Author: uclafaculty

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Listen to What the Governor Said About the Higher Ed Budget

Byuclafaculty

In an earlier post, we described the elements of the state budget for 2013-14 proposed by the governor and noted that his remarks at the news conference where the budget was presented largely mirrored prior statements he made at the Regents. Below is a link to an audio of his remarks on higher education (UC and CSU).  Although most of the time at the news conference was devoted to other aspects of the budget, higher education came up several times including once at the portion of the event with Budget Director Ana Matosantos. You can hear his remarks – and…

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UC-Riverside Apparently Still Dogged by No Meds

Byuclafaculty

We have produced prior posts from time to time on UC-Riverside’s quest to get some state money to set up a new medical school.  Apparently, the governor’s budget proposal that was released yesterday did not provide that money: …State Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, said he was “very disappointed not to see specific funding identified” for the medical school, where classes for the first group of 50 students are set to begin this fall.…Local officials have sought state money for the medical school since 2008. In 2011, officials delayed the first freshman class because of the lack of state funding, and…

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He said/she said official rebuttal misses the big issue on the Grand Hotel

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post noted an op ed in the Daily Bruin by Laura Lake on the grand hotel project slated to occupy a location roughly across from Ackerman where a parking structure now sits.  A rebuttal op ed ran yesterday by Steve Olsen, UCLA’s chief financial officer (and a very capable individual).  Here is an excerpt: The Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference and Guest Center will become a reality at UCLA in 2016 thanks to a generous gift from two alumni who share UCLA’s vision of creating a place where academics from all across the world can gather to share…

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Quick Summary & Reaction to the Governor’s Budget

Byuclafaculty

Here is some preliminary analysis of the governor’s budget proposal.  Note that it is a proposal and not an enacted budget.  Typically, the proposal is revised in May and not passed until close to the June 30 deadline. At the state level, the general fund is said to have had a negative balance of $1.615 billion as of last June 30.  The governor is proposing and forecasting that at the end of this fiscal year (2012-13), there will instead be a positive reserve of $0.785 billion.  That swing tells you that he is projecting a surplus this current year (inflow…

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A Shake for Higher Ed in the Forthcoming State Budget?

Byuclafaculty

According to the LA Times (and consistent with prior posts on this blog regarding the governor’s attitude toward higher ed costs and online education), Brown plans a less pleasant shake for public higher ed than depicted in the photo: …Brown is expected to use his spending plan to shake up California’s public university systems, according to administration officials. The governor has long complained that they are bloated and inefficient, and he wants to attach strings to some of their funding… Full story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20130110,0,746142.story We will know more later today when the budget is presented. Until then, a little music:[youtube…

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UCLA to Host LA Mayoral Debate Jan. 28

Byuclafaculty

Parade for Opening of LA City Hall in 1928 LA’s City Hall and UCLA’s Westwood campus were under construction at about the same time.  This coming January 28, UCLA will host a mayoral debate at Royce Hall:UCLA and the Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy & Jobs have joined together to co-host a jobs-focused mayoral debate on Monday, Jan. 28, at UCLA’s Royce Hall. The debate will be broadcast live, commercial free, on NBC4 from 7 to 8 p.m. and will continue as a live webcast from 8 to 8:30 p.m. at www.nbcla.com. The debate, moderated by NBC4 chief political reporter…

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Listen to Gov. Brown Say He is President of UC at Nov. 27, 2012 Special Regents Meeting

Byuclafaculty

The Regents held a special meeting to approve the new UC-Berkeley Chancellor and the interim UC-Riverside Chancellor on Nov. 27, 2012.  You can hear that meeting at the link below.  Governor Brown , Lt. Governor Newsom, and one Regent (Zettel) voted against the pay package for the new Berkeley chancellor Nicholas Dirks which paid $50,000 in sslary more than the previous chancellor.  (The increment was from private funds.)  All three voted for the appointment but against the pay. Brown’s comments are particularly interesting and occur roughly between minute 5:50 and 10:50 on the recording.  He says that the state funding…

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Timing is Everything

Byuclafaculty

The state controller’s monthly cash report through December is out today and on the face of it there is less revenue than anticipated and more expenditure than anticipated for the first half of the year.  However, the controller in footnotes and in a supplementary statement attributes these results to timing rather than some fundamental departure from budgetary expectations.  Certain sales tax receipts that would normally have gotten into the general fund in December were not transferred there until January.  And certain local expenditures were paid out earlier than had been expected. In any event, these figures are too recent to…

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Things are heating up – particularly with regard to state politicos – concerning online ed at UC

Byuclafaculty

From the L.A. NOW blog of LA Times:Conference about online education attracts major players to UCLA January 8, 2013, Larry Gordon A national conference at UCLA on the future of online college education attracted some of the biggest names in the industry Tuesday, as well as politicians and faculty leaders from state universities. …Speakers at the event included Daphne Koller, the Stanford professor who is one of the founders of Coursera, a MOOC that offers courses from prestigious universities for free but usually without college credit, and Sebastian Thrun, a Stanford faculty member who co-founded Udacity, another MOOC that has…

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Crime Issues at UCLA

Byuclafaculty

UCLA Police Dept. building Winter quarter seems to have opened with some crime issues according to the Westwood-Century City Patch:  UCLA students were being warned Tuesday to be on alert after reports of two students being the victims of separate crimes about 90 minutes apart early Monday on or near the campus. About 12:05 a.m. Monday, a male student was walking north on Veteran Avenue from Gayley Avenue—adjacent to the west side of the campus—when a man approached him from behind, “placed a handgun in his back, and demanded his property,” according to UCLA police…The second crime occurred between 1:15…