UC Regents

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Bad Timing for UC Prez Nominee?

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today is running a lengthy story about how former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels – now president of Purdue – intervened to block use of a history book in public higher ed institutions in his state.  Excerpt below: Mitch Daniels, as an unconventional choice to become Purdue University’s president, has repeatedly pledged his strong commitment to academic freedom. And many professors — including some who had questioned the wisdom of appointing a governor as university president — have given him high marks for the start of his work at Purdue. But on Monday, the Associated Press published an article based on…

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Listen to the Regents Meeting of July 16, 2013

Byuclafaculty

The latest in regental recording archiving? NOTE: THE BLOGGER PROGRAM SEEMS TO BE HAVING PROBLEMS TODAY.  IT IS INSERTING PART OF AN EARLIER POST INTO THIS ONE.  IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE READING THIS POST AS PART OF THE GENERAL BLOG ROLL, CLICK ON ITS TITLE TO SEE ONLY THE POST.  THAT VERSION IS CLEAR.  SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE WHICH YOURS TRULY COULD NOT CORRECT. We continue our practice of providing an archived audio of Regents meetings until such time as the Regents commit to maintaining a permanent archive.  As noted on previous blog postings, the current regental policy is to…

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Public Comments: Possible Preview

Byuclafaculty

There are two public comment sessions on the Regents agenda for this week.  One is on Wednesday morning and the other is on Thursday morning.  (The opening committee meeting today does not list a public comment session on the agenda.)  At public comment sessions, anyone can say anything about anything that concerns UC.  It’s hard to imagine that no one will have anything to say about the new nominee for UC president.  But there are other pending issues.  For example, there are ongoing UC labor negotiations; some blog readers will recall the short strike last month at UC med centers. …

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One columnist wants the new UC prez to give the state’s politicos a tough going over

Byuclafaculty

Most of the commentary about the nomination of Janet Napolitano as the new UC president has been about the candidate or the selection process.  Joe Mathews in contrast thinks she should use her homeland security background to be tough with the state’s political establishment and has this advice for her: …Your focus needs to be changing the reality that the UC has a very minority partner – the state government, which provides only a fraction of its resources – that has majority authority over the system. You need to present the legislature with a stark choice. Either ramp up public…

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More Scanning of Napolitano’s Appointment

Byuclafaculty

The nomination of Janet Napolitano – former head of Homeland Security and thus TSA and immigration – to be the new UC president will probably get a reasonably full going over at the Regents this week – although yours truly thinks the fix is in as far as confirming the appointment goes.  Chancellor Block evidently agrees with that assessment.  From the Daily Bruin today: …Several public figures such as President Barack Obama, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. John McCain, Gov. Jerry Brown and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block expressed their congratulations and support Friday following Napolitano’s nomination……

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The Views Expressed

Byuclafaculty

The story of the new UC prez continues to attract national attention: Christian Science Monitorquotes Bob Powell who makes a bit more of a qualified statement than reported elsewhere: Robert Powell, a chemical engineering professor at UC Davis who heads the system-wide academic senate, said Napolitano will … need to spend time getting to know the university by meeting with students and professors and touring campuses. “She needs to get out to the campuses – meet with faculty, meet with staff, look and see what these places are like and how students live here,” Powell said. Full story at http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0713/Can-Janet-Napolitano-staunch-University-of-California-s-financial-struggles  …

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Brief Welcome

Byuclafaculty

Governor Brown, who sometimes has much to say about UC matters, seems short on words concerning the appointment of the new UC president – a former governor and fellow Democrat:Governor Brown Issues Statement on Nomination of New UC President7-12-2013 SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement on the nomination of Secretary Janet Napolitano as president of the University of California: “Secretary Napolitano has the strength of character and an outsider’s mind that will well serve the students and faculty. It will be exciting to work with her.” Source: http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18140 Everyone else had a lot to say: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/07/rapid-response-homeland-security-secretary-to-head-uc-system.html…

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New UC President (political expertise rather than academic)

Byuclafaculty

The LA Times has a report on its website this morning on the new UC president nominee: Janet Napolitano, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, is being named as the next president of the University of California system, in an unusual choice that brings a national-level politician to a position usually held by an academic, the Times has learned. Her appointment also means the 10-campus system will be headed by a woman for the first time in its 145-year history.  Napolitano’s nomination by a committee of UC regents came after a secretive process that insiders…

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Acountability Report to Regents: Data Source

Byuclafaculty

At the July Regents meeting, there will be consideration of the “Accountability Report.”  While this report tends to be a booster publication, it contains interesting information on budgets, enrollment, etc.  For example, the impact of the Great Recession and its budgetary aftermath can be seen on the chart above from the report.  Nonresident undergrads – who pay full tuition – were increased as a percent of total enrollees.  (Clicking on the chart will enlarge it and show more detail.) The Accountability Report is at http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jul13/l1attach.pdf.

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Regents to Consider Modifying Code of Faculty Conduct to Protect Academic Freedom

Byuclafaculty

In an earlier post, before the full Regents’ agenda for July was posted, we noted there was an item involving a modification of the faculty code of conduct.  It appears that the main modification to be proposed is explicit protection for faculty to comment on institutional UC policies.  Specifically, there is proposed explicit recognition of the “freedom to address any matter of institutional policy or action when acting as a member of the faculty whether or not as a member of an agency of institutional governance.” The report on this matter can be found at http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jul13/e3.pdf.