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politics | tuition | UC budget crisis

Bill Says Pay Tuition Later (and Don’t Call It Tuition)
Byadmin July 8, 2011

State bill seeks more warning on tuition hikes July 7, 2011, Heather Somerville, Fresno Bee Student advocacy groups have stepped up their lobbying this week for a bill to make California State University and University of California officials give students at least six months notice before raising tuition… The bill, proposed by the UC and CSU student associations, would compel university officials to find other ways to manage budget cuts than their “knee-jerk” reaction of increasing fees, said Olgalilia Ramirez, director of government relations for (California State Student Association). AB 970 would require officials to consult with students before raising…

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miscellaneous | U of Iowa

All A-Twitter at the U of Iowa
Byadmin July 8, 2011

Inside Higher Ed today points to a U of Iowa $37,000 scholarship for a student with the best Twitter tweet. Despite President Obama’s recent Twitter town hall, yours truly hopes UCLA can resist the impulse to follow the Iowa example. Excerpt: One question. One hundred and forty characters. $37,000. It’s no game show — the University of Iowa’s Tippie MBA full-time program is awarding one full financial award package to an applicant who most creatively answers the question, “What makes you an exceptional Tippie MBA candidate and full-time MBA hire? Creativity encouraged!”, in 140 characters or less on Twitter. The…

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tuition | UC | UC enrollment

LA Times Wants a Pre-Commitment from UC
Byadmin July 7, 2011

The LA Times today runs an editorial lamenting UC tuition increases and increased admission of out-of-state students. See below for an excerpt in italics. But the editorial goes on to tell UC to pre-commit to reversals of these actions if the budget approves, apparently according to a formula. What in fact needs to happen is not unilateral action by UC but rather a negotiation between the governor, legislative leaders, Dept. of Finance, Legislative Analyst, interest groups, and UC in which future understandings are worked out. One-way pre-commitments are not the way to go. Yours truly has not noticed that the…

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pension | pensions | politics | UC Regents | UCOP

Action Needed Before We Get Boxed In on Pensions in 2012
Byadmin July 7, 2011

One impact of the recently-enacted state budget is that – because it was done without Republican support – there will be no special election this calendar year and, therefore, no propositions dealing with public pensions. In 2012, however, there could be pension-related items on the ballot. California senate leader Darrell Steinberg had this to say about what the legislative Democrats might put on the ballot: Steinberg pointed to Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposals to eliminate purchase of air time, prohibit so-called pension holidays and retroactive pension increases and ban payment of pension benefits to employees who are convicted of a felony…

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UC enrollment

Bill Challenging Prop 209 Which Bans Affirmative Action in UC Admissions
Byadmin July 6, 2011

Undoubtedly, the bill – if enacted – would end up at the California Supreme Court. Bill allowing UC, CSU to consider race, gender, economic background in admissions passes key committee (excerpt) Beige Luciano-Adams, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 07/05/2011 A bill authored by Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, that would allow public universities to factor race, ethnicity, gender and economic status in student admissions passed the Assembly’s Higher Education Committee on Tuesday by a 5-3 vote. According to Hernandez, the purpose of Senate Bill 185 is to address a significant drop in minority enrollment at both UC and CSU campuses –…

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faculty pay | UC Regents | Yudof

Regents to Be Asked to Leave Pay Increases to the President
Byadmin July 6, 2011

There will be other items on the agenda of the upcoming Regents meeting (July 12-14) apart from the budget-related tuition increase discussed in early blog posts. For example, the Regents are asked to delegate certain authority over pay increases to the UC president: Regents Policy 7203, adopted in November 2005 and subsequently amended in July 2010, established the goal of obtaining, prioritizing, and directing funds, to the extent such funds were available, to increase salaries to achieve market comparability for all groups of employees over a ten year period. Upon adoption, the policy included language requiring annual approval by the…

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pension | pensions | UC Regents

Longevity is a Mixed Blessing (for the Pension)
Byadmin July 6, 2011

From time to time, the actuarial assumptions underlying the UC pension plan are re-examined by an outside consultant. For the July Regents meeting, the agenda includes officially changing various assumptions in the light of experience, the net of which raise the normal cost of the plan (by 1%) and the unfunded liability (by 3.7%). The main factor raising costs is a finding that participants are living longer. Full report at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul11/f4.pdf

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miscellaneous | UC Regents | UCLA

UCLA Says No Thanks to Running MLK Hospital Despite Regents Involvement
Byadmin July 6, 2011

Although the Regents took on the revival of the Martin Luther King Hospital that was shut down by LA County after numerous problems, UCLA has declined to operate the revamped facility when it reopens. From a report to the Regents July session: Martin Luther King Hospital Update: … A contract for design/build was executed with Hensel Phelps on April 14, 2011. The construction is on schedule with the 120-bed hospital to be “substantially completed” by March 15, 2013, with occupancy by September 15, 2013. Operation of the facility: A “request for solutions” was issued to 12 pre-qualified organizations. The Board…

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UC | UC enrollment | UC Regents

In-State Applicants Knock on UC Admissions Door But Out-of-State Proportion Rising
Byadmin July 6, 2011

At their upcoming July meeting, the Regents will receive projected undergrad admissions and enrollment data. California residents – while still the heavy majority of projected incoming students – are declining as a percent of total new enrollment. Applications were up but in-state admits, both as freshmen and as community college transfers, were flat. The report is available at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul11/e1.pdf As the budget squeeze continues, UC increasingly will likely turn away in-state residents knocking on the admissions door:

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UC Regents | UCLA

Regents to Approve UCLA Apartment Project at July Meeting
Byadmin July 6, 2011

The next Regents meeting is scheduled for July 12-14. Slated for approval are replacement and enlargement of two UCLA apartment houses in Westwood: 625/641 Landfair Avenue and 558/564 Glenrock Avenue in a $57.5 million project. Although on the July agenda, the project description indicates that construction will begin in July. Photos of those addresses from Google streetview can be seen here. The agenda item can be seen at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul11/gb2.pdf

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News

Bill Says Pay Tuition Later (and Don’t Call It Tuition)

All A-Twitter at the U of Iowa

LA Times Wants a Pre-Commitment from UC

Action Needed Before We Get Boxed In on Pensions in 2012

Bill Challenging Prop 209 Which Bans Affirmative Action in UC Admissions

Regents to Be Asked to Leave Pay Increases to the President

Longevity is a Mixed Blessing (for the Pension)

UCLA Says No Thanks to Running MLK Hospital Despite Regents Involvement

In-State Applicants Knock on UC Admissions Door But Out-of-State Proportion Rising

Regents to Approve UCLA Apartment Project at July Meeting

UC Faculty Associations

Higher Ed Policy

Labor and Advocacy

UC Faculty Associations

Higher Ed Policy

Labor and Advocacy

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