News

CSU Pay Trim for Tim

Byuclafaculty

Timothy P. White, California State University’s incoming chancellor, has requested a 10 percent pay cut, saying in a letter to trustees, that he hopes the move will send a signal that “public higher education matters to all of us, and that we each must play a part in the rebuilding.”  CSU’s board of trustees met today in Long Beach to approve White’s compensation package. He was in line to receive the same pay as outgoing Chancellor Charles Reed: a $421,500 salary plus a $30,000 supplement from CSU foundations. After rounding the pay cut White requested to his base salary, he…

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Listen to Afternoon Session of the Regents: Nov. 14, 2012

Byuclafaculty

The open part of the Regents meeting today after lunch was the Committee on Educational Policy segment.  (Most of the meeting was closed.)  The meeting began with some discussion of fund raising. However, most of the discussion revolved around increased enrollment of out-of-state students.  It is evident the increased number of out-of-staters is taking place for budget reasons – since such students pay full freight.  But UC reps emphasized educational benefits such as a more diverse (geographically) student body with different perspectives, especially with regard to foreign students. The top foreign nationalities among the out-of-staters were reported to be Chinese,…

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Good News and Bad News

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has issued a report on the state budget outlook. The good news is above.  Adding in the effects of Prop 30 (and 39), in the out-years the state begins to run surpluses as shown by the rising positive bars on the right side of the chart above.  Lots of uncertainty, of course, about what might happen to the underlying economy.  It is likely that the governor will be making statements, given the report, about the need for caution. And there is bad news also seen on the chart above on the left side or the…

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Listen to Morning Session of UC Regents: 11-14-12

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly was not able to record yesterday’s Regents’ session (Building and Grounds committee).  However, I did listen and record this morning.  [The live stream seemed to start a few minutes after the meeting began.  The recording begins in the midst of Regents chair Lansing celebrating the passage of Prop 30.]  A recording by yours truly won’t be possible of the session tomorrow due to other commitments.  But as usual, we will request the audios as public documents and post them when received. At today’s meeting, Governor Brown attended and raised questions at various points.  Some of the questions were…

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When the Governor Says Freeze (Professional School Tuition), the Regents Dance to His Tune

Byuclafaculty

In the wake of Prop 30’s passage, the governor has requested that the professional school tuition increases that were supposed to be on the Regents’ agenda today be frozen.  From the LA Times:…UC officials dropped consideration of a possible 20%, or $2,400, mid-year tuition hike for all students after Proposition 30 prevailed. But remaining on the agenda was the separate proposal to raise tuition next year for more than 50 graduate and professional degree programs in such areas as business, dentistry, law and social work. Under the plan, the so-called professional degree supplemental tuition would have increased from 1.2% to…

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UCLA and the Regents Denied a Stay of the Injunction on Selling the Japanese Garden

Byuclafaculty

Loyal readers of this blog will recall the ongoing attempt by UCLA to sell the Japanese Garden that was supposed to be maintained in perpetuity.  They will recall that garden supporters got an injunction against the sale.  UCLA and the Regents asked for a stay of the injunction. That request was denied back on October 26.  The decision says a stay would not “promote the interests of justice.” You can read the decision at: Open publication – Free publishing – More ucla Our loyal readers will also recall that we have urged UCLA to sit down with those who have…

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Swaps as Flops?

Byuclafaculty

From the San Francisco Chronicle: Passing Proposition 30 prevented hundreds of millions of dollars in near-term cuts to the University of California, a laboratory of innovation that fuels our state’s economy. But now a large part of that lifeline might be squandered in payments to Wall Street banks, according to a report released Tuesday by researchers at UC Berkeley. Over the last decade, the UC Board of Regents has engaged in risky deals with Wall Street banks called interest rate swaps. Banks sold swaps to the university and other public institutions as insurance against rising interest rates on variable rate bonds. Under a swap agreement, borrowers…

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Fox & Co.

Byuclafaculty

Craig Fox The New York Times today has an article about the “dream team” of social scientists who advised the Obama campaign.  One team member profiled is Professor Craig Fox of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Excerpt: Late last year Matthew Barzun, an official with the Obama campaign, called Craig Fox, a psychologist in Los Angeles, and invited him to a political planning meeting in Chicago, according to two people who attended the session. “He said, ‘Bring the whole group; let’s hear what you have to say,’ ” recalled Dr. Fox, a behavioral economist at the University of California, Los Angeles. So…