UC

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Listen to Regents Meeting of Nov. 14, 2013

Byuclafaculty

The November 14 meeting of the Regents opened with public comments.  These included concerns over staffing and safety at UC hospitals, a Berkeley city councilman who called for pension caps on high-paid UC executives, students advocating fossil fuel divestment, concerns about student costs and debt, and spending on “amenities” for students at UC. The Committee on Finance approved budgets for operations and capital after extensive discussion and back-and-forth with Governor Brown who said that UC was asking for $120 million more than it was going to get.  There was a bit more push back from Regents and administrators with regard…

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Possible Order Limiting Hospital Strike Participation Tomorrow

Byuclafaculty

Westwood demonstration as part of prior 2-day strike The State Worker blog of the Sacramento Bee is reporting that the Public Employment Relations Board is seeking to limit the number of AFSCME employees at UC who can participate in tomorrow’s hospital strike for safety reasons.  [An earlier posting on this blog noted that a tentative settlement with nurses indicated nurses would not participate.]  TAs who might participate would presumably be unaffected by the PERB action. The Bee article is at:http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/19/5924205/uc-medical-centers-bracing-for.html

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Info Needed on Open Enrollment Issues

Byuclafaculty

We are getting anecdotal reports of problems encountered during the UC open enrollment period for the various health plans.  If you are having problems at any UC campus, either with the actual plans that are now available or with the process of obtaining information and enrollment, let us know.  We are aware of problems with access to hospitals at Santa Barbara and Riverside and with out-of-California retirees who are being bumped off UC plans and given the phone number of an external consultant.  But if you have more detailed points on any of those issues, we would like to know….

One Day UC Strike Slated for Nov. 20

Byuclafaculty

From the Daily Bruin: University of California union workers announced Friday that they will hold a one-day strike on Nov. 20 at UC campuses and medical centers against what they call unfair labor practices. Members from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299 union, which represents more than 22,000 service and patient care workers at the UC, voted earlier this month to authorize the strike. A representative from the UC could not be reached for comment… Full story at http://dailybruin.com/2013/11/08/uc-union-workers-to-hold-strike-on-nov-20/

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TA Union Pushes for Lower TA-to-Student Ratio

Byuclafaculty

The labor union representing TAs at UC has gotten some attention in the San Francisco Chronicle to its demands for lowering the TA-to-student ratio.  Excerpt: …The students are asking UC to create a Committee on Class Size at each campus so that problems can be addressed on a continual basis, said Josh Brahinsky, a graduate student in history at UC Santa Cruz who serves on the bargaining team… But UC says class size is not an appropriate topic to discuss with the union.”Issues related to class sizes and quality are academic issues, not bargaining issues,” said Shelly Meron, a spokeswoman for UC… Full…

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No magic; no free lunch

Byuclafaculty

  As you can see above, Gov. Brown promised to raise $10,100 for UC by holding a brown bag lunch.  Various other fund raising promises were made in connection with a campaign – Promises for Education – announced at the September Regents meeting.  The campaign, which appears to be over although the website persists [http://www.promiseforeducation.org/], raised $1.3 million. From the LA Times: An unusual effort by the UC system to raise scholarship money through online crowd-funding tactics — including promises by faculty and students to lead hikes, wash cars and wear kooky costumes — has garnered $1.3 million, officials said…

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Things to Come?

Byuclafaculty

Events at this week’s CSU Trustees meeting suggest what may occur at next week’s Regents meeting, especially if the governor shows up, as he has been doing. From the LA Times: (excerpt) A committee of the Cal State Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a $4.6-billion budget plan that includes money to hire faculty and increase student enrollment. The 2014-2015 proposal seeks an increase of $237.6 million in state funding. Included in that total is about $80 million to increase student enrollment by about 20,000; $13 million to hire more than 500 new, full-time faculty members; $15 million to finance…

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Listen to the Regents Committee on Investments: Nov. 5, 2013

Byuclafaculty

The Committee on Investment of the Regents met yesterday.  Only part of the meeting was open.  As we have been doing in the past, the audio from the meeting is posted at the link below since the Regents follow a policy (why?) of archiving meetings for only one year. Investment Committee meetings are meant to show that the Regents are exercising oversight of the various funds that the Treasurer manages.  They also are supposed to exercise oversight of the various campus foundations.  The foundations can invest with the Regents and/or invest on their own, using their own fund managers. There…

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Really No Smoking (or Chewing)

Byuclafaculty

From the Oakland Tribune: [excerpt] A systemwide smoking ban at University of California campuses includes the controversial electronic cigarette, a tobacco smoking device whose backers claim is safer than traditional smokes. The ban takes effect Jan. 2 and includes smokeless tobacco, or chew. About 10 percent of UC employees smoke cigarettes, and 8 percent of students smoke, according to a fact sheet compiled by the university. The information kit does not say how many use the new electronic cigarettes on UC campuses or in the state, but a lobbying group for the retailers who sell the devices says about 4…

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The Leg Analyst Summarizes the Higher Ed Budget

Byuclafaculty

At around this time of year, the Legislative Analyst’s Office releases a summary about the budget in preparation for next year’s budget proposal that will come from the governor in early January.  Below is an excerpt just for higher ed.  A link to the full document follows the excerpt.================== UC, CSU, and Hastings Provides $2.8 Billion in General Fund Support for UC. The budget provides UC with $2.8 billion in General Fund support—an increase of $467 million from 2012–13. Of this increase, $200 million reflects a shift of funds used for paying general obligation bond debt service from a separate…