UC Regents

| | |

Reflections on Two-Tier Pay Plans

Byuclafaculty

The recent majority report of the UC Post-Employment Benefits Task Force (PEB) proposes a two-tier retirement plan and makes long-term projections about the financial implication for the pension plan. (See the earlier post for the majority and minority PEB reports.) Keep in mind that two-tier pay plans have a history of instability. Such plans were introduced in the 1980s when various unions signed concessionary contracts during that era. New hires who were under such contracts were offered lesser pay and benefits than incumbents. However, pressures soon began to arise to remove the perceived inequity as the new hires become a…

| | | |

Post-Employment Benefits Task Force Report Now Available Including Academic Senate Dissent

Byuclafaculty

The long-awaited (long delayed?) Post-Employment Benefits Task Force report is now available. (See the earlier posting of a letter from President Yudof anticipating the report’s release.) The report – which is advisory to the president and regents – includes two-tier retirement options for new hires. There is also a “choice” option for current employees to enter the lower-tier (which raises some legal issues). A dissenting report by Academic Senate representatives is also included in the posting. All material can be found at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/ucrpfuture/emp_task.html

|

Cash Balance Pension? New Ham & Eggs for UC?

Byuclafaculty

There are folks out there who are convinced they have the solution for public pension plans in California and maybe the universe. They are pushing something called cash balance (CB) plans. These are in contrast to defined benefit (DB) plans, such as the UC basic pension, and defined contribution (DC) plans (which UC had until recently as a supplement). So let’s start with definitions. A DC plan means the employer puts in a particular contribution, say, a percent of pay each period. (There may be employee contributions, too, also defined. The UC version of DC had only employee contributions.) The…

|

Regents: The Bell is Ringing – UC Needs a Pension Solution

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, I noted that events are threatening to overtake the Regents on pension funding if they do not have a plan in place by the time the next governor takes over. Even the recent scandal in the City of Bell – vastly overpaid and corrupt city officials – is pushing the pension agenda. In today’s LA Times, Steve Lopez has a column entitled “Maybe we should thank Bell’s Rizzo for shedding light on pension excesses.” You can find it at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0801-lopezcolumn-20100801,0,2585758.column Here is a quote: “Both candidates for governor, Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown, have made pension reform proposals for…

|

Two-Tier/Two-Part Pension Stew?

Byuclafaculty

The latest in discussion of two-tier pension plans for the state – not specifically UC – is two-tier/two-part. That is, there would be a degraded pension for new hires which would be a mix of defined-benefit and partly defined contribution, cooked into a single plan through some formula. See the report: http://calpensions.com/2010/07/31/pension-reform-brown-picks-up-where-he-left-off/ Relevant quote by an official of a group pushing pension issues:Fritz said she has been talking to a labor representative about a “hybrid” plan. Salary up to a certain level, for example $50,000 a year, could be covered by a pension. Then any part of a salary above…

| |

After the Faculty Assn. Letter to the Regents of June 2009, Where Are We?

Byuclafaculty

In a previous post, I noted a proposition that the governor promised – but that never appeared – to insure that California spent more on higher ed than on prisons. In mid-June 2009, the Faculty Association sent a letter to the Regents and President Yudof asking that the Regents treat the UC budget crisis as an emergency. It gave examples of the impact of budget cuts on campus operations and the difficulties facing UC in funding the retirement plan. The letter is reproduced below. It produced a front-page headline in the San Francisco Chronicle. The response from President Yudof and…

Recording Regents Meetings in Future

Byuclafaculty

In a prior posting, I listed instructions for listening to part of the recent Regents meetings. The meetings are in fact streamed live. But unless you record them yourself, they disappear into the ether. The earlier posting also listed the fuss that developed when someone was prevented from videoing the meeting. Apparently, a change in UC policy is underway. See below. However, it would be nice if the Regents themselves made available a recording accessible after the fact on the web. State senator questions UC decision to bar filmmakerOakland TribunePosted: 07/19/2010 08:29:18 AM PDTUpdated: 07/19/2010 08:29:19 AM PDThttp://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_15541279?source=rss SAN FRANCISCO…

|

Audios of Regents Meeting of 7-15-10 Available

Byuclafaculty

I was only able to record the 7-15-10 session of the Regents and not the earlier days. As a result, the recording did not include the discussion of online education referenced in prior postings. The 7-15-10 meeting of the UC Regents was divided into 5 sessions. The first was public comment. Included was a comment by AFT on a survey taken by the union, complaints of anti-Semitism and anti-Arab discrimination. The second was on career/technical education. The third was a report on audit processes. Included was a discussion of data security and diversity standards. The third session involved the health…