The Washington Monthly has a ranking of national universities by “their contribution to the public good.” It looks at such things as students on Pell Grants. UC-San Diego comes in as #1, UCLA as #2, UC-Berkeley #3, UC-Riverside #5, UC-Davis #8, UC-Santa Barbara #13, UC-Irvine #60. The full listing is at http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings_2011/national_university_rank.php
UC Berkeley grad spots $2 trillion S&P debt downgrade error Blog from San Francisco Chronicle 8/11/11 It took the sharp eye and calculating mind of John Bellows, a UC Berkeley 2009 Economics Ph.D grad, to catch the $2 trillion error in Standard & Poor’s credit rating that has roiled the global markets since it was issued Aug. 5. Bellows noted that S&P based its judgment on a projection that the U.S. debt as a share of the nation’s gross domestic product would rise rapidly over the next 10 years. The error, which S&P acknowledged in private conversations with the Treasury…
Inside Higher Ed today points to the story below: Men’s gymnastics program to continue at UC Berkeley Herb Benenson, Intercollegiate Athletics, May 2, 2011 As a result of fundraising efforts that have raised in excess of $2.5 million, the men’s gymnastics program at the University of California, Berkeley, will be preserved as an Intercollegiate Athletics sport, campus officials announced today (Monday, May 2). The total, though short of the $4 million necessary to fund the team’s current direct and indirect costs, will support the program for at least 7-10 years in combination with steps to reduce annual operating expenses. Specifically,…
The Assn. of American Universities (AAU) is a organization with major research universities as its members including UCLA. Its current president, Robert Berdahl, is a past chancellor of UC-Berkeley. UC-Berkeley is a member. Davis, Irvine, San Diego, and Santa Barbara are also members. On March 31, the AAU issued the press release below with other organizations concerning the federal deficit. (This is not a timely piece of information; yours truly just stumbled on it, a month late.) Also a signatory to the document is the Assn. of Public and Land-Grant Universities which includes the UC campuses above plus Santa Cruz…
The Regents meeting this morning dealt with budgetary issues. There were reports by three chancellors (from Santa Cruz, Irvine, and Berkeley) on the impact of the budget squeeze on their campuses. The Regents had various reactions to the situation. Plans were offered by Peter Taylor to generate more cash through portfolio management. He argued that even though somewhat more risk was entailed, the proposals were sufficiently conservative to insulate UC from a crisis. There was discussion of a new plan under which UCOP would pass state funding down to the campus level so that campuses would operate more autonomously. The…
Chancellor: UC Berkeley morphing into federal university (excerpts) February 23, 2011 | Louis Freedberg | Californiawatch.org As it gets more funding from the federal government, and less from Sacramento, UC Berkeley is effectively morphing from a state university into a federal university, according to Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. In an interview yesterday, Birgeneau said the transformation will “require us to think through what our role is both in the state and nationally.” He first made the compelling case for applying the “federal” label to California’s most famous public university at a conference organized by the Travers Program in Ethics and Accountability…
Berkeley: A privatized public university? (excerpts) Sacramento Bee, Feb. 12, 2011 Peter Schrag A year ago, when the University of California announced sharp boosts in tuition, staff furloughs and other measures to cope with declining state funding, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis and other UC campuses seethed with protests. Among the loudest complaints from students was that the higher costs would make it financially impossible for them to continue at UC. The most common refrain was the call to protect what the demonstrators called “our university.” But this summer and fall, after Berkeley included some 900 fewer California residents in…
In the continuing saga of athletics at UC-Berkeley, it appears the game is over for baseball. Berkeley has subsidized athletics and is cutting back for budgetary reasons. The article below has the story and updates previous posts.Cal to save 3 sports, cut baseball, gymnastics John Crumpacker, San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 12, 2011 An effort by Cal sports supporters and officials to save five teams ended Friday with mixed results. UC Berkeley announced that men’s rugby, women’s gymnastics and women’s lacrosse would remain as varsity programs, less than five months after Cal announced the teams would have to be cut or…
Facing Title IX Pressure, Cal May Restore the Teams It Cut Katie Thomas, NY Times, 2-8-11 When the University of California, Berkeley, announced it was eliminating five varsity teams last fall, the decision was sold as a necessary sacrifice by a university reeling from severe cuts in state aid. Four months later, the university finds itself in a dilemma caused by a consequence of that decision that has been largely overlooked in the debate over the cuts. The elimination of two women’s teams — lacrosse and gymnastics — threw the Cal athletic department out of compliance with the federal gender-equity…
UC Berkeley slashes jobs (excerpt) San Francisco Chronicle, 1-13-11, Matier & Ross The hammer is falling at UC Berkeley, with word that the university is laying off 150 managers and support staff. The news, which was delivered in a campus bulletin late Thursday, comes just days after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed slashing $500 million from the UC system next year. The job cuts are on top of 600 positions that Cal has already eliminated since last year. Campus officials say they got a jump on the problem last summer when they hired an outside consultant — at a cost of…
