Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced a budget deal Tuesday that strips University of California President Janet Napolitano’s office of some of its financial autonomy, limits the authority of the embattled Board of Equalization, increases tax credits for the poor and saves the Middle Class Scholarship program at public universities. The budget deal includes a plan for spending money from new tobacco taxes approved under Proposition 56 in November. That revenue would go toward increasing payments by up to $325 million for doctors and up to $140 million for dentists who see Medi-Cal patients. “This budget keeps California on a sound fiscal path and continues to support struggling families and make investments in our schools,” Brown said in a statement.

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by Melody Gutierrez, SFGate.

Posted: June 13th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

For the first time in decades, no one from the San Joaquin Valley is serving on the University of California’s 26-seat governing board – perpetuating local concerns that some of the state’s neediest areas are not well-represented. None of the 18 governor-appointed members on the UC Board of Regents are Valley residents, with most based in the greater Los Angeles area. The other regents are ex officio members, which include the governor himself and the state superintendent of schools, plus a student representative. Assemblyman Dr. Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, said the problem extends beyond the UC board. “I continue to be disappointed by the lack of Central Valley representation on state boards and commissions, including the UC Regents,” Arambula said in an email.

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by Mackenzie Mays, Modesto Bee.

Posted: June 13th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Under a state budget deal unveiled Tuesday, CSU will soon have to offer those applicants a slot somewhere at one of its 23 campuses statewide. The policy, which CSU must develop and approve by next May, is based on a guarantee at the University of California: All California high schoolers who rank in the top 9 percent of graduates statewide, or finish among the top 9 percent of the graduating class at certain high schools, are eligible to attend UC; if they are not admitted to the campus of their choice, UC offers those students a spot at another campus where there is space, which in recent years has been only Merced.

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by Alexei Koseff, Modesto Bee.

Posted: June 13th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

The regents board for the University of California has “full powers of organization and governance” over California’s most prized public university system. Yet the board, which consists of 26 members, has recently been in the spotlight for its lack of transparency and a string of controversial decisions. Now it turns out that even the process by which the regents themselves are chosen has a tremendous transparency problem. According to California’s Constitution, Gov. Jerry Brown “shall consult an advisory committee” of 12 people in “the selection of the regents.” That advisory committee consists of six members of the public, two elected officials from the Legislature, a UC student, a faculty member, an alumnus and the regents chair. But it seems the governor isn’t following this provision of the state Constitution.

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by Staff, San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: June 12th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

he 10-campus public university system — the state’s third-largest employer — is struggling with worker strikes and contentious contract negotiations, as mounting evidence shows that compensation and benefits for the university’s clerical, administrative and support workers aren’t enough for them to survive on. Many of these workers hold Napolitano directly responsible. “You can’t have a group of employees in the UC system who are food-insecure when we are doing audits and finding that the office of the president is holding on to $175 million,” says State Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D–Los Angeles).

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by Joel Warner, Salon.

Posted: June 11th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

“In the selection of the regents,” says the California Constitution, “the governor shall consult an advisory committee” of 12 people… But six committee members reached by The Chronicle said they are never consulted in the selection of regents — only told shortly before the announcement that choices have been made… “When they (the governor and Senate) appoint millionaires to the regents, they shouldn’t be surprised that their appointees think like millionaires and approve high administrator salaries or $300 dinners. After all, that’s their world,” Stanton Glantz, a UCSF professor and president of the Council of UC Faculty Associations, told The Chronicle. “The same Constitution that granted UC autonomy created a process to find regents who look like the people of California the university serves,” he said. “The politicians need to follow it.”

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by Nanette Asimov, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: June 10th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Turns out, the Golden State ranks as the 2nd highest state in which parents must make the most money to live comfortably and pay for their kids’ college. The survey, conducted by the financial website, GoBankingRates.com, shows that Californians need to make nearly $107,000 per year if they want to live a “comfortable lifestyle” while also paying for their children’s college education. The cost can vary widely through the state. For example, a family needs to make at least $110,000 if they live in San Francisco, but that number falls to only $44,000 if they live in a city like Fresno.

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by RJ Johnson, KIISFM.

Posted: June 9th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Thursday’s package reflects more than the $180 billion in general and special fund spending contained in the revised budget Brown released last month, with the exact amount still being calculated… Acting on the findings of a recent state audit castigating UC’s leadership, meanwhile, Thursday’s agreement will pay for the University of California Office of the President out of the general fund. The $296.4 million will replace assessments the office now collects on individual campuses, a situation that the Bureau of State Audits found had contributed to the university’s need for increased tuition.

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by Jim Miller, Alexei Koseff and Taryn Luna, The Sacramento Bee.

Posted: June 8th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

The University of California will pay up to $210,000 for an independent investigation into a recent state audit that accused the system of failing to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars and tampering with a survey sent to UC campuses that was supposed to remain confidential… UC is asking for an investigation into whether there was interference, if so, why, and who did it. While the audit has sparked calls even among some Democrats for Janet Napolitano, UC’s president, to step down, the regents have generally supported her leadership. The contract does not specify when the fact-finding mission should conclude, but asks Hueston Hennigan and Moreno to “use their best efforts to provide this report by as soon as practicable.”

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by Emily DeRuy, The San Jose Mercury News.

Posted: June 7th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Just 21 percent of the students who enrolled at a California State University campus in 2012 graduated in four years, far fewer than the system would like. Even though the number is low, it’s still up from 19 percent the previous year and higher than the 13 percent graduation rate in 2000. Yet it remains significantly shy of the 40 percent four-year graduation rate the university has set as a target for 2025. Currently, Jeff Gold said, the six-year graduation rate is 59 percent, and 33 percent of transfer students earn a degree two years later, while 74 have a degree four years later.

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by Emily Deruy, East Bay Times.

Posted: June 7th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.