CSU

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Tobacco Tax for UC/CSU Student Aid Initiative Filed

Byuclafaculty

Note: We posted this story yesterday although blogger now shows it as today for reasons unknown. An initiative has been filed that would raise tobacco taxes to fund student aid at UC and CSU.  The usual caveats apply.  It takes $1-$2 million to pay signature gathering firms to get such a petition on the ballot (as opposed to $200 to file it).  A tobacco tax initiative brings out big money opposition from tobacco companies.  Recall the tobacco tax that failed last June.  So a sponsor – if serious – would have to have deep pockets to carry out an effective…

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Proponents of Tobacco Tax for UC/CSU Scholarships May Not Just Be Blowing Smoke

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday (although blogger now shows it as today and later than this posting for reasons unknown), we noted an initiative had been filed that would tax tobacco to provide scholarship aid for UC and CSU students.  We noted in particular that the initiative was professionally drafted, unlike many that are filed and, so, might have serious backers that could really fund a campaign. The San Francisco Chronicle picks up the story today and notes the Lt. Governor Newsom seems linked to the initiative.  The initiative’s spokesperson is someone named in an earlier item in the Chronicle as a key aide…

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PPIC Poll Covers Higher Ed Concerns

Byuclafaculty

The latest opinion poll from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) covers a variety of issues including higher education.  It suggests parents are worried about whether their kids will get into a public higher ed institution and what it will cost if they do.  As the table below shows, half want their kids to go to grad school. [Click on the table to enlarge and get a clearer image.] You can find the poll at: http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S_1212MBS.pdf

CSU Pay Trim for Tim

Byuclafaculty

Timothy P. White, California State University’s incoming chancellor, has requested a 10 percent pay cut, saying in a letter to trustees, that he hopes the move will send a signal that “public higher education matters to all of us, and that we each must play a part in the rebuilding.”  CSU’s board of trustees met today in Long Beach to approve White’s compensation package. He was in line to receive the same pay as outgoing Chancellor Charles Reed: a $421,500 salary plus a $30,000 supplement from CSU foundations. After rounding the pay cut White requested to his base salary, he…

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If X = amount of algebra you learned in high school and 2X = 0, how much algebra did you learn?

Byuclafaculty

A complaint about UC’s view on remedial math as taught in community colleges appeared today in the Sacramento Bee: (excerpt) Community colleges are struggling to address a huge problem: remedial mathematics. In fall 2009, 143,587 California community college students enrolled in remedial math to become eligible for college math, but only 18 percent went on to complete a college math course within three years. Given these results, policymakers are questioning the use of scarce public dollars to “pay for the same education twice.” If students didn’t learn algebra in high school, why are we paying for it again in college?…

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Keep ’em moving

Byuclafaculty

Will the CSU concept described below come to UC?  Particularly if Prop 30 fails, the Regents will be under pressure to come up with “solutions.”  From the San Francisco Chronicle: California State University trustees will consider raising fees next Tuesday for certain students – at least 53,000 who take extra credits, linger too long at school or repeat classes – even if voters approve the university-friendly tax measure known as Proposition 30 on election day.  The idea, CSU officials say, is to force students to move through school faster… — A “graduation incentive” fee. Students who take more units than…

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CSU rejects criticism of its legislative scorecard

Byuclafaculty

We have referred in earlier posts to the rather surprising disclosure that CSU produced an online “scorecard” rating members of the legislature on their votes on matters of concern to higher ed.  While it is not surprising that CSU would keep track of legislative votes, rating them and publishing the ratings is, well, unusual.  It has produced legislative complaints.  But CSU seems to be toughing it out on this issue. From the Sacramento Bee‘s Capitol Alert blog: Two state senators – one Democrat and one Republican – demanded Thursday that the California State University system’s trustees tell them who authorized…

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Some qualifications needed

Byuclafaculty

In an opinion piece today in the Sacramento Bee, columnist Dan Walters slams CSU for its political activities.  An earlier posting on this blog noted that CSU had an official political scorecard that rated members of the state legislature available online indicating how well or poorly they supported CSU goals.  You can find it at:http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/10/lawsuit-filed-against-csu-campus-over.html UC gets dragged into his column at various points so some comments are in order. Below are some excerpts in italics:==The California State University system has traditionally been the steady workhorse of California higher education, generating the engineers, teachers, accountants and middle-managers that any society…

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The Governor on Higher Ed and UC

Byuclafaculty

On Oct. 16, Gov. Brown came to UCLA to promote his tax initiative, Prop 30.  As part of that visit, he met with UC student journalists at the UCLA Daily Bruin offices.  An audio was made of the interview.  The full interview runs about three quarters of an hour.  It is available at: http://www.dailybruin.com/multimedia/51093 However, about thirteen minutes was focused on Brown’s thoughts about higher ed, particularly his long-term vision for UC as an ex officio Regent.  I think it is fair to say that while he had thoughts, it would be hard to term them a coherent, long-term vision. …

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Lawsuit filed against a CSU campus over promotion of Prop 30

Byuclafaculty

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. has filed a lawsuit claiming that an email by a campus administrator improperly used public resources (the email system) to promote Prop 30, the governor’s tax initiative which has been endorsed by the UC Regents.  The Regents live streamed their endorsement during a regular meeting using UC facilities.  So why a particular CSU campus is the target of the lawsuit is unclear. The offending email is not reproduced in its entirety in the lawsuit but is summarized as follows: The communication expresses and solicits support for Proposition 30.  The email is addressed “Dear Students,” and solicits…