News

U of Texas: Things to Come at UC?

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed continues its coverage of ongoing political issues facing the U of Texas. Could similar developments be coming in UC’s future? Wrong Kind of Accountability?(excerpts) May 10, 2011, Inside Higher Ed, Dan Berrett Faculty and administrators at public universities in Texas said Monday they don’t want to shrink from efforts to make public higher education more accountable — they just don’t want to do it this way. In this case, “this way” refers to efforts by the University of Texas System Board of Regents to measure the productivity of faculty members in strictly numerical terms. The efforts are…

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Big Wheel Keeps On Turning

Byuclafaculty

Michael Meranze alerted me to the item below which he posted on another blog. Apart from the specific merits of the project involved – online education in this case – it illustrates the momentum that projects at UC can take on. Even if the original plan is not working out, the projects tends to continue. In the case below, a project that was supposed to develop a funding source on its own now seems to be poised to borrow money from the university. The big wheels keep turning… Academic Council Responds to Debt-Financing of Online ProjectMay 6, 2011 PRESIDENT MARK…

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Differential Tuition at UC?

Byuclafaculty

University of California weighs varying tuitions at its 10 campuses (excerpts)Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2011 Should an education at UC Berkeley cost more than one at UC Santa Cruz? Should a student pay $11,000 in tuition at UC Riverside while his friend is billed $16,000 at UCLA? …Nationally, UC is late to the debate, with many other state university systems long ago having established differential tuitions for their campuses… …Perhaps not surprisingly, officials at UC Berkeley and UCLA have been among the most vocal advocates for some freedom in setting undergraduate tuition rates, which now are established…

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How Big Would the Hotel/Conference Center Be?

Byuclafaculty

The consultant’s report for the hotel/conference center proposed to replace the Faculty Center was premised on 276 rooms. Other numbers of rooms in that range have been reported. Most of us are not in the hotel business and don’t have a sense of scale. So how big is that? The LA Business Journal regularly prints tables showing larger businesses in different sectors. The May 2 issue had a listing of LA County hotels so we can look up hotels in the Westwood area. According to that listing, the Hotel Palomar at 10740 Wilshire Blvd. – walking distance to Westwood Village…

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If You’ve Got a Few Hours to Spare Staring at Your Computer Screen: 2 Suggestions

Byuclafaculty

The Economist magazine and the Lewis Center of the Luskin School of Public Affairs sponsored a forum at UCLA on April 26 on governance problems in California. You can see a video below (which runs about an hour and a half). Yours truly is at minute 45 to minute 51 and at later points. The forum centered on the Economist issue of that week which focused on California and tended to put the blame for current dysfunction in Sacramento on direct democracy – the initiative process. Earlier, former UCLA Chancellor gave the 2011 Bollens-Ries-Hoffenberg lecture in which he outlined his…

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Parking Coincidence

Byuclafaculty

You might be surprised to learn from the powers-that-be in parking (who say that “YOUR FEEDBACK” is so important to them – that’s what their latest memo says) that the May 6, 2011 final parking rate increases look remarkably like the April 6, 2011 proposed increases. Who would have thought there would have been such similarity? May 6: Open publication – Free publishing – More parking April 6: Open publication – Free publishing – More parking The similarity can only be a coincidence, I’m sure. P.S.: Don’t park on the sidewalk. http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/05/illegally_apronparked_cars_in_the_north_village_receive_citations_warning_of_future_tickets

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State Spending Cap Initiative: Is It for Real?

Byuclafaculty

Related to the prior post is a second initiative – also one that was submitted in connection with GOP legislative negotiations with the governor – that would cap state expenditures based on a formula linked to inflation and population growth. As with the pension initiative, it is unclear whether there is funding to obtain the needed signatures. This initiative in effect proposes to return to the Gann limit that was approved by voters in 1979 as the “son of Prop 13” that had been approved the year before. The Gann limit on state spending was largely gutted by Prop 98…

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Pension Initiative Advances Toward Petition Stage But Is It For Real?

Byuclafaculty

When initiatives are filed, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) provides an analysis, primarily of budgetary implications. Readers of this blog will know that an initiative was filed – apparently as part of the negotiations strategy of Republican legislators with the governor – which would put certain limits on public pensions. The LAO has now provided an analysis. The initiative would affect both new hires and current employees with regard to an increase in the minimum age of retirement. It is pointed out in the LAO’s analysis that this provision might well be illegal. The initiative also sets a 60% cap…