UC

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UC Drops Opposition to Foundation Transparency Bill

Byuclafaculty

From Capitol Alert (Sacramento Bee): The third time is shaping up to be the charm for Sen. Leland Yee’s push to bring more transparency to the state’s public universities. The University of California and California State University systems have dropped their opposition to the San Francisco Democrat’s bill, Senate Bill 8, which would require university associations and foundations at the state’s universities and community colleges to comply with the California Public Records Act…http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifFull article at http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/05/leland-yee-california-university-public-records-act.html (Yee is running for Mayor of San Francisco.) UPDATE: A more detailed account is at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/26/MN971JKSNG.DTL

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Yudof Ruminates on Privatization

Byuclafaculty

On his Facebook page and on YouTube, President Yudof ruminates on privatization in general, e.g., roads, postal services, and of higher ed in particular. The YouTube version is below. The Facebook written version (which skips a few ad libs) is at http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150181306213379 He attributes the trend toward de facto privatization of higher ed in part to demographics and the aging of the baby boom: …Now, part of this can be explained by demographics. In the early 1960s, 57% of American families had children under the age of eighteen. Today, that number hovers around 46%. Along these same lines, American senior…

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Viewpoint from Irvine: Differential Tuition at UC Would Devalue Cheaper Campuses

Byuclafaculty

UC Irvine film studies professor Peter Krapp, the immediate past chairman of the UC system Academic Senate’s University Committee on Planning and Budget, responded to the LA Times’ May 9 article, “University of California weighs varying tuitions at its 10 campuses.” He argues differential tuition at UC would create or reinforce a hierarchy of academic prestige so that the more expensive campuses would be deemed better. Excerpts from his LA Times “blowback” online op ed: Proposing different tuition for each University of California campus is shortsighted and ill-considered… Stratification would fundamentally change the UC system. Each campus would need separate…

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Big Wheel Keeps On Turning

Byuclafaculty

Michael Meranze alerted me to the item below which he posted on another blog. Apart from the specific merits of the project involved – online education in this case – it illustrates the momentum that projects at UC can take on. Even if the original plan is not working out, the projects tends to continue. In the case below, a project that was supposed to develop a funding source on its own now seems to be poised to borrow money from the university. The big wheels keep turning… Academic Council Responds to Debt-Financing of Online ProjectMay 6, 2011 PRESIDENT MARK…

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Differential Tuition at UC?

Byuclafaculty

University of California weighs varying tuitions at its 10 campuses (excerpts)Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2011 Should an education at UC Berkeley cost more than one at UC Santa Cruz? Should a student pay $11,000 in tuition at UC Riverside while his friend is billed $16,000 at UCLA? …Nationally, UC is late to the debate, with many other state university systems long ago having established differential tuitions for their campuses… …Perhaps not surprisingly, officials at UC Berkeley and UCLA have been among the most vocal advocates for some freedom in setting undergraduate tuition rates, which now are established…

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If You’ve Got a Few Hours to Spare Staring at Your Computer Screen: 2 Suggestions

Byuclafaculty

The Economist magazine and the Lewis Center of the Luskin School of Public Affairs sponsored a forum at UCLA on April 26 on governance problems in California. You can see a video below (which runs about an hour and a half). Yours truly is at minute 45 to minute 51 and at later points. The forum centered on the Economist issue of that week which focused on California and tended to put the blame for current dysfunction in Sacramento on direct democracy – the initiative process. Earlier, former UCLA Chancellor gave the 2011 Bollens-Ries-Hoffenberg lecture in which he outlined his…

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Severance Pay from Oil?

Byuclafaculty

A new ballot initiative is going into circulation which imposes an oil severance tax for education, including higher ed. It apparently has some level of endorsement from community colleges. However, there is no money at this point for signature gathering. Hiring signature-gathering firms for an initiative costs $1-$2 million. The backers say they will use students, Facebook, etc. So far, no one has gotten anything on the ballot in recent memory without hiring signature-gathering firms. Of course, getting something on the ballot is only a first step. You then need lots more money for TV ads, particularly if you take…

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Lonesome Travelers at UC?

Byuclafaculty

The governor just issued an executive order banning non-essential travel of state employees under his direct authority. UC is not under his direct authority but the order contains the following language: IT IS REQUESTED that other entities of State government not under my direct executive authority conduct an analysis to determine the discretionary nature of their travel in order to reduce unnecessary costs. The full order is at http://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17008 Exactly what UC will do in response is not known at this time. But you might assume UC travelers will be lonesome as fewer folks take trips:

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A Plug for Today’s Events

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly will be speaking at a “Public Sector Forum” today (Thursday, April 21), 5 PM, 1447 Law School, on California’s “Governance, Budgets, and Public Workers.” The program has a panel on the subject and was organized by Prof. Katherine Stone of the Law School. Note that Obama is visiting the Westside today so if you are not on campus, you may not be able to get there due to traffic gridlock. On the other hand, you might not be able to get home if you are on campus so the forum is something to do while you are stuck….

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Rocketing Tuition at UC Forecast Under All-Cuts State Budget Scenario

Byuclafaculty

Higher education leaders fear an all-cuts budget will be devastating (excerpt): Beige Luciano-Adams, 4/16/11, Pasadena Star-News As students across the state continue protesting cuts to higher education, state senators on the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee convened this past week for a depressing look at the devastation an “all-cuts” budget could unleash on California’s public education system. The damage for higher education, as outlined in recommendations from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, would approach $3 billion, including about $800 million slashed from community colleges and $1 billion dollars each from the California State University and University of California systems …In…