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faculty pay | UC Berkeley

Boomerang Recruitment: UC-Berkeley Wins Two Back from UT-Austin
Byadmin November 8, 2010

Berkeley’s allure tugs faculty couple back from Texas (excerpt) By Matt KrupnickContra Costa TimesPosted: 11/02/2010 12:00:00 AM PDTUpdated: 11/07/2010 10:56:59 PM PST BERKELEY — They sold the house, took their son out of day care, packed up all their belongings and left for a new life at the University of Texas. Then, a year later, Jennifer Johnson-Hanks and William Hanks turned around and came right back to UC Berkeley, a rare boomerang move for professors who leave a campus. “We liked Austin, but it wasn’t home,” said Johnson-Hanks, a demographer and sociologist who was hired at UC Berkeley for her…

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UC-Riverside

Minority Success in Graduation Rates Reported at UC-Riverside
Byadmin November 8, 2010

UC RIVERSIDE: Diversity is more than numbers (excerpt) Sunday, November 7, 2010 By DAVID OLSON The Riverside Press-Enterprise After Obi Okafor found out he had been accepted to four University of California campuses, he did some research. “I went online to look at the demographic spread and saw that UCR had the highest African-American student population,” Okafor said. “I felt that was where I would feel more comfortable going to school.” High-achieving black students such as Okafor illustrate why UC Riverside has earned a national reputation not only for enrolling a large number of black and Latino pupils but for…

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online education

Are You Tweeting (in Class)?
Byadmin November 8, 2010

Inside Higher Ed reviews the Twitter, etc., issue. Excerpt: Harnessing Social Media November 8, 2010 ORLANDO — In the age of social media, everyone is behind on the reading. There was always more potentially relevant information out in the world than people could ever hope to know. But Twitter, Facebook, social bookmarking sites, and countless other content streams and conversation threads — constantly available in the era of wireless networks and mobile computing — have thrust many in academe into an endless, unwinnable race to keep up… Beyond limiting the distractions of social media in their own lives, academics face…

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miscellaneous | UCLA

UCLA History: The View Looking West from the Campus in 1929
Byadmin November 7, 2010

From the UCLA digital photo archives.

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CalPERS | CalSTRS | pension | pensions | UC

CalSTRS can apparently wait to cut its estimated investment return to UC level
Byadmin November 6, 2010

From the Sacramento Bee: The CalSTRS board Friday postponed a crucial decision on reducing its investment-return forecast because two of its members were absent. Jack Ehnes, chief executive of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, said the board wanted every one of its 12 members present for the decision. The vote is now set for Dec. 2. CalSTRS’ staff has recommended that the forecast of annual returns be cut by half a percentage point, to 7.5 percent… Note that if CalSTRS and CalPERS eventually go to our 7.5%, we can no longer claim to be more conservative than the two…

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miscellaneous | UCLA

UCLA History: UC Leaders at UCLA Westwood Campus Dedication
Byadmin November 6, 2010

In photo above from UCLA digital archives, we see retiring UC president Campbell and incoming president Robert Sproul (right) at the dedication ceremony on the UCLA campus in 1930.

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State Budget | UC

LAO publishes budget review
Byadmin November 6, 2010

The Legislative Analyst’s Office released a summary of budget developments up through the passage of the 2010-11 budget last month. It is not, however, a projection of what is to come. That analysis is likely to be coming later this month. Nonetheless, for those interested in the details, the summary is available at http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2010/bud/spend_plan/spend_plan_110510.pdf The report takes note of the fact that the earlier legislation in which the state claimed no responsibility for the UC pension has been removed. (The UCLA Faculty Assn. proudly notes its part in getting that accomplished. See earlier posts for info on the role played…

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miscellaneous | UCLA

UCLA History: Completed Bridge Over Ravine
Byadmin November 5, 2010

An earlier post showed the construction of the bridge over the now-filled-in ravine on the UCLA campus. Above is a photo from the UCLA digital collection showing the bridge shortly after completion. As the previous post noted, the bridge is still there but appears as an ordinary roadway due to the filling in of the ravine.

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pension | pensions | politics | uc retirement

Threat Level Reduced on Pensions
Byadmin November 4, 2010

The victory of Jerry Brown in the gubernatorial race likely means that the threat of a defined contribution plan as the new lower-tier pension is off the table. Meg Whitman supported defined contribution. Still, as the story below notes, there were a number of pension initiatives at the local level on the ballot and most passed. (San Francisco was an exception.) So the possibility that someone might put a pension proposition on the state ballot remains. Pension reforms sweep, except San Francisco (excerpt) November 4, 2010 by Ed Mendel, calpensions.com Voters approved seven ballot measures Tuesday aimed at curbing or…

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miscellaneous | UCLA

UCLA History: Construction of Bridge Over Campus Ravine
Byadmin November 4, 2010

A ravine, which has long since been filled in, ran across the early UCLA campus. A bridge was constructed across it. The bridge is still there but appears as an ordinary roadway with landfill around it. Photo from UCLA digital collection.

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