governor

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Tops

Byuclafaculty

The governor is to propose his budget for 2014-15 this coming Friday.  And although the budget is baked by now, this headline from the LA Now blog of the LA Times can’t hurt as the budget process proceeds between now and June.  The guv loves online ed and he can’t give the money to USC. But UCLA would be happy to receive it. Full article at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-college-online-20140107,0,7388397.story Nothing like being the top:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc7152gQK-U?feature=player_detailpage]

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Neutral

Byuclafaculty

Proponents of the  proposed pension/retiree health care initiative (that would cover UC) were afraid the attorney general would come up with a nasty title and summary.  It doesn’t seem to have happened, however.  Other than the references to teachers, nurses, and peace officers (the public’s favorite public employees), it is pretty neutral.  To the extent there is mention of costs, the references come from the earlier Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) report.  Below is the title and summary: January 6, 2014 Initiative 13-0043 The Attorney General of California has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose and points…

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Q&A

Byuclafaculty

The Contra Costa Times ran an interview with UC president Napolitano that was published yesterday.  But apparently the interview occurred in late 2013.  Here are the questions:Q: One of your first proposals was to make tuition rates more predictable. What might that look like? Q: At the last UC regents meeting, Gov. Jerry Brown said UC had slim chances of securing additional state funding, with all of the competing needs in Sacramento. What did you make of that? Q: Were you surprised by the low graduation rates for some student-athletes at Cal? (UC Berkeley’s football team had the lowest graduation…

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The First (and Only?) Budget Leak

Byuclafaculty

Only a few days ago, we noted that it is traditional that as the date of the official unveiling of the governor’s budget proposal approaches, bits of it are leaked out.  We noted that as of that time, there hadn’t been any leaks, so maybe we would depart from tradition.  But now we have a leak.  The governor wants a ballot proposition mandating a rainy day fund.  From the LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown will join the push for a new ballot measure to help California stockpile cash as a buffer against future recessions, according to two Capitol officials. The…

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Upcoming Events in January

Byuclafaculty

Under the state constitution, Governor Brown will release his budget proposal for 2014-15 at the end of next week.  In the past, bits and pieces were often leaked to the news media ahead of the formal announcement.  So far, that hasn’t happened – which might just mean that with the current budgetary calm, there is nothing shocking to leak, including about the UC budget.  There will also be a “state of the state” address to the legislature by the governor which will touch on whatever the governor has in mind – who knows? – in this election year. The UC…

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Events May Divert the Governor from MOOCs, etc., at the Regents in 2014

Byuclafaculty

Jerry Brown will almost certainly be running for re-election in 2014.  It doesn’t look like there will be much of a contest but there will be at least some effort devoted to the campaign. But apart from re-election, Brown is facing some “legacy” problems.  During his first iteration as governor, he wasn’t big – to say the least – on grand infrastructure, unlike his father Pat.  However, this time around, there is the high-speed rail project and the water tunnel project, both grand and expensive.  These projects are analogs to his dad’s freeways and state water project.  The high speed…

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Yesterday’s news

Byuclafaculty

Christmas day tends to be a slow news day.  However, for those who didn’t see it, the LA Times carried a front page story about UC’s online offerings which allow cross-campus credits.  You can find the article at: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-me-uc-online-20131222,0,6798231.story Blog readers will be familiar with these offerings.  We noted in a prior post that UCLA seems to be a taker rather than a giver in this endeavor.  That is, other campuses’ online courses are available to UCLA students.  But UCLA is not offering courses to the other campuses.  Berkeley, Irvine, Davis, and Riverside seem to be the offerers.   Now, how…

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Wait and See

Byuclafaculty

We posted earlier about general plans for the state budget by the legislative Democrats which promise “more” for higher ed and UC than the Legislative Analyst’s projections seemed to imply.  It is unclear if there is more than what the governor will propose in early January. Below are two slides from a presentation by the legislative Democrats.  But wait and see is probably the best advice at this moment.  Note that the projections all assume uninterrupted economic expansion which is hard to guarantee. You can find the full set of slides at http://asmdc.org/issues/budget-blueprint/images/2014-15-blueprint-for-a-responsible-budget-v7cw.pdf

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We Got a Mention

Byuclafaculty

Maybe not so fast An earlier post on this blog described the recent Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) report that projected that, with a combination of continued economic growth and Prop 30 revenues while they are in effect, California’s “structural” deficit had ended.  We also noted that included in the LAO projections was what me termed an ungenerous assumption about spending on UC.  We have also been posting excerpts from Regents meetings in which the governor and Speaker Pérez have also made ungenerous remarks.  [Pérez, however, is now in the race for state controller and indicated that a transition to a…

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Lessons from Berkeley’s White Elephant Stadium for UCLA, the Regents, and UC?

Byuclafaculty

People keep noticing Berkeley’s White Elephant money-draining stadium – one of the grand capital projects that the Regents routinely approve based on pretty slides and business plans offered by the campuses.  Peter Schrag in the San Francisco Chronicle today ties the low graduation rates of Berkeley athletes with the stadium: …Fueling the… issue is the chronic matter of cost – what the university kicks in to the sports program – and what someone called “its gold plated” spending. Brian Barsky, a Berkeley computer science professor and vocal critic of the athletics program, says between 2003 and 2011, athletics “drained campus…