UC budget crisis

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Audio of Regents Meeting on Budget, 3-16-11, For Your Listening Pleasure

Byuclafaculty

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…

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Quote without comment

Byuclafaculty

UC Riverside leaders consider sweeping cuts in face of budget crisis (excerpt) Larry Gordon, LA Times, March 8, 2011 Should library hours be cut? Could some academic programs be closed or merged? Will turning down air conditioners and fixing leaky sprinklers save much money? UC Riverside administrators are mulling such questions as they face an expected reduction in the campus’ core budget next year of at least 8%, or $38 million, even as they cope with higher pension costs and energy bills. The decisions could affect the livelihoods of employees and quality of education for more than 20,000 students at…

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April 14th Undergrad UC Budget Protest/Event Announced

Byuclafaculty

Below is the text of an email received by yours truly announcing an undergraduate-sponsored UC budget protest/event scheduled for April 14: Dear friends, family, and community supporters, This year, the UC Regents passed the fourth consecutive fee increase in the past two years, and as a further blow, Governor Jerry Brown recently released his budget proposal, initiating a massive $500 million cut to the University of California. The University of California used to stand as the model for higher education, but education has clearly fallen in the list of state priorities. It is time that we organize. Small protests and…

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Former Chancellor Young on Modified Self Sufficiency

Byuclafaculty

The 2011 edition of California Policy Options is now available and contains a chapter by former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young entitled “Policy Options for University of California Budgeting.” Click on the website address below (not the picture on the right) and go to chapter 5 for the Young chapter in which he advocates “modified self sufficiency.” You can also find a chapter on the state budget (chapter 1) by yours truly entitled “Government by (Hot) Checks and (Im)Balances.” Go to http://issuu.com/uclapubaffairs/docs/cpo2011 Other chapters on current California issues are included as well.

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Letter to Yudof: UC Davis may ax 500 jobs to cope with budget cuts

Byuclafaculty

UC Davis may ax 500 jobs to cope with budget cuts Mar. 1, 2011, Sacramento Bee, Laurel Rosenhall UC Davis will probably eliminate 450 to 500 jobs, charge students extra fees and make it harder for California students to be admitted as a result of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to cut $500 million from the University of California’s statewide budget. UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi listed those changes in a letter to UC President Mark Yudof that outlined how the cuts would affect the campus. UC Davis’ plan assumes the campus will face a $107 million shortfall in 2011-12, Katehi…

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Baseball Strikes Out at UC-Berkeley

Byuclafaculty

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…

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UC-Berkeley Plan to Cut Athletics Runs into Hurdle

Byuclafaculty

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…

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Budget from Hell Coming Back

Byuclafaculty

Before Gov. Brown delivered his budget proposal in early January, it was speculated that he would follow a “Budget from Hell” strategy. Under that approach, he would have presented a budget on the assumption that no tax extensions were approved. Having seen Hell, voters would (presumably) gratefully vote for the tax extensions as the path out of Hell. In the end, however, he did not follow that approach. Instead, his budget was premised on the tax extensions being approved. When asked, he said that he did not believe in scare tactics – or at least he did not think scare…

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UC Testimony on Cost Savings Before Assembly Committee on Higher Ed: 1-18-11

Byuclafaculty

The chair of the UC-Berkeley Academic Senate, UC VP Peter Taylor, and a student representative testified on steps UC is taking to cut costs and improve efficiency. (This hearing is the same one at which an LAO staffer testified as shown in a prior post on this blog.) There was discussion of such things as online courses and centralization of various campus support functions. You can see the testimony in two parts below: Part 1: UC-Berkeley Senate Chair Part 2: Administration & Student