UC

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Sully

Byuclafaculty

I came across a headline on the Sacramento Bee website this morning:Educators sullying state law to support Proposition 30 It’s from a column by Dan Walters in which he complains that folks in higher ed – community colleges, CSU, and UC – are underhandedly letting it be known in various ways that if Prop 30 – the governor’s tax initiative – doesn’t pass, things won’t go well for their institutions.  Sample quote: “Just Tuesday, the University of California at Berkeley announced a Proposition 30 Awareness Project to test the use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media to distribute information…

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Higher Ed Metrics Bill is Dead on Arrival

Byuclafaculty

On Friday, the governor vetoed SB 721 which would have instructed the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) to come up with “metrics” to determine if the UC, CSU, and the community colleges were meeting three goals.  These goals were described in a section of the bill: In order to promote the state’s competitive economic position and quality of civic life, it is necessary to increase the level of educational attainment of California’s adult population to meet the state’s civic and workforce needs. To achieve that objective, it is the intent of the Legislature that budget and policy decisions regarding postsecondary education…

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Veiled Reference?

Byuclafaculty

This blog has reported on the blocking of the Anderson School’s proposal for self-sufficiency funding of its regular MBA program.  We noted that UCLA released a statement – but no one can say where or who was responsible – indicating it would seek to move ahead despite a negative finding by the systemwide Academic Senate. Many readers of this blog will have received an email yesterday from Chancellor Block detailing a variety of budgetary strategies for UCLA including taking more out-of-state students who pay full freight, fundraising, etc.  Included in that message was the following statement which could be taken…

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Explanations Needed

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly has updated two posts that appeared yesterday on this blog and both need more explanation and information. First, there is the prosecution of a UCLA professor in connection with a lab fire.  An article at the UCLA newsroom said the judge was entering a plea of not guilty for the faculty member over the objections of his lawyer.  That seems odd since the position of not guilty has always been the stance.  But no explanation for the oddity is to be found in the article.  Perhaps a reader can add some enlightenment. Second, there is the rejection of the…

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Service With a Smile? UC is Encouraged; CSU is Mandated

Byuclafaculty

It may seem self-evident, but it’s nevertheless a matter of state law that teaching is an “essential responsibility,” along with research, for members of the University of California’s faculty and “a primary responsibility” for those in the California State University system…  But if Gov. Jerry Brown signs a bill that whipped through both houses of the Legislature in the final, hectic hours of the 2012 session, that will change – radically, perhaps. A third element would be required in the hiring and promotion of faculty members. It’s called “service.” The specifics of Assembly Bill 2132 appear to give great weight…

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More Info on the Rejection of the Anderson Self-Sufficiency Plan

Byuclafaculty

The systemwide Academic Senate rejection of the UCLA Anderson School’s self-sufficiency funding plan appears in the letter you can read at the link below.  A prior post on this blog indicated that there was a rejection.  However, the Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs (CCGA) defends its rejection as a technical interpretation of existing UC policy and indicates that it recommends that the policy be re-examined to cover situations such as Anderson’s.  On the other hand, it expresses a variety of reservations about the Anderson plan that seem independent of whatever policy may be in place.   Since the Regents are…

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The Approval of the Self-Sustaining MBA Seems to be Unsustainable

Byuclafaculty

The Daily Bruin is reporting in an article dated 8/31/12 that the on-again-off-again move towards a “self sufficient” MBA program is off again: A UC Academic Senate committee voted to suspend their review of the Anderson School of Management’s proposal to become financially self-supporting, according to a memo sent to the school today.  …The proposal passed the UCLA Legislative Assembly in June. To take effect, it needed to go through the UC Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs and the UC Office of the President. The graduate affairs committee voted 10-0-1 to halt the review.  Members of the committee decided to…

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Bill to Cut Tuition Goes Down the Drain

Byuclafaculty

The bill sponsored by assembly speaker John Pérez that would close a corporate tax loophole with revenue dedicated to tuition cuts went down the drain last night.  An earlier post on this blog noted that a version of it had gotten through the assembly – despite needing a 2/3 vote.  (Pérez got an independent and one renegade GOP member to vote for it, giving him the 2/3.)  But getting 2/3 in the senate, despite all sorts of manipulations was not possible. …(A) closely watched bill may have been too unwieldy to gain orbit. That was Assembly Speaker John Pérez’s gambit…

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More on the Hot Potato: Assembly May Reconsider

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, we posted a hot potato item concerning a state assembly resolution dealing with anti-Semitism and anti-Israel demonstrations on California campuses.  Issues were raised about free speech implications of the (non-binding) resolution. Readers will recall from that posting that UC declined to comply.  Now apparently the assembly may reconsider, although in the future – not now:=== A state lawmaker is promising to introduce a fix to an Assembly resolution that stirred controversy because it urged California universities to crack down on demonstrations against Israel.  Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal said Wednesday that she would work on a resolution that would affirm First…