Why folks are nervous - Part 2

We noted in an earlier post this week that there are reasons folks are nervous about the efforts to consolidate the existing diverse IT systems on campus into one. Basically, anything that says "new system" seems to mean trouble. We noted past examples. Here is another from the Bruin:

...UCLA’s new financial aid platform delayed some scholarship payments and overawarded others, sparking frustration among students. UCLA switched to new software – Bruin Financial Aid – this summer to “modernize financial aid processing” and increase efficiency and stability, according to the UCLA Digital and Technology Solutions website. UCLA’s previous financial aid processing system – Financial Aid Mainframe – had been in use since the 1980s and was at “the end of its lifecycle,” according to the website. Student aid financial aid amounts were adjusted because of state financial aid eligibility requirements and recalculations that came along with UCLA’s new financial aid platform, the UCLA Financial Aid & Scholarships Office said in an emailed statement.

While students were notified of their eligibility for the Middle Class Scholarship – a scholarship for low and middle-income students attending California public colleges – in September, disbursements only began Nov. 26. Financial Aid cited a large volume of about 11,000 recipients for the delay in disbursements, which were originally set for late September, according to archived versions of its website in August. The UCLA Financial Aid & Scholarships Office also said in the emailed statement that some MCSs are under further review through December... 

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2025/12/04/bruin-financial-aid-scholarship-delays-costly-overawards-spark-frustrations.

Straws in the Wind - Part 188

From Inside Higher Ed: The University of Alabama has ended publication of two student-run magazines, one focused on women and the other on Black students, in order to comply with legal obligations, officials say. Local and student media reported that Steven Hood, the university’s vice president for student life, said that because the magazines target specific groups, they’re what the Department of Justice considers “unlawful proxies” for discrimination. Both publications received university funding.

The women’s magazine, [Alice], just celebrated its 10th anniversary last month, while Nineteen Fifty-Six, named after the year the first Black student enrolled in the university, says it was created in 2020. [Alice] managing editor Leslie Klein told Inside Higher Ed that university officials told her magazine’s editor in chief Monday that the magazines were being canceled because they’re identity-based... The university pointed to a July memo from Pam Bondi, in which the U.S. attorney general provided “non-binding best practices” to avoid “significant legal risks.” She wrote that “facially neutral criteria” that “function as proxies for protected characteristics” are illegal “if designed or applied” to intentionally advantage or disadvantage people based on race or sex...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/free-speech/2025/12/03/alabama-ends-black-women-focused-student-magazines.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 99

From the Harvard Crimson: Every Thursday night, dozens of men in suits descend on the Junior Common Room of Dunster House. A few of them, carrying fire pokers, stand watch at the door — ceremonial guards of the semi-secret conservative debating society. Inside, the members of the John Adams Society adhere to stringent etiquette in their debates, always referring to each other as “gentleman,” even when discussions get heated. This year, they addressed their new class of potential members as the “men of Harvard” — an apt greeting, since no women were present.

Six individuals, including a female former JAS member and two prospective members, told The Crimson that JAS now informally excludes women. Students said that no women were asked to join the invite-only group, with the former member noting that returning female members were not asked to pay their club dues. Now, JAS is effectively functioning as a single-sex organization...

College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo wrote in a statement that no reports of gender discrimination by the John Adams Society have been filed with the Dean of Students Office. “If students have these concerns, they should report them right away for the Dean of Students Office so they can review,” Palumbo wrote...

Among at least some right-leaning students at Harvard, proposals for single-sex education have gained renewed appeal. A campus conservative magazine, the Harvard Salient, published a September article arguing that Harvard should “revisit the wisdom of separate education” for men and women...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/12/8/john-adams-society-women/.

Add On

From the Daily Bruin: The City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Company added SoFi stadium’s owner as a defendant in their lawsuit aimed at stopping UCLA from leaving its home stadium [last] Thursday. 

The plaintiffs amended the complaint to include Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and its subsidiary, Stadco LA, as defendants, alleging that SoFi was aware of UCLA’s contract with the Rose Bowl but still went on a “quest to facilitate UCLA’s attempt to leave.” The City of Pasadena and the RBOC initially sued the UC Board of Regents on Oct. 29, claiming that UCLA planned to move its football games to SoFi stadium despite signing a contract with the Rose Bowl through 2044...

KSE executives openly said in late 2024 or early 2025 that SoFi was pursuing UCLA, according to the amended complaint...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2025/12/05/sofi-stadium-added-as-defendant-in-rose-bowl-suit-against-ucla.

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Previous coverage at: https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/12/i-never-promised-you-rose-bowl-part-3.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/11/i-never-promised-you-rose-bowl-part-2.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/11/i-never-promised-you-rose-bowl.html.

Straws in the Wind - Part 187

From the Yale Daily News: Members of Students Unite Now organized a town hall... to discuss the experiences of student workers in light of Yale’s recent decision to replace two need-based summer awards with a one-time Summer Experience Grant. “After announcing $4.5 billion in endowment returns, Yale will cut grants that were promised when we enrolled,” read the Instagram post advertising the town hall. “Yale will force a choice between study abroad or internships to advance our careers. This will exacerbate race and class based inequity on campus.” The town hall consisted of a mix of testimonies from student workers and data quantifying Yale’s financial approach to student jobs.

At the beginning of the event, organizers discussed cuts to student workers’ hours, which were the result of a 5 percent reduction in non-salary expenses made by the University in anticipation of the endowment tax hike. Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis said in a September interview that over the next three years, the University will cut an additional 5 percent of non-salary expenses — a category which student wages fall into, he said. “If, for example, now, people are typically working seven hours a week, I wouldn’t be surprised if we give the guidance that, well, it’s going to be five hours a week going forward, or something like that, because we pay everybody $17 or $17.50 an hour,” Lewis said. “A realistic way to be fair is just to have roughly the same number of people but have each have fewer hours.” ...

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/11/21/student-workers-call-for-higher-wages-restoration-of-summer-grants/.

From the Daily Princetonian: ...The Community Living Advisors (CLAs) for the residential colleges were informed in meetings with their residential college staff that the position would not be offered next academic year. CLAs in upperclass student housing, however, would remain unaffected. There are currently 44 CLAs employed at Princeton, 19 of whom are for students in residential colleges. According to four CLAs, the cause for these cancellations is University budget cuts impacting all units, including the residential colleges. The University has been working to reduce costs following $210 million in federal grant cuts, although about half of the funding has since been restored.

The role of CLAs is to facilitate sophomore, junior, and senior dormitory living by hosting events, managing proper dorm etiquette, and being a social resource for non-first year students. The position was established by the University in 2023 and merged the roles of the Assistant Residential College Advisors (ARCAs) and Dormitory Assistants (DAs)...

Full story at https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/12/princeton-news-stlife-university-to-terminate-residential-community-living-advisor-position.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 98

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard and its custodians’ union agreed [last] Thursday to work with a federal mediator in ongoing contract negotiations to resolve a deadlock over wage increases — the first time a mediator has stepped into custodial bargaining with the University in at least 20 years. 32BJ Service Employees International Union, which represents roughly 800 Harvard custodians, has been bargaining with Harvard since early October. But it quickly found itself at loggerheads with the University over wage increases, asking Harvard to consistently offer pay hikes that keep up with inflation, which has hovered near 3 percent since 2023.

Dozens of workers went on a two-day strike last month to protest Harvard’s proposals after their contract expired on Nov. 15, but the two parties have not made significant progress since. Harvard proposed entering federal mediation to move negotiations forward during the Thursday session, and the union agreed...

The two parties will meet for the first time with the mediator at their next session, which is currently being scheduled for the week of Dec. 15, according to the union spokesperson. “We understand that Harvard is facing unprecedented attacks by the Trump Administration, but they are still the richest university in the world,” 32BJ Executive Vice President Kevin Brown wrote in a statement, arguing that given its endowment growth, the University “should not resolve its woes on the backs of its lowest-paid, immigrant workers.” ...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/12/5/custodian-bargaining-mediation/.

Coming April 24th

On the systemwide Academic Senate website, there are posted various policy documents under review, many of which have comment periods closing this week (tomorrow, Dec. 10). One in particular is titled "Systemwide Review of Proposed Presidential Policy IMT-1300 Information Technology Accessibility" and deals with accessibility standards for disabled people in regards to IT materials.* Such materials seem to be recordings and other instructional items. The new standards are to begin April 24, 2026, and appear to apply to anything in active use at that time, i.e., anything other than archived items. 

Exactly what will be required on that date is unclear from the viewpoint of actual instructors who will be teaching after that date. Yours truly suspects there is little awareness of whatever changes may be required, other than among some Senate officials and others in the UC administration. The date, April 24th, falls within UCLA's spring quarter; it is not aligned with the start of that quarter and seems to be an arbitrary deadline. It is unclear why a change in instructional policy would not be linked to the various campus calendars. But there is a hint in the document that the date is linked to some federal requirement. In any case, it is also unclear exactly what changes instructors will be mandated to make by April 24th. 

In fact, there is nothing at all clear about what will be required. For example, anyone who has used Zoom or similar programs that have a captioning option will know that the transcripts provided are often inaccurate. Are such imprecise transcripts considered good enough? There is a Q&A section in the document, but it doesn't answer such questions.

The Good News is that the proposed policy is listed on the Senate's website. The Bad News is that virtually no faculty read that website.

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*https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/underreview/systemwide-senate-review-it-accessibility.pdf.