UC

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State Pay Ceiling to be Considered in Legislature (but not for UC)

Byuclafaculty

A bill – SB1368 – that would impose a ceiling on pay of state employees of about $174,000 (the governor’s salary) is being reviewed at a state senate hearing today. The bill, introduced by a Republican state senator, does not apply to UC but would apply to CSU.  It appears to have been sparked by pay offered to presidents at various CSU campuses. Even though UC is exempted, thanks to its constitutional position, any such enactment would have an indirect effect on UC pay.  The bill in fact “recommends” that UC adhere to the pay ceiling. A news report on…

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Misinformed?

Byuclafaculty

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum sounded off against California higher education in Wisconsin Monday, saying that some of the state’s universities do not teach American history.  “I was just reading something last night from the state of California. And that the California universities – I think it’s seven or eight of the California system of universities don’t even teach an American history course,” Santorum said. “It’s not even available to be taught.”  But UC spokesperson Brooke Converse told Think Progress, which originally reported the story, that all University of California undergraduate programs require students to study American history and institutions, though the…

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And on your left…

Byuclafaculty

The LA Times today carries a story by higher ed reporter Larry Gordon about a conservative critique of leftist politics at UC: The University of California is a hotbed of leftist faculty and politically correct thinking where many students are receiving a weak and unbalanced education, according to a report by a conservative organization of professors and administrators.  The study by the California Assn. of Scholars repeats objections conservatives have had for decades over what they see as an overwhelmingly liberal academia that stifles dissent. Especially in UC humanities departments, study of classics and rigorous analysis have been replaced by advocacy…

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Tax Plan to Lower Tuition But…

Byuclafaculty

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez is drumming up public support for legislation touted as a billion-dollar relief plan for college students that is sure to be a Democratic centerpiece this year…  While saving students money, Pérez’s plan would raise taxes on out-of-state companies like Detroit automakers and cigarette-maker Altria by requiring that multistate companies calculate tax liability based on the portion of sales in California…  The Assembly leader said his billion-dollar plan would cut fees by two-thirds for families earning under $150,000 per year – from $5,970 to $1,970 at California State Universities, and from $12,192 to $4,023 at the University of California… Full story at http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/03/john-a-perez-launches-fight-to-alter-tax-formula-for-scholarships.html Note: The plan…

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(Direct) Democracy is a Wonderful Thing

Byuclafaculty

Anyone can (try to) write a law in California using the ballot initiative process.  It only costs $200 to start the process rolling.  For that modest sum, you get a ballot title and summary from the state attorney general and a fiscal analysis from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.  Of course, you then have to go out and get the signatures. The latest direct democracy to rising tuition at UC, CSU, and the community colleges is a ballot initiative submitted March 26 that would freeze tuition at the 2010 level, adjusted for inflation. However, the initiative fails to mention what index…

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The UC-Davis Pepper Spray Incident and the UCLA Hotel Seem to Raise the Same Question

Byuclafaculty

The pepper spray incident at UC-Davis and the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center matter seem to raise a common question: Do we have a problem – systemwide and on campus – about responding to Public Records Act requests?   An earlier post noted the long delay in providing the UCLA Faculty Association with the business plan for the proposed hotel/conference center.  The Faculty Association still has not received the consulting report that was supposed to be the back-up support for the plan.  Presumably, that report was available well before the Feb. 9, 2012 date the plan itself was approved. And we did…

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President Yudof Responds to Three Pension Questions

Byuclafaculty

On March 2, President Yudof answered questions in a live-streaming format from UC employees.  You may have received an email referring to an edited version of some questions – including three on pensions – that appeared in UCLA Today.  Because the UCLA Today versions were edited, some nuances on pension issues were lost. Below is the UCLA Today version in regular type and then a comment from yours truly and the actual transcript in italics.  Also, the audio (a video with a fixed picture) is at the bottom of this posting along with various links. Question: What is the impact…

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Tuition Comparison Shopping

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today pointed to an article from the San Jose Mercury-News noting that for certain families, it’s cheaper to go to Harvard than to CSU or UC.  The issue is complicated.  Not all private universities offer the reductions in sticker price tuition that Harvard does (and not everyone gets into private universities that do). An interesting question is what happens at lower incomes than the $130,000 family income cited in the article.  Public universities and privates (if they have the resources) can lower tuition to zero.  Publics may have more problems in giving the full ride (tuition, housing,…

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More and More Getting Off Scale

Byuclafaculty

The Daily Bruin today has a piece on proposals for dealing with faculty salary scales which have grown increasingly outmoded.  As the table, based on a graphic in the Bruin, illustrates, most faculty at UCLA are paid off-scale.  The University, for recruitment and retention purposes, tries to meet the external academic labor market.  In effect, since there are only so many dollars to go around, paying more than the official scale has to mean a higher student/teacher ratio than would otherwise prevail. Percent of faculty off scale as of 10/2010:Merced 88%UCLA 80%Santa Cruz 73%Berkeley 72%Irvine 66%Santa Barbara 66%San Diego 64%Riverside…