politics

Dead on Arrival (or close to arrival)

Byuclafaculty

From Inside Higher Ed today:…A bill is dead to create a fourth college system in California to award credit and degrees to students but offer no courses, according to the head of the state Assembly’s higher education committee. The bill would have created the “New University of California,” which would have issued credit and degrees to anyone capable of passing certain exams. The bill received criticism and news media attention even though it had an uphill battle to become law: its sponsor is Assemblyman Scott Wilk, a rookie Republican lawmaker in a Democratic-majority legislature… Full story at http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/04/18/bill-create-new-university-california-dies  It sounds…

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Looking Ahead to 2014 Politics

Byuclafaculty

“Your remarks give us great enlightenment, not only like a statesman, but also like a university professor.”* Shenzhen Party secretary Wang Rong to Governor Brown during recent China trip ==Political year 2014 may seem like a long way off but one GOP possible candidate has already semi-declared: Abel Maldonado, the former Lt. Governor.   It is widely assumed that Gov. Brown will run for re-election.  If for some reason he didn’t, there would be no shortage of Democratic candidates for governor including the current Lt. Governor, Gavin Newsom (who tried briefly in 2010).  So one question is what will be involved…

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California Oil Tax?

Byuclafaculty

Signal Hill Oil Field, probably 1940s There is currently an initiative for which in theory signatures are being gathered that would gasoline and other fuel to fund a cap on tuition.  I could go into the details but this is one of the many initiatives that are filed without any funding to pay signature gatherers or run a campaign.  It will go nowhere.  Signatures are actually due tomorrow.  There is a link to it below for those who are curious. However, the same wealthy individual who successfully pushed through Prop 39 last year is now pushing the legislature to use…

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Leading by Example: But Leading to What?

Byuclafaculty

From Inside Higher Ed today: Florida lawmakers advanced a bill this week intended to upend the American college accreditation system. The measure would allow Florida officials to accredit individual courses on their own — including classes offered by unaccredited for-profit providers… The Florida plan is similar to a high-profile California bill. Both would force public colleges and universities under some circumstances to award credit for work done by students in online programs unaffiliated with their colleges… “Now you see the nation being squeezed by California and now in Florida,” said Dean Florez, a former California state senator who leads the Twenty Million Minds…

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AAUP Reacts to Congressional Ban on Funds for Poli Sci

Byuclafaculty

AAUP statement of April 4: The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) condemns recent congressional action to defund the political science program of the National Science Foundation. We believe that efforts by politicians to restrict research support for certain disciplines is misguided, and threatens the integrity of the rigorous scientific review process used by federal agencies to fund research that advances knowledge. The provision to defund the political science program was offered as an amendment by Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to HR 933, the Continuing Appropriations Act to fund certain government agencies for the rest of the 2013 fiscal…

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New Ideas from the State Legislature Seem to Correspond (pun intended) to Old Ones

Byuclafaculty

1916 Correspondence School Ad AB 1306, as introduced, Wilk. Public postsecondary education: Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would establish The New University of California as a 4th segment of public postsecondary education in this state. The bill would establish an 11-member…

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No Joke

Byuclafaculty

It’s not clear why the University of California Press chose April First to bring out a new biography of Jerry Brown, but it did. There is a review (really a comment) by Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters of the new book.  Some excerpts: Chuck McFadden, a retired wire service reporter who worked in Sacramento, wrote “Trailblazer” for the University of California Press and the relatively slender volume takes a terse, journalistic approach that is both a plus and a minus. Someone who is unfamiliar with Brown’s first governorship – that’s just about anyone under the age of 50 – has…

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Thanks, But No Thanks

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today notes that it appears that the Academic Senates of the three tiers of California public higher ed are decidedly unenthusiastic about the proposed legislation to mandate online courses under certain conditions.  Previous posts on this blog have reported on the controversy.…Academic senate leaders from all three public higher ed systems – UC, Cal State and the California Community Colleges — now outright oppose the efforts, though their full senates have yet to take formal votes…In particular, faculty representatives are concerned California lawmakers are preparing to hand over untold thousands of students to for-profit companies that have not proven…

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Emisions Remissions?

Byuclafaculty

UCLA co-generation plant California’s cash-strapped public universities would save millions of dollars under legislation by Orange County state Sen. Mimi Walters, but the bill’s prospects are uncertain because it would alter a landmark global warming law beloved by environmentalists. Walters’ proposal seeks to exempt University of California and California State University campuses from the new cap-and-trade program established under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, otherwise known as Assembly Bill 32 or AB32, one of the nation’s most ambitious environmental laws… At least five UC campuses, including Irvine, UCLA and San Diego, qualify for the cap-and-trade program in 2013……

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Survey Suggests It’s Time to Take a Deep Breath on MOOCs

Byuclafaculty

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a survey of 103 of 184 faculty members who have taught MOOCs.  The article that accompanies the survey is at: http://chronicle.com/article/The-Professors-Behind-the-MOOC/137905/#id=overview But the summary below should suggest anyone proposing rushing into this area on the grounds that it will save large amounts of money or even provide a route to credit at the institutions at which these faculty are based should take a deep breath before proceeding. The results are decidedly mixed and they come from a group of folks who are evidently enthused about the endeavor.  [Clicking on the images above will provide…