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Do We Really Want to Roll Straight Ahead on the Hotel Project?

Byuclafaculty

UCLA seems to be rolling along on its hotel-conference center project without looking to the right or left.  That approach can get the university into trouble. Yours truly received two items from a neighbor group that has been raising concerns about the project.  Below you will find links to two documents that were submitted in connection with the recent environmental hearing on the hotel that UCLA was required to hold.  One document is essentially a cover letter from a law firm summarizing points made in the longer written submission of the group. The objections range from procedural – it appears…

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Yudof on Tuition Freeze: We will find a way

Byuclafaculty

Statement on UC funding in budget legislation signed by Gov. Brown by Mark G. Yudof on Thursday, June 28, 2012 The budget legislation signed by the Governor is a significant step toward bringing stability to public higher education funding in California. Based on the incentives in this budget package, I intend to recommend to the Board of Regents that our current tuition levels remain in place for the upcoming year. As always, it is up to the regents to decide the matter. We would have preferred that state funds for a tuition buy-out begin with the coming budget year of…

DC Hearing on the Role of Research Universities

Byuclafaculty

The House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Science Education held a hearing on Wednesday June 27, 2012 on The Role of Research Universities in Securing America’s Future Prosperity: Challenges and Expectations. Witnesses included: Mr. Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Chair, Committee on Research Universities, National Academies; Dr. John M. Mason, Jr., Associate Provost and Vice President for Research, Auburn University; Dr. Jeffrey R. Seemann, Vice President for Research, Texas A&M University and Chief Research Officer, The Texas A&M University System; Dr. Leslie P. Tolbert, Senior Vice President for Research, The University of Arizona; and, Dr. James N. Siedow, Vice Provost…

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The New State Budget While in Transit

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly is currently in transit (traveling) through July 5 – hence, the transit picture at right.  Thus, I can only give the newly-signed state budget cursory attention.  As far as UC is concerned, however, there is no new news relative to prior posts on this blog.  If voters don’t pass the governor’s tax initiative in November, there will be trigger cuts with UC losing $250 million.  As noted in prior posts, UC tuition is frozen for the time being thanks to an added $125 million from the legislature. Below is a table from the official budget documentation.  In the…

Actually, the UC-Davis pepper spray affair is not quite over

Byuclafaculty

You may have seen headlines indicating that UC-Davis has been ordered to release the names of the university police involved in the pepper spray incident.  Some names have been released in earlier reports.  But the new court order refers to names that were redacted from official documents. In fact, the judge involved gave the union representing the police officers who want their identities kept private a chance to appeal. For details, see http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/26/4590884/judge-release-names-tied-to-uc.html

Love Birds at U-VA

Byuclafaculty

Those who have been following the University of Virginia drama of the firing and unfiring of the university’s president by the Board of Visitors (equivalent of the Regents) may be surprised by one aspect of the outcome. The unfired president and the head of the Board who led the charge in the firing are now – in public at least – acting like love birds. Exactly how happy the ending of this story really is will undoubtedly emerge once the media attention dies down. Inside Higher Ed has a detailed story today at:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/27/uva-board-reinstates-president-sullivan-and-prepares-strategic-planning-effort I guess all you need…[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ98qac2UIM&w=320&h=195]

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When It Comes to November Ballot Initiatives, the More the Merrier

Byuclafaculty

Yet another initiative has qualified for the crowded November ballot.  This one is a do-good budget reform with various features including a move to two-year budgets rather than one-year.  California had two-year budgets back in Great Depression times.  No miracles resulted from budgets based on the Earth cycling around the Sun twice rather than once back then.  It is odd to think that such miracles will occur now.  Budgets are based on forecasts of revenues and to some extent on spending. When the January budget proposal is made, the governor forecasts a period ranging from 6 to 18 months ahead.  With…

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Playing Catch-Up on the State Budget

Byuclafaculty

As prior posts on this blog have noted, there are all kinds of last-minute developments going on regarding the state budget that affect UC including a tuition freeze in exchange for more funding – conditioned on voter approval in November of the governor’s tax initiative. While these developments were occurring, nothing seemed to be emanating from UCOP concerning what these changes in the budget might mean, what view UCOP had of them, etc.  As of this writing, there is still nothing on the UCOP website about the budget changes. However, a letter from President Yudof to the Regents began circulating…