politics

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The Block Bill: The Other Online Higher Ed Mandate

Byuclafaculty

Although the online higher ed bill by Senate president Darrell Steinberg (SB 520) has been receiving much attention – as well as opposition from UC – there is another bill on the subject that is also pending in the legislature.*  That bill, by Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego), has received a much softer response from UC, essentially that it might be OK with more faculty control and funding.  The bill, as introduced, requires the UC Academic Senate to undertake certain actions with language for UC indicating that the Regents should first endorse the requirement. Below is the text of the…

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The Next ObamaJam Will be June 7

Byuclafaculty

The President has not been doing any local fundraisers recently.  But when he does, they inevitably tie up traffic on the Westside.  The hiatus will end on Friday, June 7, when he comes for a lunchtime event in Santa Monica.  Yours truly will be in St. Louis on that day.  For those readers who remain in town and plan to come to UCLA on June 7, however, it would be best to arrive early and leave late. (Or you can attend the fundraiser for a mere $10,000 and up.) Source of these tidings:http://www.smmirror.com/articles/News/Obama-To-Attend-Fundraiser-June-7-At-Peter-Chernins-Santa-Monica-Home/37450

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Needs Improvement

Byuclafaculty

For many years, California had an agency known as CPEC, the California Postsecondary Education Commission.  CPEC was supposed to coordinate the three public segments of higher ed with the private higher ed institutions.  It was a successor to an earlier agency connected with the 1960 Master Plan.  CPEC basically gathered data on higher ed, wrote reports, etc.  However, in 2011, Governor Brown zeroed out the CPEC budget with a line-item veto.  All that remains is a website:http://www.cpec.ca.gov/ CPEC was run by a commission consisting of political appointees and members of public higher ed governing boards – for UC, the Regents…

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Follow Up on the Steinberg Platform

Byuclafaculty

A prior post on this blog referred to the recent legislative hearing on California Senate president Darrell Steinberg’s bill that would create a “platform” for various online courses that could be taken for college credit.  At the hearing, he offered amendments to the original bill (SB 520) and was asked to come back with the written versions. The amended bill can be read below: But are you ready for the platform? Update: Don’t tell Steinberg:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/02/survey-finds-presidents-are-skeptical-moocs Update: Anyway, don’t tell Steinberg unless you are sure it is him:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-online-cheating-20130502,0,795806,full.story

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Boulware at the Regents?

Byuclafaculty

Lemuel Ricketts Boulware Today is May Day – often viewed as a labor holiday.  That happenstance brings to mind the role the governor has been playing as an ex officio regent. Governor Brown likes to show his scope of knowledge through quotations, Latin phrases, and historical references.  Earlier this year, when asked about his collective bargaining policy with state unions, he referred to “Boulwarism” as something that he wouldn’t want to do. So what is Boulwarism?  Lemuel Ricketts Boulware was General Electric’s chief bargainer with its unions in the 1950s and early 1960s.  He developed a take-it-or-leave-it style of negotiating,…

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Audio of Steinberg & Powell on Online Higher Ed at State Senate Committee Hearing 4-24-13

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post dealt with the state senate hearing on online higher ed this past week and provided a link to a video of the hearing.  Embedding the official video of the hearing into the posting did not work well so a link was provided instead.  However, that link also doesn’t work especially well.  Below is a link to two excerpts from that hearing.  They are audio tracks with a still picture, first of Senate president Darrell Steinberg and then of UC Academic Chair Robert Powell.  Steinberg is the proposer of a bill which in its original form mandated 50…

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Oil Tax for Higher Ed Initiative

Byuclafaculty

As we have noted many times, it is very hard to get an initiative on the ballot without hiring signature-gathering firms (which will cost $1-$2 million).  And if the initiative gets on the ballot, millions more will be needed for TV ads, etc., if there is opposition.  An oil severance tax to fund higher ed would clearly have such opposition – from the oil industry.  All that said, there is such an effort underway (as noted in prior posts): …Conceived by UC-Berkeley students, the California Modernization and Economic Development Act places a 9.5 percent tax on oil and gas extracted…

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Yesterday’s State Senate Hearing on Online Higher Ed Bill

Byuclafaculty

A California State Senate committee held a hearing yesterday on SB 520, a bill that in its original form mandated 50 online courses at UC, CSU, and the community colleges.  The bill is being pushed by Senate President Steinberg. At the hearing, he offered amendments setting 50 as a goal rather than a mandate and allowing “public-public” partnerships as opposed to public-private.  The latter refers to deals with private MOOC companies.  Public-public would include, for example, cross-campus courses.  He also offered an amendment that no public monies would be used for the private side of any public-private partnerships. (It’s not…

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And if you are done celebrating “more” in the state budget as on the previous posting…

Byuclafaculty

The drawing board According to the LA Times, UC is not likely to like important elements of the forthcoming May revise budget to be issued by the governor: …”We’d like to go back to the drawing board,” said Patrick Lenz, a top UC budget official. The university was not consulted in advance about the details of Brown’s proposal, he said… And what are those elements? Gov. Jerry Brown wants to tie some state funding for California’s public universities to a host of new requirements, including 10% increases in the number of transfer students from community colleges and the percentage of…

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Hold the Line: Jerry Knows Best

Byuclafaculty

From today’s LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing forward with plans to shake up California’s higher education system, including strict rules on tuition and fees, according to an administration spokesman. Under the governor’s proposal, university officials would forfeit increases in state funding if they raise student costs during the next four years.  The governor originally outlined his plans in his January budget proposal. Now, as he prepares to release a revised spending plan next month, administration personnel have been briefing legislative staff and university officials on the details… Full story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/political/la-me-pc-jerry-brown-colleges-20130419,0,6532913.story  And we thought it was someone else…