UC

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LAO provides options for quality reduction at UC

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor continues to provide helpful suggestions for higher ed including UC regarding budgetary options:Reduce personnel costs by 10 percent at UC and 5 percent at CSU: $408 million • Could require UC faculty to teach more and research less • Could reduce sabbaticals and release time • Could increase employee benefit contributions at CSU Full list of options at http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/education/2011/Review_of_Budget_Reduction_Options_for_Higher_Education_41211.pdf [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qrjtr_uFac&w=320&h=195]

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Report: All UC Students in Japan Have Been Found

Byuclafaculty

All UC students studying in Japan are found safe Sacramento Bee, Mar. 15, 2011, Laurel Rosenhall University of California officials have located all 80 UC students studying abroad in Japan and confirmed they are safe… UC also has 32 researchers and other employees working in Japan, and has been in touch with most of them… Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/03/15/3475810/all-uc-students-studying-in-japan.html

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UC Students in Japan

Byuclafaculty

UC awaits word from 80 students in Japan3/11/11 Sacramento Bee, Laurel Rosenhall University of California officials are working to locate 80 students and 32 employees who are studying or working abroad in Japan, where a large earthquake and tsunami struck yesterday causing significant damage to the north part of the country. UC students are studying in seven different locations around Japan, said university spokeswoman Lynn Tierney. UC contracts with private companies to track students and employees while they are abroad. The university is awaiting word from campus officials and the private companies to find out how UC’s students are doing….

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Unpreparedness: Report by the LAO

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office has release a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Are Entering Freshmen Prepared For College-Level Work?” On UC: Unpreparedness rates of freshmen at UC have declined slightly in recent years. * In 2009, about 25 percent of regularly admitted freshmen arrived unprepared for college-level writing. * The percentage of freshmen needing remediation varies considerably across UC campuses. In fall 2009, the unpreparedness rates ranged from a low of 9 percent at UC Berkeley to a high of 59 percent at UC Merced. On CSU: The CSU currently admits many students who are unprepared for college-level writing and math. Of…

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Non-Budget Bills on UC Introduced in the Legislature

Byuclafaculty

The prior post on this blog noted the progress of the state budget in the legislature. Below are some bills introduced related to higher ed and UC. There was a February 18 deadline for members to introduce bills although there are ways around that restriction. As yours truly has noted in the past, the legislature has never taken to the notion of “no pay/no say.” That is, even though the proposed state budget would contribute roughly 1/8th of the UC budget (and less if the tax extensions do not pass), the legislature feels free to micro-manage. Yours truly has noted…

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It’s Nice to Be Paid Above the Median; Too Bad Only 50% Can Be

Byuclafaculty

Some news from the National Bureau of Economic Research: After a court decision on California’s “right to know” law, the Sacramento Bee newspaper established a website in early 2008 that made it possible to search for the salary of any state employee, including both faculty and staff at the University of California (UC). To determine how the availability of such salary information may affect workers’ job satisfaction, researchers David Card, Alexandre Mas, Enrico Moretti, and Emmanuel Saez contacted a random subset of employees at three UC campuses, informing them of the existence of this website. A few days later, they…

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The Iceman Cometh: Will UC Feel Compelled to Follow Gov. Brown’s Hiring Freeze?

Byuclafaculty

Earlier today, Gov. Brown froze hiring at state agencies with only limited exceptions. In his executive order, he “requests” that agencies not under his direct control implement similar programs. (See the bold oversize text below.) Below is the text of the order: EXECUTIVE ORDER B-3-11 WHEREAS, California’s significant imbalance between revenues and expenditures has resulted in an estimated budget deficit of $25.4 billion; and WHEREAS, strong measures must be implemented to reduce costs and to regain and safeguard the trust of the people of California; and WHEREAS, Executive Order B-1-11, issued on January 11, 2011, ordered state agencies and departments…

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LAO Describes Slash and Burn Budget if Voters Do Not Approve Tax Extensions

Byuclafaculty

As prior posts have noted, Gov. Brown at one point seemed poised to present a budget from Hell that would assume no tax extensions. He would then offer the tax extensions as salvation. However, that strategy was not followed and the budget actually proposed assumes voters enact the tax extensions. However, the Legislative Analyst has – at the request of some legislators – has in fact indicated what a budget from Hell might look like. Below is an item excerpted from Capital Alert that describes the finding and notes the higher ed implications: Legislative analyst identifies massive cuts if taxes…

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Columnist Peter Schrag on Privatization at UC

Byuclafaculty

Berkeley: A privatized public university? (excerpts) Sacramento Bee, Feb. 12, 2011 Peter Schrag A year ago, when the University of California announced sharp boosts in tuition, staff furloughs and other measures to cope with declining state funding, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis and other UC campuses seethed with protests. Among the loudest complaints from students was that the higher costs would make it financially impossible for them to continue at UC. The most common refrain was the call to protect what the demonstrators called “our university.” But this summer and fall, after Berkeley included some 900 fewer California residents in…