Getting In

From the San Francisco Chronicle: The University of California is facing a pivotal moment in its high-profile deliberation over whether to reinstate the SAT and ACT admissions requirement in response to students’ declining math preparedness. UC’s Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools [is planning] to review reports that more deeply explore the spike in the number of students failing introductory math courses at the prestigious public university system.

Meanwhile, UC campuses and math departments are searching for their own answers to help students catch up in math. They are redesigning courses, expanding counseling services and encouraging students to take summer classes if they are underprepared, especially if they did not take precalculus in high school. Some campuses are also reconsidering whether students in certain science programs need to take calculus. UCLA, for example, has found success with a first-year math course tailored to students in biology programs. The reports to the admissions board could chart how UC responds to calls for reinstating high-stakes testing for freshman admissions.

One report will provide more information on enrollment patterns and performance in introductory math classes, such as calculus and precalculus. UC recently revealed that, last school year, 18% of students in those classes failed or struggled greatly. (That figure doesn’t account for students who started in a higher math class or didn’t take math at all.) BOARS will also review a report on how student outcomes, such as grades and graduation rates, have changed since UC eliminated standardized testing in 2020.  The admissions board is expected to make a recommendation by February on whether to bring back the SAT and ACT for first-year admissions. The UC Board of Regents will make the final decision, likely in the summer...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/college-admissions/article/uc-sat-act-math-preparation-22515835.php.

Straws in the Wind - Part 523

From Inside Higher Ed: A University of Kentucky employee has received a religious exemption from having to use artificial intelligence tools to do his job. David Durman, a research administrator and avowed humanist, pursued the exemption after the university began asking employees to integrate AI into their workflows... But Durman saw UK’s requirement to use AI as a violation of humanist doctrine, which lists critical thinking and moral responsibility as two of its core values.

...With support from the American Humanist Association, he pursued an AI use exemption under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for an applicant or employee whose sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance conflicts with a work requirement.” The university granted the exemption in September... 

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/11/02/u-kentucky-says-humanist-admin-exempt-ai.

ICE Jail - Part 4

We have been following the travails of UC-Berkeley student Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez who was jailed by ICE and then ordered released by a judge on Monday, according to various news sources. For the record, although court orders aren't always quickly followed, she was in fact released Monday night. From SFGATE:

...Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez, a 23-year-old business administration student from Colombia, was arrested Oct. 30 while preparing to board a flight to Oregon with her boyfriend. Her attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker, told SFGATE that Hernandez has a pending asylum application and valid work authorization. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest to SFGATE, saying her legal permission to remain in the United States expired in March 2023. U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins ruled Monday that ICE violated Hernandez’s constitutional right to due process by detaining her without prior notice or a hearing and ordered her immediate release from the California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert. Coggins also barred ICE from imposing electronic monitoring without first demonstrating to the court why it would be necessary...

Hernandez was released Monday night, De Bremaeker confirmed...

Full story at https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/berkeley-ice-sfo-freed-22523372.php. 

As we said in our previous post on this matter, I wouldn't count on the midterm elections producing a mellowing on immigration or other issues. For now, you know who is focused on election grumbles but that may pass and prior issues come back in play:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlvZMfOrT3s.

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo7Q2TuoVdE.

DOE vs. UC-B

From the Daily Cal: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has launched another federal investigation into UC Berkeley — this time over three campus resource centers and two external scholarships that allegedly discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin. The investigation, first reported by the California Post, follows a Feb. 10 civil rights complaint filed by the Legal Insurrection Foundation, a conservative nonprofit and media organization. The complaint targeted campus’s African American Student Development Office, Black Resource Center and Latinx Student Resource Center, as well as the African American Initiative Scholarship and the Lloyd A. Edwards Scholarship.

According to a Nov. 3 letter from the OCR to the Legal Insurrection Foundation acknowledging the investigation, the foundation alleged in the complaint that, even if they did not explicitly exclude students on the basis of race, the resource centers’ program’s titles and descriptions dissuade certain groups from participating. The foundation further alleged that the scholarships have criteria that exclude students on the basis of race, color or national origin. “UC Berkeley is fully committed to creating a learning environment that is free from all forms of discrimination,” said campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore in a statement. “The two scholarships in question are awarded to students by external sources and not by university, federal, or state funding sources.” ...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/department-of-education-opens-investigation-into-uc-berkeley-black-latine-resource-centers-and-scholarships/article_773977c9-7298-4985-ba67-8a73125525bb.html.

Straws in the Wind - Part 522

From the Daily Princetonian: ...The University announced in an email sent to all faculty and staff that they would be providing all students, faculty, and staff access to ChatGPT Plus or Pro. Students and faculty who spoke with The Daily Princetonian are divided over the University’s decision, with some expressing concerns around academic integrity and others viewing the decision as keeping pace with rapid technological change. The one-year pilot program with OpenAI will allow students to request access to ChatGPT Plus in January, before the spring semester starts. Faculty and staff [are now] able to request access... 

Before accessing their ChatGPT Plus accounts, students will be required to complete an online Foundations of AI Literacy course...

Full story at https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026/10/princeton-news-students-faculty-divided-over-access-to-chatgpt-accounts. 

Hotel U of California

From the San Francisco Chronicle: The University of California has emerged as the new owner of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, paying $193 million for the oceanfront resort in one of the university system’s latest real estate investments. The buyer is UC Investments, the University of California’s investment office, which manages retirement, endowment and other assets for the system...

UC officials have not publicly disclosed what they intend to do with the property or how it will be managed. Media representatives for the university system did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The 261-room resort, which opened in 2001 on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, includes restaurants, a spa and two golf courses. It is one of Half Moon Bay’s largest employers and taxpayers...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/uc-ritz-carlton-half-22517492.php.

Note that the Regents' Investment Committee is not on the agenda of the upcoming Regents meetings. (See Sunday's posting.) So there is not going to be a specific forum for anyone to ask about this purchase.

Of course, you could check in yourself. But if you try to check out, can you leave?

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y7WGPWYsa0.

ICE Jail - Part 3

From the San Francisco Chronicle: A federal judge has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release a UC Berkeley student who was detained at San Francisco International Airport last month, ruling that the government violated her right to due process. Paula Albornoz Hernandez, 23, was detained by ICE on Oct. 30 while waiting to board a flight to Oregon with her boyfriend. She has a pending asylum case and a current work permit, according to her attorneys. U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins ordered her immediate release Monday and barred immigration officials from requiring her to wear an electronic monitor unless they can demonstrate at a future hearing that one is necessary.

Albornoz Hernandez’s attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker, told KQED that his client was expected to leave ICE custody later Monday from the California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert. Her boyfriend was driving to pick her up, the attorney said. The ruling does not end Albornoz Hernandez’s immigration case. She remains in deportation proceedings, and her asylum application will continue in immigration court, according to her attorney...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/uc-berkeley-student-ice-22522172.php.

Of course, the president has talked since the midterms about maybe immigration policy had been too tough. But I have some skepticism about any change:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slmJIIK40KU.