UC budget crisis

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More Commitment of Funds We Haven’t Got? UC-Riverside Med School

Byuclafaculty

UCR med school stalled over funding: National medical committee withholds preliminary accreditation for UC Riverside medical school. June 8, 2011, LORA HINES, Riverside Press-Enterprise Preliminary accreditation for UC Riverside’s proposed medical school is on hold because the state has not budgeted ongoing money to fund it, university officials said Wednesday. The decision by the national Liaison Committee on Medical Education to withhold the accreditation means the school opening, slated for summer 2012, could be delayed for a year, university officials said… University and county officials said they will boost efforts to get lawmakers to commit funds for the medical school….

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Leg Assembly Summary

Byuclafaculty

These really high-quality cellphone photos come from yesterday’s Legislative Assembly meeting. There were no shockers. Presentations were made by Academic Senate Chair Ann Karagozian, Chancellor Gene Block, and Vice Chancellor Steve Olsen regarding budget and other matters facing the campus this year and next. With regard to the hotel/conference center pause-and-review, Chair Karagozian said that the Olsen review of the proposal would likely take until the fall. Since VC Olsen was present and did not indicate otherwise, I assume that timing is indeed the likely prospect. The Block and Olsen reviews of the budget and related matters indicated that unlike…

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They’re Not Thinking About Our Problems

Byuclafaculty

The May Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll is out today and you will be reading stories in the press about the detailed views of the public on various state issues including the state budget and state governance problems. Obviously, the budget and governance are very important to UC. But hidden in the poll is an important message. Take a look at the table below. What is obvious is that the public, including voters, are not losing sleep over the issues that pollsters ask about except one: “jobs/economy.” Yes, if pressed, respondents will answer questions about other issues. But…

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What will be the state of the UC in five to 10 years?

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly was asked by the Daily Bruin (5-26-11) to respond to the following question: What will be the state of the UC in five to 10 years? Below is my response: DANIEL J.B. MITCHELL, Professor Emeritus at the Anderson School of Management and the Luskin School of Public Affairs “Never (make) forecasts, especially about the future,” advised Sam Goldwyn (the G in media company MGM). I will take his advice and instead suggest two scenarios. I don’t know which one UCLA, and the larger UC, will follow. But I know which one I prefer. The first scenario is an…

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Who Will Bail Out UC?

Byuclafaculty

The parking of a Hummer belonging to Lipstick Bail Bonds (slogan: “Kiss Jail Goodbye”) at the UCLA med center recently raises the issue of who bails out UC if the governor’s tax extensions-resumptions don’t pass. Students, apparently, will be the answer: UC tuition might jump 32% if tax proposal fails, official says UC President Mark G. Yudof tells regents that this fall’s 8% tuition increase may be dwarfed by an additional 32% midyear hike if Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan for tax extensions is not approved. By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times May 19, 2011 Reporting from San Francisco — University…

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No End in Sight (for tuition increases)

Byuclafaculty

UC leaders: Tuition hikes nearly inevitable (excerpt) Matt Krupnick, Contra Costa Times, 5/18/11 The University of California may charge higher tuition each of the next five years even if the state stops cutting its budget, UC leaders said Wednesday. Administrators presented four budget scenarios Wednesday to help the Board of Regents plan future budgets. Under the rosiest scenario — which is unlikely, given the state’s financial crisis — UC would raise tuition 8 percent per year, starting in 2012… Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed $500 million cuts to both the 10-campus UC and 23-campus California State University systems, and the…

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The May Revise

Byuclafaculty

Here is a preliminary look at Governor Brown’s May revise budget based in part on yours truly watching the media conference at which the May revise was presented and a look at the accompanying documents. For those concerned about UC in particular, there appears to be no change in the net $500 billion reduction previously announced. That reduction consists of a drop in the general fund contribution to UC plus the ending of federal stimulus funds. You can find this information at http://www.dof.ca.gov/budget/historical/2011-12/governors/summary/documents/BS_HED.pdf and http://www.dof.ca.gov/budget/historical/2011-12/governors/documents/May_Revision_2011-12_Summary.pdf At the more general level, let’s start with the observation that budget terminology in the…

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The Regents Are Coming; The Regents Are Coming

Byuclafaculty

The Regents will be meeting next week, May 17-18. By way of a preview, here are some excerpts from background documents for the Regents Committee on Finance, slated for May 18. Excerpt 1: Full document at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/may11/f6.pdf Compensation. The baseline model assumes annual compensation cost increases of three percent for both represented and non-represented staff and faculty, in addition to the regular academic merit salary increase program, totaling $533 million by 2015-16. While compensation likely will continue to lag substantially behind the market, three percent increases are critical to retain and recruit the faculty and staff needed to maintain UC’s…

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State Spending Cap Initiative: Is It for Real?

Byuclafaculty

Related to the prior post is a second initiative – also one that was submitted in connection with GOP legislative negotiations with the governor – that would cap state expenditures based on a formula linked to inflation and population growth. As with the pension initiative, it is unclear whether there is funding to obtain the needed signatures. This initiative in effect proposes to return to the Gann limit that was approved by voters in 1979 as the “son of Prop 13” that had been approved the year before. The Gann limit on state spending was largely gutted by Prop 98…

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Budget Cuts are Good Things at UC-Davis

Byuclafaculty

That’s what UC-Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi says: UCD chancellor says budget cuts prompt positive changes “…UC Davis is facing a $107 million shortfall next year. While the budget pressure is difficult, Katehi said, it also creates opportunities for UC Davis to change in ways that will be beneficial, prompting professors to apply for more grants and the campus to increase the number of students it admits from outside California. “I believe at the end of all of this, the university will be stronger after all of these changes,” she said. Katehi said she wants the campus to bring in more…