UC Regents

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Listen to Audio of Special Regents Meeting of June 19, 2012

Byuclafaculty

Although we have posted audio from the July Regents meeting, there was a special meeting earlier called for June 19.  Below is the agenda and audio for that meeting. Tuesday, June 19: Special Meeting of Regents 12:30 pm Committee on Compensation (Regents Only Session) 12:45 pm Committee on Compensation (Open Session – includes public comment session) 1:05 pm Board (open session) The three sessions above were to approve appointment of Amy Dorr – Dean of UCLA’s GSEIS – as UC Provost and EVC-Academic Affairs, $350,000 plus moving and related expenses. 1:30 pm Committee on Investments: Review of investment returns and…

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Too Much?

Byuclafaculty

The LA Times today features a UCLA study finding that folks in LA suffer from having too much stuff.  They just can’t help themselves and overdo it, adding more than they need.  Excerpt: About 10 years ago, Rhonda Voo’s house was a mess. Shelves packed with Beanie Babies, Barbies and various other toys covered the walls in her cramped three-bedroom, one bathroom house. With three children between the ages of 5 and 11, Voo discovered that even finding a pair of shoes became a daily challenge.  “It’s like all the stuff you own kind of weighs you down,” said Voo,…

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Lt. Gov. Newsom Sends Letter to Chancellor Block on Japanese Garden Sale

Byuclafaculty

Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom sent a letter to Chancellor Block dated July 3 concerning the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden.  Newsom is an ex officio Regent.  The letter asks that public access to the Garden be preserved and that UCLA explore alternatives to the planned sale. As a prior post noted, at their recent meeting, the Regents reviews litigation on this matter.  The Newsom letter is dated before the meeting took place although it is possible that some advance material was circulated to Regents. You can read the letter below: Open publication – Free publishing – More gavin newsom You never…

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Regents Endorse Governor’s Tax Initiative

Byuclafaculty

Although we posted an audio and some description of the July 18 morning session of the Regents in which they endorsed Prop 30, the governor’s tax initiative, you might want to read about it rather than listen.  The Regents acted after the strong urging of President Yudof.  Here is an excerpt from Larry Gordon’s story in the LA Times with a link: …the governing board of the 10-campus system formally endorsed the governor’s tax measure. “It’s a simple question: Will UC be better off if it passes than if it doesn’t? That’s not just an answer of ‘yes,’ that’s an…

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Audio on the UCLA Hotel from the Regents Meeting of 7-17-12

Byuclafaculty

Because of interest in the UCLA hotel/conference center discussion at the Regents meeting of 7-17-2012, here is a more accessible posting of the audio from that date, just on the hotel.  It is easier to navigate than the earlier posting. Part 1 – Lawyer Statement Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

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Listen to Audio of the Regents’ Afternoon Session: July 18, 2012

Byuclafaculty

This audio is a direct recording of the Regents’ afternoon session of July 28, 2012. At the end of the recording, it is announced that the governor is coming and that the Regents – who were going into closed session – would go back into open session when he arrived. However, the live-stream audio was shut off at that point.  When we get the full audio from the Regents, if there are remarks from the governor on it, the audio will be posted.  (Presumably, the governor wanted to talk about the Regents’ earlier endorsement of his tax initiative.)  Otherwise, this…

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Listen to Audio of the Morning Session of the Regents: July 18, 2012

Byuclafaculty

The Regents sessions on the morning of July 18thwere heavily budget oriented.  This audio is incomplete and starts in the midst of President Yudof’s statement on budget matters and his advocacy of support by the Regents for the governor’s tax initiative on the November ballot.   Public comments by students and others ended in a demonstration of the type that has become standard at Regents meetings.  In essence, demonstrators wanted tuition freezes, even if the governor’s initiative did not pass.  Other items were raised including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Eventually, police cleared the room of demonstrators.  The recording continued during roughly…

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Making Elephants Fly

Byuclafaculty

Approval by the Regents of the UCLA hotel/conference center in its present iteration may have been inevitable but it does not change the underlying economic reality of the project.  It either is a white elephant or it isn’t.  And the underlying economic reality goes beyond this specific proposal.  Whether the governor’s tax initiative passes or not, the long-term outlook for the state’s support for UC is not bright.  In an earlier post, this blog reproduced a chart from the UCLA Anderson Forecast showing the growing California  job gap between the pre-1990 trend line and the actual results.  Moreover the chart…

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Where Was UCLA?

Byuclafaculty

As this item is being posted, the Regents are considering endorsement of the governor’s tax initiative.  Part of the process was a memorial from the faculty on that issue.  Above is a tabulation on the Regents’ agenda reporting the faculty vote.  Of those voting, 93% favored the endorsement.  But note that for whatever reason, few faculty members at UCLA voted.  In fact, fewer voted at UCLA than at any other campus including much smaller Merced.  Eric Hays of CUCFA brought this fact to my attention. The item including the table above is athttp://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul12/f2.pdf

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A Tuition Cut That Really Isn’t Is on the Regents Agenda Today

Byuclafaculty

Various professional schools have what amount to tuition surcharges above the base tuition for revenue generation.  An item on today’s Regents agenda for the Committee on Educational Policy would allow fast cuts in the surcharges.  Why?  If the governor’s tax initiative doesn’t pass, the Regents would likely quickly raise base tuition to offset the planned $250 million trigger cut.  The base+surcharge might then exceed market rates for some schools, cutting into applications and admissions.   Under the proposal, a quick cut in the surcharge could offset or partially offset the base increase. You can find the item at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul12/e1.pdf And,…