News

State Budget Actions Summary

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee has a nice summary of proposed budget cuts and revenue enhancements in the Brown budget plan at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/05/3301715/state-budget-costs.html There are photos with captions for each action. The info is in the captions. Note: The first photo puts the “deficit” at around $26 billion. Unfortunately, the word is misused in state budget-speak. It is a mix of past negative reserve in the general fund, current problems, and a workload problem for next year if no policy changes. Maybe the cartoon is a better summary. It comes from calbuzz.com. And if you need further instruction:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEYheg3AEWY&fs=1&hl=en_US]

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Yudof on Budget, Privatization, Pensions

Byuclafaculty

There is an interview in the LA Times today (1-15-11) of President Yudof by Patt Morrison. Below are excerpts. …Morrison: You’ve used the Ed Koch line, “How’m I doing?” After 2 ½ years, how’re you doing? Yudof: I think we’re doing well, and I don’t mean to be Pollyanna-ish. We have a $20-billion shortfall, long run, in the pension plan. I think it’s going to take 20 years to dig our way out, but we have a plan. We put the new [student] eligibility standard into effect; it’s going to be a less mechanical admission [process], looking at the whole…

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UC Undergrad Applications Over 6%, Especially Out-of-State and International

Byuclafaculty

UC sees another big jump in undergrad applications Terence Chea, AP, Orange County Register, 1-14-11 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Despite big tuition hikes, the University of California again received a record number of undergraduate applications for the fall, driven in part by sharp increases from out-of-state and international students, school officials said Friday. They said the number of applications rose 6.1 percent to more than 142,000, with a 5.7 percent increase in freshman applicants and a 7.3 percent increase in transfer applicants. “The University of California experienced record demand,” said Sue Wilbur, director of undergraduate admissions. “With the increase in…

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The Mother of All Faculty Boo-Boos

Byuclafaculty

The internet is buzzing today about an email sent on behalf of a professor in the veterinary medicine dept. at UC-Davis concerning how to grade a student who was absent due to giving birth. It was sent to all students in the class. Here is a sample:——-Davis officials confirmed the authenticity of an e-mail that was first quoted on the blog “On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess” by a female scientist at a major research university who blogs, as “Isis,” about issues in academic science, particularly for women.The e-mail was sent by the presidents of the third-year class to…

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Headline: UC Berkeley slashes jobs

Byuclafaculty

UC Berkeley slashes jobs (excerpt) San Francisco Chronicle, 1-13-11, Matier & Ross The hammer is falling at UC Berkeley, with word that the university is laying off 150 managers and support staff. The news, which was delivered in a campus bulletin late Thursday, comes just days after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed slashing $500 million from the UC system next year. The job cuts are on top of 600 positions that Cal has already eliminated since last year. Campus officials say they got a jump on the problem last summer when they hired an outside consultant — at a cost of…

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Legislative Analyst Acknowledges UC Pension Issue for State

Byuclafaculty

In his press conference on Jan. 12 on the state budget, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor explicitly raised the issue of state funding for the UC pension. Those who follow that issue know that at one point, the Leg Analyst took the position that the state had no responsibility for the UC pension. After a meeting with UCLA Faculty Association reps, that position changed. The legislature dropped language asserting that it had no liability for the UC pension. Of course, so far, no actual funding has appeared. The relevant part of the press conference is on the video below:

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LAO Doesn’t Think “No Pay/No Say” Applies to the UC Budget

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst has released his analysis of the Brown budget proposal. It generally follows the polite format of not being to assertive about risks, etc. It actually suggests a somewhat brighter economic outlook than the governor’s budget was based on. However, it does not fundamentally challenge his numbers. You can find the analysis at http://lao.ca.gov/reports/2011/bud/budget_overview/budget_overview_011211.pdf Of special interest to readers of this blog are comments made about the higher ed elements of the budget. These comments are reproduced below. However, the LAO continues to assume that good public policy is for the legislature, while cutting the higher ed budget,…

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Come July 1, UCOP and the Regents Better Have a Plan B

Byuclafaculty

As appeared more and more likely when the Brown budget proposal was being leaked out, a critical part of the plan involves getting voters to approve an extension of temporary tax increases that were originally approved in Feb. 2009. An added complication – more political than legal – is that the income tax increase has expired. So withholding from paychecks has dropped and would be restarted retroactively if such a measure were passed. This fact will add to the argument that the ballot measure is a tax “increase” rather than an “extension.” Republicans have been increasing emphatic that they will…

Esteemed Grades

Byuclafaculty

Old timers will remember the California created a Self-Esteem Commission back in the mid-1980s. For those that don’t, you can find a reference to this endeavor at http://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/11/us/now-the-california-task-force-to-promote-self-esteem.html The Commission was the brain child of John Vasconcellos, a state assemblyman of that era, who was very much into such concepts. His picture is at left. Much national mirth was aimed at California as a result of the Commission’s creation, including a Doonesbury parody. The Commission neatly fitted into the state’s New Age/hot tub image. Inside Higher Ed today points to a new study in which self esteem of college students…