UC Regents

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Audio of Regents Meeting of January 19 (Day 2 of 2 days)

Byuclafaculty

Unlike Day 1, there was a demonstration during the public comment session during Day 2.  The room was cleared by the police.  Subsequently the Regents continued the meeting but apparently could not exit.  During Part 3 it was announced that the demonstrators had left the UC-Riverside building in which the Regents were meeting. There are remarks in the record in Part 3 in which the governor is praised for giving UC permission to use general fund allocations for the pension system.  As noted previously on this blog, UC did not need permission and so the governor’s action meant little.  Indeed,…

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Audio of Regents Meeting, January 18 (Day 1)

Byuclafaculty

The Regents met on January 18 at UC-Riverside.  Day 1 was relatively calm.  The agenda is below.  (An angry demonstration occurred in the second day.)  You can hear Day 1 at the link below. As usual, we raise the issue of why – since the Regents live-stream the audio of their meetings – they do not archive the audio.  The UCLA Faculty Association has to request the audio files and post them – which inevitably means a significant lag in availability. The full agenda with links to relevant documents is at: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jan12.html Click on the links to listen: Part 1…

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Regents’ Court Petition to Allow Sale of UCLA Japanese Garden

Byuclafaculty

As readers of this blog know, we have been posting documents related to UCLA’s proposed sale of the Japanese Garden.  The university’s ownership of the garden followed from a donation by Regent Edward Carter in the 1960s.  Carter’s wealth arose from his department stores.  You can see his signature on the stock certificate from Broadway-Hale and later one from Carter-Hawley-Hale. The donation by Carter was modified by an agreement in the early 1980s.  However, because the sequence of agreements required that the university maintain the garden in perpetuity, once UCLA determined to sell the garden, it had to go to…

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We Missed the Boat on Pensions With the Governor: Time to Talk to the Legislature

Byuclafaculty

We missed the boat when it came to getting the governor to exempt UC from his statewide pension plan.  His plan, which now goes to the legislature, includes UC explicitly (p. 13), involves a hybrid plan (defined benefit plus defined contribution) for new hires, and has a 75% cap on retirement benefits. A summary of the plan: The changes would kick in Jan. 1, 2013. Labor agreements that contradict the governor’s plan would prevail until the pacts expire. The statutory language includes these proposals:• Ends additional retirement service credit purchases, or “airtime.”• Forfeits all or part of pensions for elected…

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Regents Will Consider UC-Riverside Student Plan for Alternative to Tuition in March

Byuclafaculty

Back in 1967, the Regents were curious about the goings on in the Los Alamos Nuclear Lab aas the photo on the left shows.  According to a report in today’s Inside Higher Ed, the Regents’ curiosity this March will focus on a plan (reported in an earlier blog post) by UC-Riverside students for an alternative to tuition. Essentially, the students’ plan would involve payment after graduation as a share of income rather than the current system of upfront payment, either in cash or through a loan.  The proposal is not a new idea.  And it raises issues of logistics, i.e.,…

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UC Needs to Get Off the State Pension Train Before It Goes Too Far

Byuclafaculty

As we have noted many times, the Regents modified the UC pension plan back in December 2010 to deal with its funding issues.  Since that time, the risk has been that UC would be swept into some statewide pension reform really aimed mainly at CalPERS and CalSTRS.  UC needs to get off that train before it is too late. The excerpt below from a recent news report indicates that the train is rolling and so far we are on board. UCOP and the Regents need to be involved in legislative discussions. …At a hearing of the Legislature’s Conference Committee on…

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Audio Recording Indicates that UC Needs to Talk With Legislative Leaders on Pensions

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday’s State Worker blog of the Sacramento Bee carried a story about remarks by California State Senate President Darrell Steinberg on public pensions.  It includes a link to a recording of Steinberg’s remarks on pensions at a press conference of 1-26-2012.  Good luck with that link; the IT guy at the Bee must have gone home for the weekend.  Nevertheless, yours truly has come to the rescue and you can hear it without hassle by clicking on the link below. There is a back story which state politicos will understand regarding Steinberg’s remarks.  Last year, the legislature kept waiting for…

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Regent Carter Background & the Japanese Garden Issue

Byuclafaculty

Because of the Japanese Garden issue, blog readers might be interested in Regent Carter (at left in the 1966 photo above with UC President Clark Kerr at right giving presentation to Prince Philip).  Ultimately, the Japanese Garden was a gift of the Carter family. Here are some excerpts and links: From the Harvard Business School: Carter developed the first suburban shopping center in 1947 in Los Angeles and popularized regional chain stores. Carter started with three regional stores in Los Angeles in 1946, and by 1980, had grown that number to 47. Carter expanded the company nationally through acquisitions, such…

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CSU establishes salary cap for campus presidents

Byuclafaculty

CSU has adopted a salary cap for its campus presidents, equivalent of UC chancellors.  Will the Regents take similar action? The California State University board of trustees on Wednesday capped salaries of newly hired campus presidents at $325,000 after an outcry over a $400,000 pay package approved for a new president last year when tuition shot up 12 percent.  The new policy will establish a salary ceiling of $325,000 or raise the salary by no more than 10 percent of the pay received by the outgoing president… Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/25/4214329/csu-trustees-consider-capping.html Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/25/4214329/csu-trustees-consider-capping.html#storylink=cpy

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Bit of a Departure from UC Regents History

Byuclafaculty

Once upon a time, the Regents were a relatively placid group, even when there was controversy.  The photo on the left shows them in 1950 dealing with the loyalty oath issue.  But nowadays, we learn that “the University of California Board of Regents will rally on the steps of the state Capitol in May alongside students, faculty, staff, alumni and other UC supporters, chair Sherry Lansing announced Wednesday (Jan. 18).  In remarks opening the regents’ two-day meeting at UC Riverside, Lansing said the regents will meet in Sacramento May 16 and 17. She said the rally at the state Capitol…