Degree+

From a May 1 news release by the governor's office: Governor Gavin Newsom... highlighted the efforts of the University of California (UC) system to better prepare undergraduate students for a rapidly changing workforce influenced by tech-driven economic change. The UC Degree Plus Program, launched in 2025, is a two-year pilot program currently available at no additional cost to UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) and UC San Diego (UCSD) students, combining a UC bachelor’s degree with skills-based certificates and paid internships to strengthen workforce readiness, connect students with employers, and improve career outcomes in an increasingly competitive labor market. The UC Degree Plus program will serve 480 students across both campuses from 2025-2027 and is already in high demand...

Full release at https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/05/01/new-uc-degree-plus-pilot-program-shows-demand-for-career-readiness-training/.

More detail on the program at:

https://www.ucop.edu/academic-affairs/initiatives/degree-plus.html.

Straws in the Wind - Part 342

From the Brown Daily Herald: In a United States Senate Appropriations Committee hearing..., Alabama Sen. Katie Britt attacked Brown’s security preparedness for the Dec. 13 shooting. Britt stated that Brown violated the Clery Act — which the University is currently under investigation for — which stipulates requirements for security and safety on university campuses. Britt is a Republican senator from Alabama, the home state of Ella Cook ’28, who was killed in the shooting. 

...“Public reporting from local stations and student news outlets has made it clear to me that the murder of Ella Cook, her fellow classmate and the wounding of nine others were entirely preventable,” Britt said in the hearing. “They were the predictable result of more than a decade of ideological degradation and the vilification of police and law enforcement at Brown.”

“Brown did nothing,” Britt repeated throughout her statements. University spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in a statement to The Herald that “there should be no ambiguity about Brown University’s enduring commitment to maintaining a safe and secure campus.” ...

Full story at https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2026/04/alabama-sen-katie-britt-attacks-brown-s-preparedness-response-to-dec-13-shooting.

Last Cash Before Revise

The governor will present his May Revise budget proposal later today. As noted in a prior blog posting, yours truly will be on an airplane at the time so any analysis of the proposal will be delayed. However, we do have the state controller's cash report through April, the big month for income tax receipts. And the story of above-forecast revenues continued.

Revenues for the current fiscal year through April, i.e., through the first ten months, were $12.1 billion above what the governor projected in January, and $23.7 billion above what was projected at the start of the fiscal year.

The major contributor to both excesses over projections was the personal income tax, so stock market gains. Both projections got the sales tax about right, so the underlying economy was performing about at levels estimated.

Finally, the state is sitting on $87 billion in unused borrowable resources, so there is lots of internal liquidity.

We'll see how the governor and legislature react to these developments shortly.

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The state controller's report through April is at:

https://www.sco.ca.gov/Files-ARD/CASH/April2026StatementofGeneralFundCashReceiptsandDisbursements.pdf.

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Note: There is one dark spot with regard to revenue and that is from the cap-and-trade program that provides revenue for various programs, notably the high-speed rail. Revenues from cap-and-trade are falling below projections. The rail project is proving embarrassing for the governor's non-campaign for president and threats to revenues for it don't help. See:

https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/resources/2026/Amendments-to-Cap-and-Invest-050626.pdf.

Close

We noted in a prior posting that an item proposing a salary increase for women's basketball coach Cori Close had been removed from the May 5-6 agenda of the Regents.* That seemed odd, given the team's recent record.

However, the Daily Bruin now reports that Close has just signed a contract extension:

Cori Close spent the past two seasons picking up national coaching honors and championship rings – accolades that will now secure her spot in Westwood for the next four seasons. UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close signed a new contract through the 2029-30 season, the team announced in a press release Tuesday afternoon. The news comes just over a month after the 2025 Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year led the Bruins to their first national championship in the NCAA era...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/05/12/coach-cori-close-signs-new-contract-continuing-fours-up-for-next-four-years.

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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2026/05/how-related.html.

Is there a prize for academic creativity?

Full story at: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8pwjdp6do.

Straws in the Wind - Part 341 (Let's just play Pomp & Circumstance and go home)

From Inside Higher Ed: The Rutgers University at New Brunswick School of Engineering canceled a pro-Palestinian alumnus as its convocation speaker after, the university says, some graduating students complained about his social media posts. In March, the school’s website published an “Alumni Spotlight” interview with Rami Elghandour, chairman and chief executive officer of biotechnology company Arcellx. The piece touted his social justice and humanitarian advocacy and noted he was an executive producer of The Voice of Hind Rajab, an Oscar-nominated film about a Gazan girl killed by Israeli forces in the recent war.

Elghandour was set to speak at the school’s May 15 convocation, but the school canceled. In a statement to Inside Higher Ed, the university said the “School of Engineering was recently informed that some graduating students would not attend their graduation ceremony due to concerns about the invited speaker’s social media posts, including one that shared an inflammatory claim.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/05/07/rutgers-disinvites-grad-speaker-after-he-criticizes-israel.

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From the Jewish Journal: When Georgetown Law School announced recently that Dr. Morton Schapiro, Professor and President Emeritus of Northwestern University, would be its commencement speaker, Interim Dean Joshua C. Teitelbaum noted that Schapiro is “highly informed about the challenges facing colleges and universities today,” and that “there are few who can speak to it with as much clarity and insight as he can.”

...[But] in his Jewish Journal column, Schapiro has written about a range of subjects, including the need for hope and optimism and improving the public discourse. ...He has also expressed supportive views of Israel. That was a bridge too far for a group of law students... The outcry became loud enough that Schapiro could only imagine what was reserved for him on the day of the address. ...He felt he had little choice but to withdraw...

Full story at https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/columnist/editors-note/388524/georgetown-commencementspeaker-mort-schapiro-backs-out-after-firestorm-caused-by-his-jewish-journal-columns/.

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Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrzApHZUUF0.

Stopped

From the LA Times: The National Science Foundation suspended at least 18 research grants to UC Berkeley last month despite a court injunction restricting such suspensions, according to an attorney representing university scientists in a class-action lawsuit. The NSF declined to comment on the suspensions.

The grants include at least one that the NSF had previously canceled and was compelled by a federal court order to restore, for a series of mixed-reality exhibits at the Lawrence Hall of Science showcasing Indigenous Ohlone knowledge about the natural world, said one of the project’s leaders, Jedda Foreman...

The University of California is ramping up efforts to find alternative funding for its multibillion-dollar research enterprise as federal support becomes less reliable. On Monday [of last week], UC President James Milliken spoke alongside state Sen. Scott Wiener and United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain at a Sacramento rally in support of state legislation to create a $23-billion fund for scientific research...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-05-10/trump-administration-again-suspends-uc-berkeley-research-grants.