News

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Regents to Consider Employee Representation on Investment Advisory Board

Byuclafaculty

At today’s Regents meeting, a proposal is being considered (and likely approved) for an Investment Advisory Board with employee representation in relation to the pension plan. The item is below. This move is apparently in response to pressure for greater representation after the UCRS Advisory Board was defanged by a legal decision at UCOP. For many years, the UCRS Advisory Board – which had faculty and staff representation – acted as a significant body in decisions regarding the UC retirement system. Although advisory, it initiated recommendations and had an influence on actual policy. Collective bargaining at UC is regulated under…

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The Total Comp Issue for UC and the PEB Recommendations

Byuclafaculty

In broad terms, the UC labor officials quoted in the LA Times piece excerpted below are taking the same position as the Academic Senate in the dissenters’ report on the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force recommendations. The dissenters’ report notes that all of the options under consideration: Option A (which the dissenters reject), Option B (which they might accept), and Option C (which the majority report took off the table and the dissenters want put back into consideration) represent a cut in total compensation. (Previous posts provide links and discussion of the 3 options.) On a total comp basis, UC is…

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DB for Campus Police (Only)?

Byuclafaculty

It’s unclear what the election of either gubernatorial candidate would mean for upcoming changes in the UC pension system. As previous posts have noted, UC would be well advised to have its plan in place before the new governor takes office in early January. We could end up with the defined-benefit (DB) plan only for campus police if we wait and are swept into some statewide public pension reform, according to the item below from an LA Times blog: PolitiCal blog, LA Times, Anthony York Whitman says pension-reform plans don’t apply to police, firefighters (excerpt) September 15, 2010 | 1:01…

Some Background As to Why California Has a Chronic Budget Problem

Byuclafaculty

The UCLA Anderson Forecast today suggested California is in for an extended period of sluggish economic performance. Such sluggishness obviously makes coming to some state budget accord difficult. You can find a press release on the Forecast at http://uclaforecast.com/contents/archive/2010/media_91510_1.asp However, tucked away in each quarterly Forecast publication is an updated version of a chart, reproduced here, that gives a long-run perspective. The chart show a long-term trend rate of employment growth that lasted until about 1990. In the early 1990s, while the nation as a whole had a very mild recession, California had a major one. The year 1990 is…

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Majority PEB Response to Senate Dissent

Byuclafaculty

If you have followed the issues surrounding the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force report, you know there was a majority report calling for a two-tier pension and providing the Regents with Options A and B – both defined-benefit (DB) plans. The dissenters put an option C back on the table – also a DB plan. A and B were “integrated” with Social Security; C is a simpler plan that is not integrated. (Go to earlier posts on this blog for more details.) Now the majority has replied to the dissenters. You can find their reply at http://universityofcalifornia.edu/sites/ucrpfuture/files/2010/09/peb_dissenting_response_0910.pdf The response to the…

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Can a State Take Away Promised Pension Benefits?

Byuclafaculty

It has generally been accepted that accrued pension benefits promised by a state or local government cannot be reduced. That has certainly been the situation in California. Pension plans can be terminated going forward or scaled back going forward. The article excerpted below from the Wall Street Journal reports on legal tests in other states of this principle. The recent UC Post-Employment Benefits (PEB) Task Force report suggests reduced benefits for new hires (and for existing employees who choose to go into a reduced two-tier plan). It does not contemplate takeaways from retirees or from accrued benefits of current employees….

New Data on Grad Education: Women Dominate at Masters Level; 50-50 for Doctorates

Byuclafaculty

A study by the Council of Graduate Schools looks at graduate enrollments in the U.S. in 2008-09. The 100+ page report contains charts and tables showing breakdowns by race, sex, and foreign vs. domestic students. It is available at http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/R_ED2009.pdf

We’re Number 17! (Among Recruiters)

Byuclafaculty

A Wall Street Journal survey of employer recruiters ranks various universities. UCLA comes in as number 17. UC-Berkeley is number 15. USC is number 24. For the full list, go to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435563989873060.html An accompanying description of the survey is at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704358904575478074223658024.html?mod=WSJ_PathToProfessions_TopLEADNewsCollection Nowadays jobs are tough to get:

UCLA History: Neutra’s Landfair Apartments

Byuclafaculty

The Landfair Apartments were designed by architect Richard Neutra and constructed in 1937. On the left below is a 1939 photo of the apartments. On the right is a contemporary photo. From the web at http://www.m2a-architects.com/portfolio/multifamily/landfair.html Designed by Richard Neutra in 1937 as five townhouses and two flats, this structure was poorly converted to post-war educational housing and then to co-operative housing for 73 UCLA students. The balconies and glazing on the exterior were removed and restored to their original configurations while adding full upgrades for disabled access and seismic codes. The interiors were carefully converted to dormitory-style housing while…