News

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    Gov. Brown Says Pension Proposal Will Involve Constitutional Changes & a Vote of the People

    Byadmin

    At the Milken Institute State of the State conference today (attended by yours truly), Governor Brown was asked by Michael Milken about public pensions in California. (Cell phone photo of conference event at right.) Brown indicated he was working on a proposal on pensions – but did not give a precise date when it would be unveiled. He did say that it would involve a constitutional amendment that would have to be approved by a vote of the people. It was unclear what the coverage of the pension proposal would be. All state and local pensions in California? Just state-level…

  • A matter of degree

    Byadmin

    Inside Higher Ed reported yesterday that the governor of Florida thinks its a waste of money to offer degrees in anthropology at public universities in his state. http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/popup/news/2011/10/12/florida_governor_challenges_idea_of_non_stem_degrees Today it turns out that his daughter majored in anthropology, albeit at an out-of-state private college http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/10/13/qt#272765 I don’t know why he thinks anthropology degrees are expensive to provide. You can have them for a song:

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    From the UCOP-top-website-press-releases-as-of-today file

    Byadmin

    MERCED — Chancellor Dorothy Leland of the University of California, Merced, said today (Oct. 3) the 6-year-old campus has made significant contributions to the state through its innovative research and that more investment is needed for it to meet its promise to bring greater economic prosperity to the San Joaquin Valley, the fastest-growing region in the state… UC President Mark G. Yudof, along with some 300 community members, formally welcomed Leland to the university during a ceremony today in the Carol Tomlinson-Keasey Quad… With countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and India aggressively funding higher education infrastructure for research, Leland…

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    Piggy-Back

    Byadmin

    Can UC piggy-back on CalSTRS? We are “education,” too. And we have pension funding issues. If you don’t ask, you surely don’t get. See below: CalSTRS reported ready to seek more state funding Sacramento Bee, 10/11/11, Dale Kasler For more than two years, CalSTRS has been talking about asking state lawmakers for more money to plug its funding gap. Now the teachers’ pension fund believes the Legislature is ready to listen. Pension fund Chief Executive Jack Ehnes said last week he wants Gov. Jerry Brown to include additional CalSTRS funding in a long-awaited pension reform proposal he’s expected to release…

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    Just sign us up

    Byadmin

    From today’s Inside Higher Ed comes some interesting news about a collective bargaining contract UC recently signed: “We believe that if courses are moved online, they will most likely be the classes currently taught by lecturers,” reads a brief declaration against online education on the website of UC-AFT, the University of California chapter of the American Federation of Teachers… Now the California lecturers, who make up nearly half of the system’s undergraduate teaching teachers, believe they have used… bargaining power to score a rare coup. The University of California last week tentatively agreed to a deal with UC-AFT that included…

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    The Money Tree at the Fresno Bee

    Byadmin

    You probably don’t follow the editorial page of the Fresno Bee religiously. With that in mind, yours truly reproduces an editorial that appeared on it last week – without comment. But before I do, you might be interested in the comment by state controller John Chiang regarding state revenues through the first quarter of the fiscal year and the possibility that the so-called budget “trigger” would be pulled – further cutting the UC budget: “For better or worse, the potential for revenue shortfalls is precisely why the Governor and Legislature included trigger cuts in this year’s State spending plan,” Chiang…

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    Cal State-Westwood?

    Byadmin

    Gov. Pat Brown signs the Donahoe Act in 1960 implementing the Master Plan for Higher Education. The LA Times ran an editorial yesterday, lamenting rising tuition at UC and the lack of state support. It also threw out some suggestions. Among them: …The university also should consider a temporary policy that favors admission to students in the immediate geographical area for a certain percentage of new undergraduates. That way, more students could live at home and avoid the hefty cost of a dorm. UC campuses are not usually commuter schools, but troubled times call for a willingness to make sensible…

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    UC Regents Meeting: Sept. 15, 2011

    Byadmin

    The Regents met Sept. 13-15, 2011. Yesterday, we posted audio for the first two days. This is Day 3. That day is significant for what did not happen, namely approval of President Yudof’s plan for a multi-year schedule of tuition increases in light of diminishing state budget support. The audio is divided into Parts 1 and 2. Part 2 contains the discussion in which the Regents fret about the budget situation but do not act. The agenda for Day 3: 8:30 am Committee of the Whole (public comment) http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/sept11/cw15.pdf 8:50 am Committee on Compensation (open session) http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/sept11/comp1.pdf 9:00 am Committee…

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    Bel-Air

    Byadmin

    A news note on the UCLA hotel/conference center issue. The Hotel Bel-Air, just north of campus, is about to reopen, albeit with a labor dispute in progress. And Marilyn Monroe (at left and in the video below from a 1953 visit to the Hotel) won’t be staying there this time around. From the LA Times: When the Hotel Bel-Air reopens next week after a two-year renovation, the resort’s mascot swans — Chloe, Athena and Hercules — will still occupy the lush 12-acre property visited by presidents, movie stars and other dignitaries. But absent will be most of the union workers…

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    Governor Vetoes Bill That Sparked UC-Berkeley Bake Sale Controversy

    Byadmin

    As readers of this blog will know, opponents of a bill that might have (not at all clear) weakened the anti-affirmative action Prop 209 – which applies to public university admissions, organized a bake sale at UC-Berkeley which caused much controversy on that campus. Governor Brown has now vetoed that bill. Jerry Brown vetoes bill to let colleges consider race, gender 10/8/11 Capitol Alert Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation today that would have allowed the University of California and California State University systems to consider race, ethnicity and gender in student admissions. The interpretation of Proposition 209, which prohibits the…