Author: uclafaculty

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Two Charts from the UCLA Anderson Forecast Worth Pondering

Byuclafaculty

Economist says California at risk of losing its educational advantage Timm Herdt, Ventura County Star, February 5, 2013 SACRAMENTO — A senior economist with UCLA’s Anderson Forecast warned lawmakers Tuesday that California is at risk of losing what has long been one of its top economic advantages, a workforce that is better educated than those in other states. Jerry Nickelsburg told members of an Assembly panel (that)… California still leads the nation in percentage of college-educated adults, calling that statistic “a reflection of our advantage in skills.” But Nickelsburg disclosed census data that shows the state’s advantage has disappeared among…

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Yale & Penn Sue Defaulting Students But UC Doesn’t

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Daily News:Needy U.S. borrowers are defaulting on almost $1 billion in federal student loans earmarked for the poor, leaving schools such as Yale and the University of Pennsylvania with little choice except to sue their graduates. The record defaults on federal Perkins loans may jeopardize the prospects of current students since they are part of a revolving fund that colleges give to students who show extraordinary financial hardship. Yale, Penn and George Washington University have all sued former students over nonpayment, court records show…  Repaying Perkins loans may be a lower priority for borrowers with multiple debts, said Nancy…

Don’t Waste Your Money Listening to Social Scientists

Byuclafaculty

House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor is anxious to cut funding for social sciences, especially poli sci, according to Inside Higher Ed today: Cantor… called for cutting federal funding for research in the social sciences, with the goal of “reprioritizing existing federal research spending,” he said. “Funds currently spent by the government on social science – including on politics of all things – would be better spent helping find cures to diseases.” In doing so, Cantor revived prior efforts by House Republicans to end federal funding for research that goes beyond basic medicine…  Full story at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/06/cantor-supports-rubio-wyden-salary-disclosure-act-criticizes-funding-political  Oddly, these words were delivered…

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Magical Thinking on Online Higher Ed to Spread to Legislature

Byuclafaculty

From the Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert blog we learn that legislative Democrats are going to be educated on online higher ed: (excerpt) Senate Democrats will be gathering for a policy retreat at the Stanford Mansion today…  Democrats will be mapping strategy for the year ahead, and Capitol Alert has learned that online education guru Sal Kahn will be speaking. Kahn’s presence underscores the serious attention online education has been getting, including from Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, as a way to educate more students for less. The University of California regents have lent their support to the idea as Brown pushes the university system…

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The Moral: It’s a Good Idea to Avoid the Rush

Byuclafaculty

From Inside Higher Ed today… Maybe it was inevitable that one of the new massive open online courses would crash. After all, MOOCs are being launched with considerable speed, not to mention hype. But MOOC advocates might have preferred the collapse of a course other than the one that was suspended this weekend, one week into instruction: “Fundamentals of Online Education: Planning and Application.” Technology and design problems are largely to blame for the course’s problems. And many students are angry that a course about online education — let alone one offered by the Georgia Institute of Technology — wouldn’t…

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Yeah, sure. We believe you, Mark.

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Times:…Governor Jerry Brown suddenly became active in UC policies and Mark Yudof resigns. Is there any connection?There is really no connection because I’ve been pondering [resignation] for a long time. The governor is extraordinarily intelligent, he is extraordinarily passionate. It does require some energy to respond to his ideas, but I’m fine with that. That would not be a reason to move on. If anything, I have some confidence that out of this passion of the governor, some very positive things for the university can come… Of course, we believe you, Mark…[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOjTVYQ-Xcg?feature=player_detailpage]…But there were the good old…

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California GOP pushes higher ed tuition freeze/cheap degree

Byuclafaculty

From the Sacramento Bee today:What’s a marginalized minority party to do? It’s a key question for Republican lawmakers staring down a newly enshrined Democratic supermajority. Part of the answer so far seems to be a renewed emphasis on higher education. Both Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, and Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, have introduced a pair of bills that would freeze tuition at the University of California and California State University for the seven-year duration of the higher tax rates mandated by Proposition 30… In a written response to the budget, Republican Connie Conway, R-Tulare, called the tuition freeze bills an effort to “ensure…

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Another UC capital project that seemed like a great idea

Byuclafaculty

From time to time, we have noted that UC capital projects don’t necessarily work out as planned. While we have generally raised this point in the context of the UCLA grand hotel, other campuses are not exempt. The Sacramento Bee carries the interesting report from UC-Davis excerpted below: Before construction began, UC Davis laid out a vision for West Village, its new on-campus community, as a showcase of energy efficiency that would provide affordable housing for faculty and students. Nearly two years after the $300 million development opened, it has not yet fulfilled those expectations. Its student apartments have experienced high turnover. Single-family homes for faculty and staff…

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Listen to Radio Interview with President Yudof on UC Future

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, KPCC’s Airtalk with Larry Mantle featured an interview with the heads of the three segments of higher ed in California: President Mark Yudof of UC, Chancellor Timothy White of CSU (and until recently Chancellor of UC-Riverside), and Brice Harris, Chancellor of the community colleges. The full broadcast ran about three quarters of an hour.  I have pulled out just the Yudof excerpts which run about one third as long. As blog readers will know, Yudof has resigned as UC president, effective August.  So he may now be a bit freer to say what he wants – but, of course,…

Concerns about Justice Dept. intervention in university library electronic reserves

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today has an article concerning a matter on which we have posted in the past.  Increasingly, faculty put material on reserve for students.  Typically, such material is not available to the general public; some kind of password or course registration is required.  Publishers have sued regarding copyright violation in a case involving Georgia State U.  So far, the library there has prevailed. Apparently, the U.S. Dept. of Justice wants to intervene in the case, and the suspicion is that the intervention will be on the side of the publishers who are appealing a lower court ruling.  You…