News

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Opening Bid on the Budget

Byuclafaculty

We noted yesterday that the preliminary Regents’ agenda for next week did not yet include the underlying attachments.  They are now available, in particular, a budget-related item. Report from LA Times: [excerpt] For the third straight year, UC students would see no tuition increase for the 2014-15 school year if state funding to the 10-campus system increases enough, according to a preliminary University of California budget released Monday. The budget proposal for next year said undergraduate tuition would remain at $12,192 before room, board and campus fees are added. Graduate and professional students pay more, and their basic fees would…

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The Leg Analyst Summarizes the Higher Ed Budget

Byuclafaculty

At around this time of year, the Legislative Analyst’s Office releases a summary about the budget in preparation for next year’s budget proposal that will come from the governor in early January.  Below is an excerpt just for higher ed.  A link to the full document follows the excerpt.================== UC, CSU, and Hastings Provides $2.8 Billion in General Fund Support for UC. The budget provides UC with $2.8 billion in General Fund support—an increase of $467 million from 2012–13. Of this increase, $200 million reflects a shift of funds used for paying general obligation bond debt service from a separate…

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The Regents are Coming

Byuclafaculty

Regents: 1964 Edition In fact, there will be a meeting tomorrow of the Regents Committee on Investments, primarily to review returns on the UC portfolios and those of the campus foundations.  See:http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/nov5.html Next week’s meetings (Nov. 12-14) are beginning to be posted as of this morning.  Agenda items are available but not detailed attachments.  See:http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/nov13.html You might be curious to know about an item entitled “Participation in Joint Venture to Establish and Operate a Rehabilitation Hospital, Los Angeles Campus.”  Too bad if you are.  It will be discussed only in a closed session:http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov13/hsx.pdf

Not the most fascinating bedtime reading but here it is…

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly came across a website run by a group called “California Competes,” which funded a failed lawsuit against a requirement that community colleges consult with their academic senates.  However, on the group’s website were documents from the last accreditation review of UCLA back in 2009 and 2010.  They are not the most fascinating bedtime reading you can find but here are the links for the curious: http://californiacompetes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UCLA%20-%20Self%20Study.pdf http://californiacompetes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UCLA%20-%20Evaluation%20Report.pdf http://californiacompetes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UCLA%20-%20Action%20Letter.pdf

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Good Idea: Take a Risk

Byuclafaculty

The website of the San Francisco Chronicle today is running a story today about a Silicon Valley forum in which California first lady Anne Gust Brown and new UC president Janet Napolitano argued that women should take more risks in public life. In earlier posts, we noted that a recent speech – billed in advance as a major address – by the new prez was largely a dud with no sense of priorities for UC or even key questions that she thinks need further investigation.  So we agree about risk taking.  Our new prez should take a risk at the…

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No silver bullet?

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Times: Californians will get the first chance to comment on President Obama’s proposals to make college more affordable during a public forum this week at Cal State Dominguez Hills, officials said. The Wednesday event is the first in a series of four public sessions held around the country — and the only one in California — to gather input on the president’s recently announced agenda to develop a college ratings system to help students select schools with the best bang for their buck… The ratings score card would be developed for the 2015 school year using such…

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Possible UC strike

Byuclafaculty

Demonstration in Westwood after previous strike From the LA Times: Members of the union that represents 22,000 service workers and patient care employees at UC campuses and hospitals have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a possible strike in the future if a contract agreement is not reached, officials said Friday. Ninety-six percent of the members of AFSCME 3299 voted to allow union leaders to call a strike if they decide it is necessary. If a strike happens, it would be the second this year and a potentially wider one, possibly affecting the 10 campuses and the five medical centers. In late…

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Trial Date for UCLA Grand Hotel Coming

Byuclafaculty

In earlier posts on the UCLA Grand Hotel, we have noted that construction started off at a very leisurely pace but seemed to be picking up.  When yours truly went by earlier today (see photos), trucks were rolling in and out.  Other construction machines were wrecking the remains of parking structure #6.  Could it be that the more rapid pace has anything to do with the fact that a trial date for the lawsuit challenging the project will be set next week?  Is someone trying to get facts on the ground?  Note that the lawsuit, even if there are facts…

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We’re not the only ones to think the Napolitano speech was a dud

Byuclafaculty

The thing it lacked The Sacramento Bee runs an editorial lamenting the lack of vision in the speech: University of California’s newest president, Janet Napolitano, in her first major speech to Californians had the opportunity to show, in the words of the search committee that selected her, that she could bring “fresh eyes and a new sensibility – not only to UC, but to all of California.”  She fell far short. With no record as a scholar or in campus administration, she had to show that she would bring more than her background as a politician and political appointee to…

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Scary Thoughts for Halloween

Byuclafaculty

Over the past year or so, there have been various scary developments about which we have blogged.  Most recently there is the recently-filed anti-pension initiative that sweeps in UC.  There is the volatility of state budget because of its heavy dependence on the income tax and the incomes of those in the upper brackets that are reflective of the ups and downs of financial markets.  There is the illusion that online ed will resolve the long-term budget squeeze on the university. The hotel shown below is pretty scary but so, too, is the UCLA Grand Hotel, in part because of…