Unfortunately, generational progress in college completion has nearly stalled in California. Although more California high schoolers are completing their diploma today than 30 years ago, the share that subsequently earns a bachelor’s degree has not changed much: 33% of those age 25–34 in California today have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 31% of those age 55–64. Other countries have made much stronger progress. Indeed, the share of college attainment among young adults in California ranks 22nd of the 32 OECD countries, and the state’s generational progress is dead last.
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by Sarah Bohn, Hans Johnson, PPIC.
Posted: May 24th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Over the past five years, the number of UC administrators earning salaries in excess of $174,000 a year has nearly doubled — from 5,931 employees to 9,640. Today, there are 712 UC administrators, excluding faculty and physicians, who earn more than $190,103 — the salary we pay the governor… I am authoring State Constitutional Amendment 13, a bill that will amend the state Constitution and force a recalcitrant UC to stick to a new budgetary constraint: No tuition increases can be implemented if the number of administrators making a salary above that paid to the governor exceeds 600. Right now, UC has 112 well-paid administrators beyond that ceiling. At the same time, the amendment would prohibit UC from contracting out lower-paying jobs if the 600-limit is crossed.
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by State Senator Cathleen Galgiani, The San Francisco Chronicle.
Posted: May 24th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said a preliminary analysis indicates that the Trump budget would cut about 17 percent from the overall federal research effort… Congress has the power of the purse and could essentially ignore the more detailed budget request. Early reactions on both sides of the aisle have been generally unfavorable… Advocates for cutting science and medicine budgets point to the funding that agencies provide research institutions for indirect costs, or overhead. On Wednesday, the House Science Committee will hold a hearing, titled “Examining the Overhead Cost of Research,” that will look specifically at how the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies negotiate those costs.
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by Joel Achenbach and Lena H. Sun, The Washington Post.
Posted: May 23rd, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
The University of California, under fire for controversial budget practices, would lose the autonomy it has enjoyed for 138 years under a state constitutional amendment proposed Tuesday. The amendment suggested by state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa) would give the Legislature the power to directly fund the UC Office of the President, which is currently supported by campus fees… To broaden representation on the UC Board of Regents, the bill would expand membership and voting rights to the California Community Colleges chancellor, three more students, two faculty members and a staff member. Regents’ terms would be reduced from 12 years to four — although reappointment to as many as three terms would be possible. The UC president would lose voting rights and become a non-voting regent.
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by Teresa Watanabe, The Los Angeles Times.
Posted: May 23rd, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest budget proposal calls for withholding $50 million from the University of California until the UC improves its financial accountability and admits more community college transfers. It’s his way of pushing for change despite the UC’s constitutional independence. But the governor has a far more effective tool to overhaul the UC that he has yet to take full advantage of: He could reshape the Board of Regents by filling its four current vacancies.
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by Ben Adler, Capital Public Radio.
Posted: May 22nd, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
When state Auditor Elaine Howle told a joint legislative committee this month that University of California central administrators had amassed a $175-million undisclosed surplus, paid fat salaries and interfered in her audit, lawmakers cried foul. One compared UC administrators to corrupt officials in Bell. Another called for UC President Janet Napolitano to resign. Some wanted to know whether UC officials had committed any crimes and should be subpoenaed. But UC regents struck a markedly different tone when Howle came to talk to them about the audit Thursday. Regents thanked her profusely for her work and said they would implement all 33 of her recommended reforms for more transparent and effective budget practices. She assured them, in turn, that she’d found nothing criminal or “nefarious” in Napolitano’s budget practices.
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by Teresa Watanabe, The Los Angeles Times.
Posted: May 18th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
“Seeing how some in the press have characterized it as a slush fund or a secret fund hurt my heart,” Regent Bonnie Reiss said. Regent Sherry Lansing wanted to clear up “distortions” that Napolitano had done anything wrong: “Her leadership of UC has been incredible.” The regents largely steered clear of Auditor Elaine Howle’s assertion that UC interfered in the audit process by consulting with campuses on surveys meant to independently assess the value of its administrative operations. The board voted last week to hire a third-party investigator who will report at its next meeting in July.
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by Alexei Koseff, The Sacramento Bee.
Posted: May 18th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
State lawmakers are requiring the university to adopt a nonresident student enrollment policy in order to receive $18.5 million in additional money this year. Under the proposal, nonresident students would be limited to 18% of undergraduate enrollment at UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara and UC Merced. The four campuses at which out-of-state students already exceed 18% — UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UCLA and UC Irvine — would be allowed to maintain but not increase the higher percentage they enroll in 2017-18. Campuses scrambled to admit larger numbers of nonresident students because they pay $27,000 more in annual tuition than Californians.
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by Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times.
Posted: May 17th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Students and union members disrupted the opening of the University of California regents meeting Wednesday, loudly protesting and criticizing officials for raising tuition despite squirreling away millions in surplus funds. UC police ordered the protesters to leave the meeting at UC San Francisco or face arrest. After several warnings, they left, some calling for the arrest of UC President Janet Napolitano. A stream of speakers asserted that a recent state audit finding that UC officials had failed to disclose $175 million in surplus funds indicated there was enough money to raise the pay of low-wage workers and better support students who face hunger and homelessness.
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by Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times.
Posted: May 17th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
UC’s chief negotiator said early March that summer lecturers at UCLA and several other campuses will lose their retirement benefits starting summer 2017. The UC isn’t required to provide retirement benefits under its agreement with the American Federation of Teachers Local 1990, a union which represents UC lecturers and librarians. That’s apparently reason enough for the UC to cut these 15-year-old benefits. These cuts shouldn’t come as a surprise. The UC has historically mistreated its lecturers by providing them meager salaries, slashing their retirement benefits and potentially withholding academic funding from them.
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by The Editorial Board, The Daily Bruin.
Posted: May 14th, 2017, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
