UC Regents

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Reality Check on Online Higher Education

Byuclafaculty

Arizona State University (ASU) offers online undergrad and grad degree programs.  It is actively recruiting Californians. Click on http://asuonline.asu.edu/?utm_source=ca-asu-edu&utm_medium=ca-asu-edu&utm_campaign=california-visit If you visit this link, you will be given information in written and video format.  A sample course format is at: http://asuonline.asu.edu/how-it-works/learning-online-at-asu So what is the cost?    The ASU website offers a course calculator: https://students.asu.edu/costs  I used the calculator and entered that I was an Arizona resident, that I was seeking an online undergraduate degree, and that I would be enrolling as a freshman.  The cost per academic year was reported to be $10,792.  Of course, there are no living expenses payable…

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The Moral: It’s a Good Idea to Avoid the Rush

Byuclafaculty

From Inside Higher Ed today… Maybe it was inevitable that one of the new massive open online courses would crash. After all, MOOCs are being launched with considerable speed, not to mention hype. But MOOC advocates might have preferred the collapse of a course other than the one that was suspended this weekend, one week into instruction: “Fundamentals of Online Education: Planning and Application.” Technology and design problems are largely to blame for the course’s problems. And many students are angry that a course about online education — let alone one offered by the Georgia Institute of Technology — wouldn’t…

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Self-esteem of the electorate: Potential tool for UC?

Byuclafaculty

Self esteem California has been famous (infamous?) for its self-esteem movement.  And it is also famous for the popular love of direct democracy. A PPIC poll recently released is in the headline for showing an uptick in popular and voter approval of the governor, the legislature, etc.  But when asked who should make key long-term decisions, the popular response by about three fourths of those polled is that it should be left to voters, not the legislature or the governor. I suspect that there is some opportunity here for UC if we continue to get gubernatorial mucking around at the…

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Burning Sofas: A Lesson for the Governor on UC

Byuclafaculty

A column in today’s Sacramento Bee tells a tale about sofas with lessons for the governor.   Here is an excerpt: Gov. Jerry Brown is about to repent for a sin he didn’t know he committed in 1975. Ten months after Brown took office the first time, his administration produced a little-noticed regulation requiring that furniture sold in California comply with the strictest fire safety standard in the nation. Befitting its turgid language, the regulation came to be known as Technical Bulletin 117. Although it was supposed to save lives, another story has emerged in the intervening decades. Technical Bulletin…

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Student Regent Asks Why Students Weren’t Consulted About Online Education (and no one quite answers)

Byuclafaculty

At the Jan. 16 session of the UC Regents dealing with online education, student regent Jonathan Stein asked why UC students were not consulted.  Various regents spoke in response.  Notably, Gov. Brown responded with the admonition to “get real” about the budget, but he did not address why students were not consulted.  In addition, UC-Berkeley Law Dean Christopher Edley – who has been active in UC online efforts – was asked to respond.  His response dealt with potential access by non-UC students.  But he also did not address the question of why UC students were not consulted. Stein’s remarks refer…

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Regents Again Approve a UCLA Building Despite Cost Concerns

Byuclafaculty

Blog readers will recall that at a prior Regents meeting, UCLA produced a very sketchy and high cost plan for a new medical building, a “teaching and learning center.”  The presentation was so sketchy and the costs were so worrisome for the Regents to ask for a revised plan.  At the Jan. 16 meeting of the Grounds and Building Committee, UCLA came back with a revised plan for a $104.7 million project – said to be significantly scaled back – with more details.As with the earlier hotel project, UCLA apparently had offline meetings with Regents after the prior meeting (such…

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California Assembly Speaker John Pérez on the UC Budget, Tuition, Access, and Other Matters

Byuclafaculty

At the January 17, 2013 UC Regents meeting John Pérez spoke about the state budget and other issues. Pérez is an ex officio regent.  A summary follows and there is a link to an audio of his remarks at the bottom of this post: Summary: UC is unrealistic about increased funding from the state, backfilling of past budget cuts, or predictability for the university.  It is not addressing predictability for students.  UC was good at protecting the neediest students but not so good at protecting the middle class.  There are legislative concerns about graduate and professional school students, not just…

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Gov. Jerry Brown on Executive Pay at the University of California & Many Other Topics

Byuclafaculty

At the University of California (UC) Regents meeting of Jan. 17, 2013, Regent Leslie Tang Schilling asked Gov. Brown not to protest about UC executive pay.  The state portion of executive pay can be capped, she seemed to agree, but the Regents should then be free to raise private donations for increments of pay above the state portion.  She argues that UC will need high-quality leadership and must be free to compete for talent.  She expresses skepticism about psychic income. Brown responds at length with a learned discourse ranging from his one-time vow of Jesuit poverty to the history of…

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Why the Resignation?

Byuclafaculty

They don’t seem to be looking in the same direction. President Yudof resigned shortly after last week’s Regents meeting.  Undoubtedly, the resignation was planned earlier so nothing that specifically happened at the meeting could have been the triggering event.  The official press release mentioned health, family, etc., obliquely. While the Regents meeting was not the trigger, I would guess that what happened at the meeting was no surprise and could have been anticipated by anyone who heard or attended prior meetings.  The governor wants to take a bigger role than have prior governors.  That’s fine by itself, but the question…

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It’s Your Legacy Choice Governor Brown: Chinese Emperor or Dad?

Byuclafaculty

Kowtowing to the Chinese emperor This past week, Governor Jerry Brown – as he promised – came to yet another Regents meeting with a message of online education and various not-well-defined demands for more efficiency in higher education.  With a few exceptions, what the governor got was kowtowing.  The Regents sung his praise as they did at prior meetings.  Shortly after the meeting, UC President Mark Yudof quit – although he, too, did what is perceived as the requisite degree of kowtowing in announcing he was leaving office. As is well known, Chinese emperors expected those who approached them to…