News

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Minimum Wage Threat to State Workers Removed for 2 Months

Byuclafaculty

The governor’s attempt to impose the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour on state workers has been on temporary hold. The Sacramento Bee reports that the hold is effectively at least 2 months. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/17/2896268/judges-order-buys-california-state.htmlThe threat of paying the minimum wage did not apply to UC employees but had it actually gone into effect, it might have put UC in a difficult position. UC would be in the position of ending furloughs at the same time other state employees were at the minimum. The minimum wage issue arises because there is no state budget in place and, hence, no authorization to pay…

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Audios of Regents Meeting of 7-15-10 Available

Byuclafaculty

I was only able to record the 7-15-10 session of the Regents and not the earlier days. As a result, the recording did not include the discussion of online education referenced in prior postings. The 7-15-10 meeting of the UC Regents was divided into 5 sessions. The first was public comment. Included was a comment by AFT on a survey taken by the union, complaints of anti-Semitism and anti-Arab discrimination. The second was on career/technical education. The third was a report on audit processes. Included was a discussion of data security and diversity standards. The third session involved the health…

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New financial pain looms for UC students

Byuclafaculty

By Max Theiler | 07/15/10 12:00 AM PST Capitol Weekly Excerpts. Full article at: http://capitolweekly.net/article.php?1=1&_c=yzk5vwloidx0g9&xid=yzifhi2muolcu1&done=.yzk3mmcvqdh13b&_ce=1279208748.fe8f8ced55ac328265bddf5f6baa3706&_c=yzk5vwloidx0g9 …UC is set to raise student fees an additional 15 percent for both graduates and undergraduates when classes begin in September. On top of last January’s 15 percent increase, the new fee hike means resident undergraduates will be paying 32 percent more in fees for their education than they were a year ago – a boost of $1,334 per quarter.…In its 2010-11 budget request, UC said it would “revisit fee levels for 2010-11” if state funding requests were met. The Legislature has approved the governor’s…

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UC to develop online undergraduate degree program

Byuclafaculty

Published Thursday, Jul. 15, 2010, Sacramento Bee http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/15/2892158/uc-developing-online-undergraduate.html SAN FRANCISCO — University of California regents have agreed to develop an Internet-based undergraduate degree program that will save money and expand access to tuition-paying students. Regent Sherry Lansing told regents at Wednesday’s meeting in San Francisco that the leading-edge online program gives the university system an opportunity to show everyone else how to do it. Regents Chairman Russell Gould says it’s one of the ways UC might thrive in an era of shrinking financial support from the state. An estimated $6 million in private donations is planned so faculty can begin…

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Moving Towards the “Michigan Model”?

Byuclafaculty

UC freshmen to include record number of out-of-state and international studentsSuch undergraduates will rise from 6% to over 8% of the class. The change is concentrated mainly at UC Berkeley and UCLA.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uc-enroll-20100715,0,2160250.story Note: The “Michigan Model” is generally seen as high tuition/high aid with out-of-state students paying full freight and cross-subsidizing a discount for state residents. The local term seems to be “self sufficiency” as in: Chancellor Block: UCLA must be more self-sufficient http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/block-ucla-must-be-more-self-sufficient-149310.aspx

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Dean Edley Presentation on Online Courses to Regents

Byuclafaculty

Dean Christopher Edley of the UC-Berkeley law school made a presentation to the Regents on online courses. Slides available at: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/documents/online_pilot_presentation_regents_0710.pdf The UC press release related to this presentation of 7-13-10 is reproduced below: UC online instruction project proposed The University of California is exploring the use of online undergraduate instruction through a proposed pilot project. Christopher Edley, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law and special adviser to the UC president, will introduce the project to UC Regents for discussion at their meeting tomorrow (July 14) at UCSF’s Mission Bay campus. Read Edley’s presentation. The pilot project will…

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Phone Fraud Aimed at UCLA: 310-794-6699

Byuclafaculty

Phone calls are coming to UCLA people, present and past, purportedly from the number 310-794-6699. Possibly, this is related to the theft of a UCLA info database a few years ago. According to various web sources, often calls are received from this number but no one is there. However, in some cases, individuals purporting to be from UCLA have been reported to ask for donations or for personal information. If you call the number, you get the general UCLA medical center operator. Apparently, unused numbers belonging to the medical center – when called – go to that operator. The usual…

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UC must put emphasis on education, not brand

Byuclafaculty

UC must put emphasis on education, not brand Timothy Hampton, Garrison Sposito Tuesday, July 13, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle The UC Board of Regents will discuss this week a proposal by the University of California president’s office for an ambitious plan to market UC online. The proposal entertains the vision of an eventual online bachelor’s degree that could tap new students throughout the world, from “Sheboygan to Shanghai.” In fact, the track record for online higher education is very uneven. It requires enormous up-front investments and continual investments for upgrades. Given these high stakes and the financial pressures on UC…

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UC-Berkeley Reports/Concerns About Costs of Athletic Program

Byuclafaculty

Various reports on the issue are listed below. Chancellor’s response to reports:http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2010/07/12_athleticsreport.shtml Report of Chancellor’s Advisory Committee:http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2010/07/IA-Council-Report.pdf Report of Academic Senate Task Force:http://academic-senate.berkeley.edu/pdf/Task_Force_on_Intercollegiate_Athletics_Interim_Report.pdf A news account of the Berkeley controversy is at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/07/13/MNED1ED854.DTL Note: At an Academic Senate forum on the budget last year, VC Olsen indicated that UCLA does not spend general fund monies on its athletic program. Prof. Don Morrison of Anderson, who has been much involved with the UCLA athletics program over the years, tells me the UCLA senate committee that oversees the athletics program was consulted by the Berkeley senate committee in preparing its report.