UC Regents

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Fork in the Road on Public Pensions in California?

Byuclafaculty

Diligent readers of this blog will know the following 7 points about public pension proposals in California (and their relation to UC’s pension plan): 1) The Regents adopted pension changes – essentially a two-tier defined-benefit approach – for the UC retirement system. 2) The governor is pushing a 12-point “hybrid” system (mix of defined benefit and defined contribution) for all public pensions in California that – unless UC is exempted – could override the Regents’ action. 3) Although it is the official position of UC that it wants an exemption, the governor has not agreed to one. 4) The legislature…

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Regents to Discuss (Not Enact) Possible Future Tuition Increases at May 16 Meeting

Byuclafaculty

Excerpts from the Fresno Bee: University of California students could face significantly higher tuition if the state doesn’t increase funding and voters reject the governor’s tax initiative, school administrators said Tuesday.  Under one scenario, the 10-campus system would raise tuition by 6 percent this fall if the state doesn’t increase funding by $125 million for 2012-13, according to a document posted online ahead of next week’s UC Board of Regents meeting.  The university would need to consider a mid-year tuition increase in the “range of double digits” – or make drastic cuts to campus programs and staffing – if voters…

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Lawsuit Filed to Block Sale of Japanese Garden

Byuclafaculty

Below is the text of a press release announcing a lawsuit to block the sale of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden by UCLA. Below that you will find the actual lawsuit. The suit focuses on the pledge by the university/Regents to maintain the garden “in perpetuity” and, if necessary, use proceeds from selling the associated residence for such maintenance. ==================== FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: John R. Walton Law Offices of John R. Walton, P.C. Phone: 626.578.6000 Fax: 626.578.6012 LAWSUIT FILED TO SAVE HANNAH CARTER JAPANESE GARDEN IN BEL AIR Los Angeles, California, May 7, 2012 – A lawsuit was filed…

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Time Out for More Seat Time?

Byuclafaculty

As readers of this blog will know, at the March Regents meeting, UCLA attempted – and failed – to get Regental endorsement of its proposed hotel/conference center project.  After an embarrassing session of a Regental committee at which the proposal was presented, UCLA pulled the item from the agenda due to the strong doubts expressed by members of the committee.  It was said that the item would be brought back to the Regents in May. The May 16 agenda for that meeting has just been posted and no such item is to be found. At a recent meeting for staff…

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The Crack in Forever and the Japanese Garden Sale

Byuclafaculty

A column in the Huffington Post LA discusses the Japanese Garden issue, emphasizing the “in perpetuity” promise that was part of the history of the garden donation.  It cautions future donors that since perpetuity seems to have ended with the ongoing sale of the garden, they may want to be cautious about future gifts.   It may well be that UCLA and the Regents should not have pledged to do something forever.  But that is what happened and this matter might have been better handled as a result.  As prior posts have noted, it appears that the sale is not…

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Building Blocks: No Lessons Learned?

Byuclafaculty

As part of his upcoming 5-year review, Chancellor Block has written a self-statement. In a 9-page document (not counting the cover letter) about his vision for the campus and accomplishments, the hotel/conference center is mentioned on four of them.  (First full paragraph of pages 4 and 5; last paragraph of pages 7 and 9.)  As readers of this blog will know, the Regents had major doubts about the feasibility of this project and the priority it represents. The self-statement is dated April 12, i.e., two weeks after the embarrassment for UCLA at the March Regents meeting concerning the hotel.  You…

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No Japanese Garden at May Regents Meeting

Byuclafaculty

Death Knell Rings For Hannah Carter Garden Beverly Hills Courier 4/26/12 By Laura Coleman On Wednesday, UCLA denied the Coalition to Save the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden an opportunity to address the UC Board of Regents during its meeting on May 15-17 in a letter from University of California President Mark Yudof.  The May 22 deadline to bid on the UCLA-owned garden and former Carter residence, listed by Coldwell Banker for a total of $14.7 million, had prompted community activists opposed to the impending sale to redouble their efforts to place the issue on the agenda for the upcoming Regents…

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The Odd Brown/GOP Pension Initiative

Byuclafaculty

Gov. Brown has proposed a pension revision affecting all state and local employees in California.  It would override UC’s changes in its pension system made by the Regents.  The governor’s plan is a hybrid of defined benefit and defined contribution with a pension cap of 75% of salary for new hires.  Brown wants the legislature to put his plan on the ballot but the legislature’s Democratic majority instead is studying alternatives. Legislative Republicans, however, have endorsed the governor’s plan and filed an initiative to put it on the ballot.  Unclear at this time is whether they will spend the $1-$2…

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Listen to Remaining Audio of Regents Meeting of March 29, 2012

Byuclafaculty

A previous post on this blog noted that a defective file had been received for the third day session of the Regents after the Public Comments period.  Only part of that session was posted as a result, although it did include the decision officially to withdraw implementation of an exemption from the IRS pension cap.  The complete recording has now been received.  It includes the portion previous posted plus discussion of private budgetary support and fund raising, political advocacy including a request by students to support the governor’s tax initiative scheduled for the November ballot.  There was also discussion of…

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Audios of Regents Meetings of March 27-29, 2012

Byuclafaculty

Meeting of the Regents of the University of California: March 27-29, 2012 Prior posts have included excerpts from the Regents meetings dealing with the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center and the sale by UCLA of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden.  Below you will find complete recordings of the three days of the Regent meeting with the exception of the third day for which a defective audio file was received. Tuesday March 27, 2012: Day 1 3:00 pm Committee on Health Services (includes public comment) Wednesday, March 28, 2012: Day 2 8:30 am Committee of the Whole (public comment) Includes comments on…