News

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Moody’s Evidently Thinks the State Has an Obligation for the UC Pension

Byuclafaculty

Calpensions.com is reporting that Moody’s is counting state (any state, not just California) pension debt, along with regular bond debt, in calculating total obligations. Presumably, this sum will be considered in rating bonds. I imagine most folks will take this as Bad News. But note that UC has struggled to get the state to acknowledge that it had a liability for the UC pension. The state is making contributions to its other major pension plans, CalPERS and CalSTRS, but it is not doing anything for UC, forcing the University to divert resources from its general operations. Thanks to efforts of…

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UC Testimony on Cost Savings Before Assembly Committee on Higher Ed: 1-18-11

Byuclafaculty

The chair of the UC-Berkeley Academic Senate, UC VP Peter Taylor, and a student representative testified on steps UC is taking to cut costs and improve efficiency. (This hearing is the same one at which an LAO staffer testified as shown in a prior post on this blog.) There was discussion of such things as online courses and centralization of various campus support functions. You can see the testimony in two parts below: Part 1: UC-Berkeley Senate Chair Part 2: Administration & Student

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Why the UC Pension Reform May Be Undone

Byuclafaculty

Pension reform – finally? John Diaz, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 30, 2011 Until very recently, all but a few lonely politicians had one of three reactions to the topic of pension reform: glazed eyes, denial or lip service. But that was before the revelations that top dogs in tiny working-class Bell were pillaging the town treasury for their personal gain, before 36 University of California executives threatened legal action to prevent the state from calculating their pension on a $245,000 limit instead of their actual stratospheric salaries and before the governor’s new budget asked Californians to brace for deeper budget…

The Master Plan

Byuclafaculty

An article on the history of the Master Plan for Higher Ed has appeared aimed at challenging the standard history. Revisionist Reflections on California’s Master Plan @50 John Aubrey Douglass, University of California, Berkeley Summary: The 1960 Master Plan:• Is not the creation of one man, Clark Kerr, but the result of negotiations based on earlier innovations and planning studies • Did not create the tripartite system, invent existing mission differentiation, or seriously alter the allocation of function • Did not expand California’s commitment to mass higher education. The Master Plan shifted future enrollment demand to CCC, actually reducing access…

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LAO Continues to Support UC Budget Cut Including Cut in Current Year

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst, in a slide presentation to the legislature, continues to argue that the governor’s cuts are reasonable, given the magnitude of the state budget crisis, and that the cut should be partially in the current year rather than all next year. Slide #7 of the presentation states: LAO assessment: proposed General Fund savings are reasonable. * Given the magnitude of the state’s budget shortfall and the universities’ current-year augmentations, we believe the magnitude of the proposed cuts is reasonable. * However, we recommend achieving some of the General Fund savings by reducing the universities’ current-year augmentations. The full…

Lake Wobegon Freshmen?

Byuclafaculty

The latest freshmen survey of the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute suggests that, except for “emotional” health, the students come from Lake Wobegon. (The survey is of freshmen around the country, not just at UCLA.) Summary of survey available at http://www.heri.ucla.edu/PP/Understanding%20the%20Incoming%20Freshman-AAC&U%202010.pdf

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Big Money for UCLA from Chicken Feed? Hotel Project Will Still Require Big Bond Issue

Byuclafaculty

Note: As you read the item below, note that the hotel project still will require considerable bond financing. See the bold italics. UCLA gets $100-million donation: Half of the gift from Meyer Luskin and his wife, Renee, will go to the School of Public Affairs…. The rest will go toward building an on-campus hotel and conference center. Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 26, 2011 A UCLA alumnus who earned a fortune in the animal feed business is donating $100 million to the Westwood campus for its school of public affairs and the controversial construction of an on-campus hotel and…

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The Ying and Yang of the UC Pension: Brown vs. LAO?

Byuclafaculty

Two views on the UC budget (cut) and the UC pension. Jerry Brown’s flack says state won’t pay (sort of). In contrast, the LAO has no objection to the state paying in the abstract (reminder: Thanks to the UCLA Faculty Assn.!!!), but seems to want unspecified assurances. From California’s Capitol: UC Faces a Budget Hole of Not $500 Million But $700 Million Jan. 25, 2011 The University of California faces a more than $200 million deeper reduction than the $500 million proposed in Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget – in part because the state refuses to make a contribution to the…