News

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    Waiting for my comment to register with the Register

    Byadmin

    Above is a screen image of an article of 4-14-11 from the Orange County Register. The article deals with the governor’s comment – noted in an earlier post on this blog – that UC tuition could rise substantially in the absence of a deal on the state budget. However, the OC Register inserted in the text of the article – and to the right of the headline – a link to a database of all UC salaries. Yours truly posted the following comment/request on the article this morning: Can we please see the database of all salaries of employees of…

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    LAO provides options for quality reduction at UC

    Byadmin

    The Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor continues to provide helpful suggestions for higher ed including UC regarding budgetary options:Reduce personnel costs by 10 percent at UC and 5 percent at CSU: $408 million • Could require UC faculty to teach more and research less • Could reduce sabbaticals and release time • Could increase employee benefit contributions at CSU Full list of options at http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/education/2011/Review_of_Budget_Reduction_Options_for_Higher_Education_41211.pdf [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qrjtr_uFac&w=320&h=195]

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    Possible Deal on State Budget Reported

    Byadmin

    Capitol Weekly is reported that a deal between the governor and Republican legislators is being discussed/negotiated in which the GOP would agree to extend the temporary taxes due to expire in July until November. In November, voters would be asked if they wanted to extend the taxes beyond that point. A majority vote can pass the budget which would assume, presumably, the tax extensions would pass in November. However, this is a report, not a definite fact. Details at http://capitolweekly.net/article.php?1=1&_c=zmrye1u2fjhsk6&xid=zmpzz7akq1pkwi&done=.zmq26xjhtm7yq4&_ce=1302787353.bf5f992d0229ede3494e3b6ef281820d&_c=zmrye1u2fjhsk6 Update: A related report is at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/04/at-gop-fundraiser-good-vibes-for-brown-budget.html

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    Former UC President Kerr Recalls Legislative Ban on UC Sales That Compete with Private Sector

    Byadmin

    The issue of the proposed hotel/conference center planned to replace the existing Faculty Center has raised the question of the degree to which UC entities can provide services that compete with private providers. Prior posts on this blog have noted that issue. In an interview in the 1990s, which dealt in large part with the development of UC-Davis, former UC president Clark Kerr recalled a legislative ban on such sales. He noted that agricultural products produced at Davis could not be sold, especially wine. But the campus could hold free wine tastings which members of the legislature were happy to…

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    No pay increase for faculty to ensure UC quality says LA Times

    Byadmin

    The LA Times ran the editorial below today. It starts out well enough. But the LAT editorial committee apparently believes that UC should be managed as wisely as a bankrupt newspaper when it gets to conclusions: Highly esteemed worldwide, the University of California is among the state’s most valuable assets, but it is in danger of being sharply devalued as its budget undergoes continual cuts and uncertainty. UC President Mark Yudof hopes to bring some stability to the university by using whatever budget he is granted this year as the starting point for a five-year deal with state government, with…

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    Follow Up

    Byadmin

    The dismissal (or is it nonrenewal of funding?) of a researcher at UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has periodically made the news, particularly on the right, over the past year or so. His website at UCLA no longer operates but the Google-cache function produces the past page with the following description: Since 1974 Dr. James Enstrom has conducted research on the epidemiology of cancer, particularly examining the health practices and cancer risk in several well-defined populations within California and the United States. His significant findings relevant to cancer include: identification of unusually low-risk populations, like health-conscious Mormons; measurement of an…

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    Gambling on Online?

    Byadmin

    Prof. Michael Meranze pointed me to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed concerning UC’s apparent change in policy regarding funding for its online education initiative. Apparently, there will now be borrowing to launch the project, although previous plans were to rely on fund raising. Dan Simmons, chair of the Academic Senate, was quite cautious about the initiative in the Chronicle article: (excerpt) Daniel L. Simmons, chair of the system’s academic senate, said on Friday that he supported the pilot program and understood the need to experiment with online education even during times of crisis. The senate formally endorsed…

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    AAUP Data on Faculty Pay

    Byadmin

    The AAUP data for salaries and compensation of faculty in 2010-11 are now available. UCLA is reported to pay the average full professor $153,700 and $203,000 in total compensation (including benefits). The data are at http://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/1D1C8A5B-7A93-42DB-BB1F-6840B2A20387/0/ALFL.pdf Figures for other UC campuses are also reported with Berkeley at the top and Santa Cruz at the bottom. According to the AAUP documentation, the numbers include faculty in law, dentistry, nursing, and management but exclude those under the health services compensation plan. So the averages will be affected by the presence or absence of these programs on particular campuses. The relevant footnotes are…

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    Something that could be done on the UC Budget: Time to Ask

    Byadmin

    On The Record (Excerpt) Gov. Jerry Brown recently announced that he was ending talks with Republican legislators over a temporary tax increase. What can be done to prevent partisan standoffs in Sacramento and improve the UC’s financial circumstances? Daniel 
Mitchell, 4-11-11, Daily Bruin When the state legislature spends time in the midst of a major budget crisis debating about whether to ban shark fin soup, you know we’re in trouble. The current focus on soup is not because legislators don’t know about the dire budget situation. Rather it means they don’t know what to do about it. And that is…