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No Meds Down by the Riverside Says LA Times

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post noted efforts by UC-Riverside and UC-Merced to create med schools.  Today the LA Times editorializes against the former. A UC Riverside medical school? Not now: Fiscal uncertainty makes this the wrong time to embark on the ambitious new project. (excerpt) It certainly would be good for UC Riverside if it had a full medical school. Professional schools — especially medical and law schools — add luster to a college’s reputation and can attract research money and elite professors. Whether it would be good for the state, or for the University of California as a whole, is another…

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Regents Endorse Governor’s Tax Initiative

Byuclafaculty

Although we posted an audio and some description of the July 18 morning session of the Regents in which they endorsed Prop 30, the governor’s tax initiative, you might want to read about it rather than listen.  The Regents acted after the strong urging of President Yudof.  Here is an excerpt from Larry Gordon’s story in the LA Times with a link: …the governing board of the 10-campus system formally endorsed the governor’s tax measure. “It’s a simple question: Will UC be better off if it passes than if it doesn’t? That’s not just an answer of ‘yes,’ that’s an…

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Audio on the UCLA Hotel from the Regents Meeting of 7-17-12

Byuclafaculty

Because of interest in the UCLA hotel/conference center discussion at the Regents meeting of 7-17-2012, here is a more accessible posting of the audio from that date, just on the hotel.  It is easier to navigate than the earlier posting. Part 1 – Lawyer Statement Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

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Listen to Audio of the Regents’ Afternoon Session: July 18, 2012

Byuclafaculty

This audio is a direct recording of the Regents’ afternoon session of July 28, 2012. At the end of the recording, it is announced that the governor is coming and that the Regents – who were going into closed session – would go back into open session when he arrived. However, the live-stream audio was shut off at that point.  When we get the full audio from the Regents, if there are remarks from the governor on it, the audio will be posted.  (Presumably, the governor wanted to talk about the Regents’ earlier endorsement of his tax initiative.)  Otherwise, this…

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Listen to Audio of the Morning Session of the Regents: July 18, 2012

Byuclafaculty

The Regents sessions on the morning of July 18thwere heavily budget oriented.  This audio is incomplete and starts in the midst of President Yudof’s statement on budget matters and his advocacy of support by the Regents for the governor’s tax initiative on the November ballot.   Public comments by students and others ended in a demonstration of the type that has become standard at Regents meetings.  In essence, demonstrators wanted tuition freezes, even if the governor’s initiative did not pass.  Other items were raised including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Eventually, police cleared the room of demonstrators.  The recording continued during roughly…

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Making Elephants Fly

Byuclafaculty

Approval by the Regents of the UCLA hotel/conference center in its present iteration may have been inevitable but it does not change the underlying economic reality of the project.  It either is a white elephant or it isn’t.  And the underlying economic reality goes beyond this specific proposal.  Whether the governor’s tax initiative passes or not, the long-term outlook for the state’s support for UC is not bright.  In an earlier post, this blog reproduced a chart from the UCLA Anderson Forecast showing the growing California  job gap between the pre-1990 trend line and the actual results.  Moreover the chart…

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Where Was UCLA?

Byuclafaculty

As this item is being posted, the Regents are considering endorsement of the governor’s tax initiative.  Part of the process was a memorial from the faculty on that issue.  Above is a tabulation on the Regents’ agenda reporting the faculty vote.  Of those voting, 93% favored the endorsement.  But note that for whatever reason, few faculty members at UCLA voted.  In fact, fewer voted at UCLA than at any other campus including much smaller Merced.  Eric Hays of CUCFA brought this fact to my attention. The item including the table above is athttp://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul12/f2.pdf

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A Tuition Cut That Really Isn’t Is on the Regents Agenda Today

Byuclafaculty

Various professional schools have what amount to tuition surcharges above the base tuition for revenue generation.  An item on today’s Regents agenda for the Committee on Educational Policy would allow fast cuts in the surcharges.  Why?  If the governor’s tax initiative doesn’t pass, the Regents would likely quickly raise base tuition to offset the planned $250 million trigger cut.  The base+surcharge might then exceed market rates for some schools, cutting into applications and admissions.   Under the proposal, a quick cut in the surcharge could offset or partially offset the base increase. You can find the item at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul12/e1.pdf And,…

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New Law Aimed at Cheaper Higher Ed Textbooks

Byuclafaculty

Description of SB 1539, Signed by Gov. Brown: The Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of the 4 segments of the higher education system in the state. These segments include the 3 public segments: the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Private and independent institutions of higher education constitute the other segment. Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education…

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Listen to Regents Meeting July 17, 2012: Hotel Approval

Byuclafaculty

The UCLA hotel/conference center was approved by the Regents Committee on Grounds and Buildings.  That outcome was not unexpected, despite the many concerns that have been raised in the past.  Among other items, and probably most important, was a letter UCLA solicited from the Luskins saying essentially that the proposal was what they wanted and anything else would be a breach.  President Yudof was careful not to say that their original intent was so specific.  He said it is now specific.  It would be unusual, to say the least, for the Regents to walk away from $50 million. The recording…