Upcoming Regents: Pension Project? Diversity Litigation? All Behind Closed Doors

The Regents will be meeting January 21-23. A preliminary agenda has now been posted and is reproduced below. As usual, there are both closed and open sessions. However, the closed sessions include items that are of potential interest, although – of course – what goes on in those sessions won’t be known. For example, in Compliance and Audit’s closed session, there is reference to a “Pension Administration Project.” Exactly what this project entails is unclear.

The full Board’s second meeting in the open session on January 23 includes discussion of the “State of Title IX” and “Faculty Recruitment, Retention and Diversity.” But there seems to be a follow-up in the closed session that comes after the open one regarding “Legal Considerations Relating to Faculty Diversity Item.” In that seeming follow-up, it appears that some kind of litigation is pending or potentially pending. Whether the reference is to faculty diversity statements that are now being required at UC in many academic personnel actions is unclear. As prior posts on this blog have noted, there has been controversy about those diversity statements in national news media.* Are the statements being challenged through possible litigation? It would be nice to know, although it appears we won't. Note that there is a recent history of "surprise" items popping up on the Regents' agenda.

There is also reference in the Board’s closed session to the “Special Committee Investigating UCLA’s Response to Sexual Misconduct in Clinical Settings.” This item refers to reported alleged episodes of sexual malpractice involving a UCLA doctor.**

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

2:00 pm Investments Committee (open session - includes public comment session)

Location: Fisher Banquet Room

5:00 pm Special Committee on Basic Needs

Location: Fisher Banquet Room

Wednesday, January 22

8:30 am Board (open session - includes public comment session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

Concurrent Meetings

12:30 pm Academic and Student Affairs Committee (open session)

Location: Fisher Banquet Room

12:30 pm Finance and Capital Strategies Committee (closed session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

Upon end of Finance and Capital Strategies closed session:

Finance and Capital Strategies Committee (open session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

4:00 pm Governance Committee (closed session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

Note: Includes pay increase for UCLA librarian.

Upon end of Governance closed

Governance Committee (open session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

Note: Includes pay increase for UCLA librarian.

5:00 pm National Laboratories Committee (open session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

Thursday, January 23

8:30 am Board (open session - includes public comment session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

Concurrent Meetings

9:00 am Compliance and Audit Committee (open session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

Upon end of Compliance and Audit open session

Compliance and Audit Committee (closed session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

Note: Includes reference to “Pension Administration Project.”  It’s unclear what this project entails. However, as noted above, there has been a recent history of “surprise” items appearing on Regents’ agendas.

C3X  Discussion  Update on the Pension Administration Project

Closed Session Statute Citation: Personnel Matters 

[Education Code §92032(b)(7)]

Note: This section of the Education Code says closed sessions are OK for:

(7)(A) Matters concerning the appointment, employment, performance, compensation, or dismissal of university officers or employees, excluding individual regents other than the president of the university.

(B)(i) Action taken by a committee of the regents, and final action by the full board of regents, on a proposal for the compensation package of the following executive officers shall occur in an open session of each of those bodies, and shall include a disclosure of the compensation package and rationale for the action: (I) The President of the University of California, (II) The chancellor of an individual campus, (III) A vice president, (IV) The treasurer or the assistant treasurer, (V) The general counsel, (VI) The regents' secretary.

(ii) Members of the public shall be afforded the opportunity to address the committee and full board on the proposal during or before consideration of the action item.

So, is the Pension Administration Project some kind of executive compensation plan? With the possible exceptions of the treasurer and assistant treasurer, the occupations listed in the Education Code seem irrelevant to the topic. Or is some kind of pension plan being developed for top executives? Is yet another modification of the general pension offerings in the works? Inquiring minds want to know!

9:00 am Public Engagement and Development Committee (open session)

Location: Fisher Banquet Room

10:30 am Board (open session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

Note: Includes discussion of “State of Title IX” and “Faculty Recruitment, Retention and Diversity.”

Upon end of Board open session:

             

Board (closed session)

Location: Robertson Auditorium

B6X  Discussion  Legal Considerations Relating to Faculty Diversity Item

Closed Session Statute Citation: Litigation [Education Code §92032(b)(5)]

Note: This section of the Education Code refers to “matters involving litigation, when discussion in open session concerning those matters would adversely affect, or be detrimental to, the public interest.”

B7X  Discussion  Interim Report of the Special Committee Investigating UCLA’s Response to Sexual Misconduct in Clinical Settings

Closed Session Statute Citation: Litigation [Education Code §92032(b)(5)]

Note: This section of the Education Code refers to “matters involving litigation, when discussion in open session concerning those matters would adversely affect, or be detrimental to, the public interest.”

Source: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/jan20.html

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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2020/01/free-speech-in-two-journals-part-2.html

**http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2019/06/uclas-heads-will-likely-roll-scandal.html
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UPDATE: Yours truly has been assured by a knowledgeable source that the pension project reference does not refer to any modification of the pension itself.