News

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The Moral: It’s a Good Idea to Avoid the Rush

Byuclafaculty

From Inside Higher Ed today… Maybe it was inevitable that one of the new massive open online courses would crash. After all, MOOCs are being launched with considerable speed, not to mention hype. But MOOC advocates might have preferred the collapse of a course other than the one that was suspended this weekend, one week into instruction: “Fundamentals of Online Education: Planning and Application.” Technology and design problems are largely to blame for the course’s problems. And many students are angry that a course about online education — let alone one offered by the Georgia Institute of Technology — wouldn’t…

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Yeah, sure. We believe you, Mark.

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Times:…Governor Jerry Brown suddenly became active in UC policies and Mark Yudof resigns. Is there any connection?There is really no connection because I’ve been pondering [resignation] for a long time. The governor is extraordinarily intelligent, he is extraordinarily passionate. It does require some energy to respond to his ideas, but I’m fine with that. That would not be a reason to move on. If anything, I have some confidence that out of this passion of the governor, some very positive things for the university can come… Of course, we believe you, Mark…[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOjTVYQ-Xcg?feature=player_detailpage]…But there were the good old…

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California GOP pushes higher ed tuition freeze/cheap degree

Byuclafaculty

From the Sacramento Bee today:What’s a marginalized minority party to do? It’s a key question for Republican lawmakers staring down a newly enshrined Democratic supermajority. Part of the answer so far seems to be a renewed emphasis on higher education. Both Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, and Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, have introduced a pair of bills that would freeze tuition at the University of California and California State University for the seven-year duration of the higher tax rates mandated by Proposition 30… In a written response to the budget, Republican Connie Conway, R-Tulare, called the tuition freeze bills an effort to “ensure…

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Another UC capital project that seemed like a great idea

Byuclafaculty

From time to time, we have noted that UC capital projects don’t necessarily work out as planned. While we have generally raised this point in the context of the UCLA grand hotel, other campuses are not exempt. The Sacramento Bee carries the interesting report from UC-Davis excerpted below: Before construction began, UC Davis laid out a vision for West Village, its new on-campus community, as a showcase of energy efficiency that would provide affordable housing for faculty and students. Nearly two years after the $300 million development opened, it has not yet fulfilled those expectations. Its student apartments have experienced high turnover. Single-family homes for faculty and staff…

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Listen to Radio Interview with President Yudof on UC Future

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, KPCC’s Airtalk with Larry Mantle featured an interview with the heads of the three segments of higher ed in California: President Mark Yudof of UC, Chancellor Timothy White of CSU (and until recently Chancellor of UC-Riverside), and Brice Harris, Chancellor of the community colleges. The full broadcast ran about three quarters of an hour.  I have pulled out just the Yudof excerpts which run about one third as long. As blog readers will know, Yudof has resigned as UC president, effective August.  So he may now be a bit freer to say what he wants – but, of course,…

Concerns about Justice Dept. intervention in university library electronic reserves

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today has an article concerning a matter on which we have posted in the past.  Increasingly, faculty put material on reserve for students.  Typically, such material is not available to the general public; some kind of password or course registration is required.  Publishers have sued regarding copyright violation in a case involving Georgia State U.  So far, the library there has prevailed. Apparently, the U.S. Dept. of Justice wants to intervene in the case, and the suspicion is that the intervention will be on the side of the publishers who are appealing a lower court ruling.  You…

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Rebenching: If you equalize, UCLA gets less than otherwise

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today has a long piece on UC’s “rebenching” approach which would change the formula by which UC funding is allocated to the various campuses.  As the article notes, some of the disparate funding that tends to favor older campuses such as UCLA is due to the graduate/undergraduate mix.  But even if you adjust for that effect, the older campuses get more.  That fact means that if you equalize, in the end the older campuses will get less than otherwise.  You can phase it in.  But the logic is unavoidable.  Phasing it in just means that the older…

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Self-esteem of the electorate: Potential tool for UC?

Byuclafaculty

Self esteem California has been famous (infamous?) for its self-esteem movement.  And it is also famous for the popular love of direct democracy. A PPIC poll recently released is in the headline for showing an uptick in popular and voter approval of the governor, the legislature, etc.  But when asked who should make key long-term decisions, the popular response by about three fourths of those polled is that it should be left to voters, not the legislature or the governor. I suspect that there is some opportunity here for UC if we continue to get gubernatorial mucking around at the…

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Issue of UC Health Cap for Students Heats Up

Byuclafaculty

We noted in a prior post this past weekend that there is a cap on the dollar payouts for student health insurance at UC.  Major illnesses can cause students to hit the cap. Below is an excerpt from a San Francisco Chronicle article that seems to imply – but doesn’t quite say – that UC chose self-funding of the student health plan to avoid a ban on such caps in the Obama health plan:  Health care limits like the one imposed by UC are already illegal under the sweeping federal health-care law – dubbed Obamacare – that takes full effect…

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No Rush Online at Yale

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today carries a report that Yale is taking a gradual approach to online education and not rushing into MOOC delivery.  Excerpt: News of universities partnering with massive open online course providers has become commonplace, which is why Yale University stands out for what it’s not doing: rushing. While many top universities — including Harvard and Stanford Universities, along with many others — were announcing partnerships and launching their first MOOCs, Yale sat back, watched, and evaluated… Watching and waiting — and strategizing — can be a difficult choice to make given the “herd mentality” that has developed around MOOCS,…