CSU

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One Bill That Got Away (from our attention last month)

Byuclafaculty

As Governor Brown was signing or vetoing bills last month, we tried on this blog to point to those affecting UC.  However, one – AB 1955 – got away from us and escaped our attention.  It deals with the aftermath of the UC-Davis pepper spray incident.  As is often the case, while the bill mandates CSU to do something, it just “requests” the Regents to do the same because of UC’s constitutional status.  Gov. Brown signed this bill which you can read below: AB 1955, as introduced, Block. Public postsecondary education: campus law enforcement agency and student liaison. Existing law…

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Brown Vetoes Bill Requiring Consideration of Community Service for Tenure

Byuclafaculty

A bill was vetoed yesterday that would have required CSU and “requested” UC to consider community service for tenure and other academic personnel decisions.  The veto message is at:http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_2132_Veto_Message.pdf The message notes that such service is already part of the academic review process and that such matters are best left to campus-level decision making.

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Governor Vetoes Collective Bargaining for RAs

Byuclafaculty

Collective bargaining in the public sector in California is regulated by a series of statutes.  The major ones have the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) as their administrative agency.  One of these laws covers UC and CSU and is known as HEERA, the Higher Education Employee-Employer Relations Act.  Current law allows collective bargaining for student teaching assistants. However, research assistants are not covered. Yesterday, the deadline for signing or vetoing bills, Gov. Brown vetoed a bill that would have extended collective bargaining rights to RAs. You can read his veto explanation statement at:http://gov.ca.gov/docs/SB_259_Veto_Message.pdf For those interested, the full text of…

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The Thrifty Fifty Online Textbooks

Byuclafaculty

Governor Brown signed twin bills that create a mechanism for producing and distributing free online textbooks for what are described as fifty lower-division core courses at UC and CSU in cooperation with the community colleges. Exactly how these texts are going to be produced (for no royalties, if I read the new laws correctly) remains to be seen.  There do seem to be some mechanisms for payment for supplying such texts but, again, details are not clear. The twin bills are at:http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_1051-1100/sb_1052_bill_20120905_enrolled.html andhttp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_1051-1100/sb_1053_bill_20120905_enrolled.html

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That Feels Sooo Good

Byuclafaculty

The governor has signed legislation that does everything about tuition other than allocate money to stop it from rising.  It is (sort of) voluntary for the Regents and UC. And it feels so good. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST AB 970, Fong. University of California and California State University: systemwide student fees. Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. The California State University, which is governed by the Trustees of the California State University (trustees), and the University of California, which is governed by…

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How Jerry Brown Views Higher Ed

Byuclafaculty

If you are wondering what Governor Brown thinks about higher ed, you might be interested in the excerpt below from the transcript of an interview with the LA Times which appeared on the web on 9-24-12: …So here’s an interesting point. This is Page Smith. He was in the history department in Santa Cruz. You went to Santa Cruz. Do you remember Page Smith? Well, he was one of the original guys. He kind of left in disgust when they started going more conventional. His wife I made the first head of the arts council and I got to know…

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Sully

Byuclafaculty

I came across a headline on the Sacramento Bee website this morning:Educators sullying state law to support Proposition 30 It’s from a column by Dan Walters in which he complains that folks in higher ed – community colleges, CSU, and UC – are underhandedly letting it be known in various ways that if Prop 30 – the governor’s tax initiative – doesn’t pass, things won’t go well for their institutions.  Sample quote: “Just Tuesday, the University of California at Berkeley announced a Proposition 30 Awareness Project to test the use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media to distribute information…

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Higher Ed Metrics Bill is Dead on Arrival

Byuclafaculty

On Friday, the governor vetoed SB 721 which would have instructed the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) to come up with “metrics” to determine if the UC, CSU, and the community colleges were meeting three goals.  These goals were described in a section of the bill: In order to promote the state’s competitive economic position and quality of civic life, it is necessary to increase the level of educational attainment of California’s adult population to meet the state’s civic and workforce needs. To achieve that objective, it is the intent of the Legislature that budget and policy decisions regarding postsecondary education…

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Got the Message?

Byuclafaculty

Our friends at CSU have developed a rather blunt way of delivering the message about Prop 30. From the LA Times: Hundreds of thousands of applicants to California State University campuses this year will be receiving a warning instead of the typical warm note thanking them for their interest.The spots they are hoping to fill next year, the prospective students will be cautioned, could evaporate if the governor’s push to raise taxes in November fails. The letter also will say no admissions decisions will be made until a few weeks after the election, a departure from the usual policy of…

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Service With a Smile? UC is Encouraged; CSU is Mandated

Byuclafaculty

It may seem self-evident, but it’s nevertheless a matter of state law that teaching is an “essential responsibility,” along with research, for members of the University of California’s faculty and “a primary responsibility” for those in the California State University system…  But if Gov. Jerry Brown signs a bill that whipped through both houses of the Legislature in the final, hectic hours of the 2012 session, that will change – radically, perhaps. A third element would be required in the hiring and promotion of faculty members. It’s called “service.” The specifics of Assembly Bill 2132 appear to give great weight…