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faculty center | UCLA

Neighborhood Group Raises Concerns About Proposed Hotel to Replace Faculty Club While Faculty Welfare Committee Makes Environmental Proposals
Byadmin February 4, 2011

A neighborhood association has raised procedural – and possibly legal – objections to the replacement of the UCLA Faculty Club with a Hotel/Conference Center which at latest word is to have over 280 rooms. Two letters from the association have been obtained by the Emeriti Committee. The first is a short, 2-page letter reproduced below. The second is a 14-page letter with much more detail. Both the short letter – which is hard to reproduce clearly as an image – and the longer one are available as a single pdf file at: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BzVLYPK7QI_4N2Q0ZDRiYzMtZDRhMy00YWRkLTlkNjYtNjkyZWQ1YTVjYzY5&hl=en The “CEQA” review to which both letters…

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CSU | Master Plan | privatization

A CSU President Declares Master Plan Dead
Byadmin February 4, 2011

State plan for higher education ‘dead,’ CSUSM president declares: Haynes says universities must seek private partners to protect programs, services (excerpt) North County Times, 2-3-11, Deborah Sullivan Brennan California has abandoned its commitment to higher education, compelling Cal State San Marcos and other universities to seek private partnerships for their programs, university President Karen Haynes told hundreds of guests Thursday in her annual Report to the Community. “The California master plan for higher education is dead because the social compact itself is broken,” she said. “There is no longer the same sense of obligation to the next generation of Californians…

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governor | pension | pensions | politics | State Budget | UC Regents

Pension Deal in Legislature to Gain GOP Votes?
Byadmin February 4, 2011

There continue to be reports that the Republican price for going along with putting Gov. Brown’s proposed tax extensions on the ballot will be some kind of public pension proposition. To recap, Brown needs the legislature to put his tax extensions on the ballot by June; there is not enough time to go the petition-signature-initiative route. The legislature would normally need a 2/3 vote to do so which would require all Democrats plus 5 Republicans to agree. While there has been discussion of ways to bypass the 2/3 requirement, such an approach could lead to a legal challenge which could…

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governor | LAO | State Budget | UC budget crisis

Budget from Hell Coming Back
Byadmin February 3, 2011

Before Gov. Brown delivered his budget proposal in early January, it was speculated that he would follow a “Budget from Hell” strategy. Under that approach, he would have presented a budget on the assumption that no tax extensions were approved. Having seen Hell, voters would (presumably) gratefully vote for the tax extensions as the path out of Hell. In the end, however, he did not follow that approach. Instead, his budget was premised on the tax extensions being approved. When asked, he said that he did not believe in scare tactics – or at least he did not think scare…

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CSU | tuition | UC

Tuition Chart
Byadmin February 2, 2011

The chart above from the Sacramento Bee shows the trend in tuition at UC and CSU since the 1960s. Source: http://blogs.sacbee.com/the-public-eye/2011/01/csu-uc-fees-outpace-inflation.html It’s just love from the state at work:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSFnyiIrPM0&w=480&h=390]

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UCLA

More UCLA Undergrads Reported to Graduate On Time: Higher Tuition Cited
Byadmin February 1, 2011

Yesterday’s Daily Bruin carries a report that 4-year graduation rates are rising at UCLA. Excerpts from the article below:Statistics show increase in undergraduate students who graduate in four years Crystal Hsing, Jan. 31, 2011 In the past year, the proportion of undergraduate students who finished their degrees in four years rose to an all-time high of 70 percent. The increase in the four-year graduation rate is tied to many factors, including the rising cost of education, the administration’s initiatives to streamline academic curricula, and increased competition among applicants, said Robert Cox, the manager for institutional research at the UCLA Office…

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governor | State Budget

Governor’s State of the State Speech Focuses Mainly on Budget
Byadmin February 1, 2011

Gov. Brown’s State of the State speech earlier tonight focused mainly on the state budget. There are occasional references to the University and one to public pensions. Part 1[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quUukeQHXW4] Part 2[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_q7gVFS0UM]

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pension | pensions | State Contribution | uc retirement

Moody’s Evidently Thinks the State Has an Obligation for the UC Pension
Byadmin January 31, 2011

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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State Budget | UC budget crisis

UC Testimony on Cost Savings Before Assembly Committee on Higher Ed: 1-18-11
Byadmin January 30, 2011

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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governor | pension | pensions | State Budget | uc retirement

Why the UC Pension Reform May Be Undone
Byadmin January 30, 2011

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…

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News

Neighborhood Group Raises Concerns About Proposed Hotel to Replace Faculty Club While Faculty Welfare Committee Makes Environmental Proposals

A CSU President Declares Master Plan Dead

Pension Deal in Legislature to Gain GOP Votes?

Budget from Hell Coming Back

Tuition Chart

More UCLA Undergrads Reported to Graduate On Time: Higher Tuition Cited

Governor’s State of the State Speech Focuses Mainly on Budget

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

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

Why the UC Pension Reform May Be Undone

UC Faculty Associations

Higher Ed Policy

Labor and Advocacy

UC Faculty Associations

Higher Ed Policy

Labor and Advocacy

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