UC-San Diego

UC-SD Chancellor’s Statement on American Studies Association Israel Boycott

Byuclafaculty

Khosla From Inside Higher Ed today: The chancellor of the University of California at San Diego has issued a statement in opposition to the American Studies Association’s resolution which backed the boycott of Israeli higher education institutions.  “We affirm the right of the faculty to advance their scholarship and research through open dialogue with academic colleagues in all countries,” Pradeep K. Khosla said. “UC San Diego faculty collaborations draw on richly diverse ideas and views around the globe, including in the Middle East. Excluding scholars limits discussion and conflicts with the University of California’s highest aspirations.” Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/12/20/chancellor-reacts-american-studies-boycott The official…

|

Golden Goose

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed pointed me today to the “Golden Goose” awards established by some folks in Congress and in major educational groups as an antidote to other listings that are made to put research in a bad light.  Old timers will remember the Golden Fleece awards of Senator William Proxmire – back in the day –  which made fun of research that seemed silly.  From time to time, such seemingly-silly research continues to be highlighted by Proxmire’s successors.    Of course, there is silly research and there are silly academics.  But not everything that seems silly, or abstract, or just…

| | | | | |

Listen to the Second Half of the Regents Meeting of 9-17-2013

Byuclafaculty

Our earlier post had the Regents audio for the first part of the meeting of 9-17-13.  There was then a closed session.  The audio link below picks up the meeting again when the public component resumed.  We also noted in the previous post that there was a inadvertent hot mike at the beginning of the meeting in a supposedly closed session which transmitted sensitive material online.  We have not archived that portion.  However, when the meeting reopened in a public session, apparently some Regents were not sensitive to what was going out.  The audio begins with one Regent telling another…

| | | |

Not a thumbs up moment for Janet in her new job

Byuclafaculty

The University of Michigan has raided UC San Diego, hiring a pair of young computer scientists who’ve been drawing attention for their efforts to help Google find better ways to operate online. Jason Mars, an assistant professor, and Lingjia Tang, a member of the research faculty, decided to leave UCSD’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering only a year after they arrived. Mars is the first African American in the department’s history to hold a tenure track position. “They’re both excellent researchers. This is the single biggest setback I’ve had as chair,” said Rajesh Gupta, who took over the fast…

| | |

Alternative Rankings

Byuclafaculty

The Washington Monthly publishes a “social” ranking of universities on the basis of affordability, access by lower-income students, “service” to the society, as well as research.  UC comes in very well in that ranking with UC-San Diego on top and Riverside is second.  Berkeley is fifth and UCLA is tenth.  The introductory article to the ranking concludes with the following statement: …State lawmakers, meanwhile, must be told that the free ride of college budget cutting is over. The U.S. Department of Education should establish new standards of state support for higher learning, and set deadlines for states that don’t meet them….

| | | | | | |

Emisions Remissions?

Byuclafaculty

UCLA co-generation plant California’s cash-strapped public universities would save millions of dollars under legislation by Orange County state Sen. Mimi Walters, but the bill’s prospects are uncertain because it would alter a landmark global warming law beloved by environmentalists. Walters’ proposal seeks to exempt University of California and California State University campuses from the new cap-and-trade program established under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, otherwise known as Assembly Bill 32 or AB32, one of the nation’s most ambitious environmental laws… At least five UC campuses, including Irvine, UCLA and San Diego, qualify for the cap-and-trade program in 2013……

| | |

Note: Not everyone loves us

Byuclafaculty

The conservative/libertarian City Journal complains about a UC-San Diego diversity executive appointment in its latest issue (and about the Regents’ endorsement of Prop 30). Excerpts: The University of California, San Diego has done it again. Last year, it announced the creation of a new diversity sinecure: a vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion. Campus leaders established this post even as state budget cuts resulted in the loss of star scientists to competing universities, as humanities classes and degree programs were eliminated to save money, and as tuition continued its nearly 75 percent, five-year rise. The new vice chancellorship was wildly…

| |

Harder to Get In at UC-San Diego?

Byuclafaculty

Excerpt from North County Times: In a move that narrows the college transfer pathway for students at Palomar, MiraCosta and other community colleges, UC San Diego is winding down an agreement that guarantees transfers to community college students who meet set requirements. The transfer admission guarantee, or “TAG” agreement, allows community college students with grade point averages of 3.5 or better to secure guaranteed admission to UCSD, as long as they meet certain deadlines and coursework requirements. However, citing increased competition among transfers and a funding shortfall, university officials said they will discontinue the agreement in 2014. Community college students can…

| |

UC-San Diego Community College Transfer Guarantee to End

Byuclafaculty

The UC San Diego program that guarantees transfer admission to community college students who meet certain requirements will come to an end in 2014, campus officials have decided.  They said explosive growth in the number applications under the program, coupled with sharp cuts in state funding for the University of California, have threatened to swamp the campus. Administrators and students at area community colleges said the decision will disproportionately harm disadvantaged students…UC San Diego’s Transfer Admissions Guarantee, or TAG, program began in the early 1980s. Students from the six regional districts who took specific required courses and earned a 3.0…

| | | |

UCLA Among Top 10 Universities in R&D Spending in Fiscal Year 2010

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed reports that UCLA is among the top ten universities in research and development spending.  It has been in that group for some time.  Basically, the key determinants are having a med school and getting a lot of federal research funding. The top ten are: Johns HopkinsU of Michigan (Ann Arbor)U of Wisconsin (Madison)U of Washington (Seattle)DukeUC-San DiegoUCLAUC-San FranciscoStanfordU of Pennsylvania Data from http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/04/02/hopkins-again-leads-rd-spending.  There is a link in this article to NSF data.  When you click on the link to the article, go to Table 5. It’s good to be among the tops:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6oGytt0Hiw&w=320&h=195]