOP sponsored a “campus climate” survey of all the campuses.  The survey had been announced with great fanfare after various racial incidents: http://www.ucop.edu/newsroom/newswire/img/16/16489629294e7b6333135a8.pdf.  As we have pointed out on this blog from time to time, there is no sign of any results from that survey as yet despite the considerable…

| | |

Deal Reportedly Reached on the State Budget Between Legislature and Governor

Byuclafaculty

From the governor’s website: Governor Brown Issues Statement on Budget 6-10-2013: SACRAMENTO – Following action from the Joint Legislative Conference Committee on the Budget this evening, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. issued the following statement:  “The Legislature is doing their job and doing it well. It looks like California will get another balanced budget and, very importantly, educational funding that recognizes the different needs of California’s students.” Source: http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18087 The Sacramento Bee indicates that a) the deal is based on the governor’s more conservative revenue estimates as compared to the Legislative Analyst’s numbers* and b) there is (some) money for…

|

State Controller Reports More Money

Byuclafaculty

The state controller has just released his data on cash receipts for 2012-13 through May.  As it turns out, the month of May brought in more cash than forecast in the governor’s May revise, just under $800 million more.  This outcome will add fuel to the conflict between the governor and the legislature as to how much revenue to project for 2013-14.  The governor has argued that much of the extra money that has come in this year is a one-time capital gains result that cannot be assumed to continue. As our previous post noted, the legislature is due to…

| |

Legislative Deadline for State Budget is Saturday

Byuclafaculty

This week is deadline week for the legislature to pass a state budget.  The formal deadline is midnight, Saturday, June 15.  As we have noted in earlier postings, there is unlikely to be any budget surprise for UC.  Possibly, there could be some funding beyond the governor’s May revise proposal for student scholarships and Cal Grants.  As previously noted, most of the inconsistencies between the assembly and senate budgets involve K-14 and social programs.  The two houses are using a more optimistic projection of revenues than the governor. Nonetheless, as negotiations proceed, they could reach a fever pitch by Saturday night:

|

New Student Regent-Designate

Byuclafaculty

The LA Times has a profile of the likely new student regent for 2014-15 (shown in the campaign poster).  As the article notes, there is both a student regent and a student regent-designate at regents meetings.  The latter doesn’t vote but becomes the student regent the following year.  Excerpts: Sadia Saifuddin, who is studying social welfare at UC Berkeley, is believed to be the first Muslim who would represent students on the Board of RegentsA UC Berkeley senior who majors in social welfare and has been active in student government and Mideast issues is expected to become the next University…

I won’t quote even a word from this story

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today has a story on a survey of student attitudes toward what is plagiarism in Europe.  It’s not clear to yours truly that a survey in the U.S. would have results that are all that different.  You can read the story which refers to a conference sponsored by – guess who? – Turnitin at: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/07/study-finds-plagiarism-among-students-all-across-europe And what is there to embed but…[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNel8RwSLyE?feature=player_detailpage]