News: Possible Mid-May UC Strike - Part 2

UC continues its policy of publicizing its latest offer in union negotiations. As the May 14 threatened deadline of the AFSCME strike approaches, UC has upped its offer and put out a news release. Excerpt:

Demonstrating its commitment to delivering proposals to address affordability concerns for employees, the University of California has expanded its contract offer to AFSCME-represented patient care and service workers, delivering even stronger wage growth, new financial protections, and meaningful improvements to working conditions. 

Building on its earlier proposal, UC’s latest package, an increase of more than $12 million over the previous offer, now delivers up to nearly 33% total pay growth over the life of the contract when annual raises and step increases are combined. In addition to the 5% wage increase already provided to AFSCME-represented team members in 2025, UC’s offer includes across-the-board raises of 5% in 2026, 4% in 2027, 4% in 2028 (up from 3.5%), and 3% in 2029, alongside step increases each year of the contract to support steady wage progression. 

The updated offer also includes up to a $1,000 ratification bonus for eligible employees, paid within 90 days, providing immediate financial support...

Full release at https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-expands-afscme-offer-address-affordability-nearly-33-pay-growth-and-lower-health.

He won't be there

At the upcoming May meetings of the Regents, one Regent won't be there. From the Daily Cal: 

When Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed four new UC regents last month, the public statement overshadowed the quiet departure of a veteran of the body, Gareth Elliott, who left his post without announcement 11 years before the end of his term. A partner at the California lobbying firm Sacramento Advocates, Elliot served on the Board for over a decade prior to his departure and was reappointed by Newsom in 2025 to a new 12-year term.

Elliott’s exit from the board, however, was not a traditional resignation or termination. Rather, the regent left through a relatively rare procedural mechanism after just one year. Regents may assume their positions immediately upon the governor’s appointment, and an appointment is valid only if confirmed by the State Senate within a year. As he was reappointed by Newsom on Feb. 27, 2025, Elliott’s new term was never confirmed in this process, forcing him out of his seat last March.

According to UC Office of the President spokesperson Rachel Zaentz, Elliott “chose not to pursue confirmation for personal reasons.” Elliott did not respond to a request for comment...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/uc/uc-regent-quietly-exits-board-11-years-before-end-of-appointment/article_53c5d1cf-93db-4125-9821-22524cdb704d.html.

Straws in the Wind - Part 325

From the Columbia Daily Spectator: In her student advising meetings in recent years, Wendy Schor-Haim, director of Barnard’s First-Year Writing program, has noticed a shift in her advisees. Schor-Haim, who has taught in the program since 2009, said she saw a “notable decrease” over the past few years in first-year students voicing interest in humanities majors. Instead, more were arriving on campus with clear plans to pursue STEM fields.

Schor-Haim’s experience reflects a broader trend faculty say is emerging at Barnard: declining interest in traditional humanities majors alongside sustained growth in hard and social sciences. As Barnard continues to invest in scientific infrastructure and resources, professors across disciplines are wondering what this shift means for the college’s identity and the future of humanities in a liberal arts framework...

In her advising conversations, Schor-Haim said interests are skewing “overwhelmingly” toward natural sciences. Social sciences, particularly economics, follow. By contrast, she said she could “count on one hand” how many of her students enter Barnard expressing interest in fields such as literature, history, philosophy, or other humanities...

Full story at https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2026/04/19/as-barnard-advances-stem-initiatives-humanities-professors-express-enrollment-concerns/.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 151

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard College Dean David J. Deming said [last] Thursday that he would cut administrative functions before scaling back student-facing programming as the College braces for significant reductions tied to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ $365 million structural deficit...

Deming pointed to the federal endowment tax — raised to eight percent last summer under the Republicans’ tax and spending bill — as a major driver of the FAS’ budget shortfall. “That blew a hole of roughly $100 million per year in the FAS budget,” Deming said. “That’s not a one-time thing. That’s an every year thing that is enshrined into legislation.” ...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/24/deming-administrative-functions-budget/.

Exchange of Letters

 

From the California Post: The Undergraduate Students Association Council claimed hosting Hamas torture survivor Omer Shem Tov “obscured the broader reality of ongoing state violence.” UCLA was quick to slam the group’s comments and one member broke ranks to brand it “blatantly disrespectful” and revealed it was released without everyone present to vote on it. The council president also said he was not present when it was decided. The college’s Hillel brought in the 23-year-old to discuss his harrowing 505 days in the tunnels under Gaza at the hands of the terrorists after he was snatched during the October 7 massacre. He spoke at an event to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 14 — which was attended by chancellor Julio Frenk — and was widely celebrated by the university’s Jewish students.

...[Undergraduate Student Association Council] president Diego Bollo told The Post he was not present at the meeting, and that the councilmember who introduced the letter did so on a day when a councilmember who had promoted Omer’s event was not present to share her perspective and knowledge of the event. Bollo also said the letter was passed by a “bare majority.”

“I acknowledge that this reflects a lapse in oversight on my part as President, and I take responsibility for that institutional shortcoming. To address this issue, I am initiating a review immediately of our internal processes for drafting and releasing public statements,” Bollo told The Post. “I deeply value free speech and free expression on our campus. I have worked throughout my term to ensure that the university supports all student groups in hosting speakers and a wide range of programming. Free speech is a principle I do not compromise on — regardless of the nature or subject of any given event,” he added. ...Talia Davood, who is Jewish and on the council, said: “What left me particularly speechless was the decision to bring this forward on the night of Yom HaShoah — a day dedicated to mourning the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust... She added: “I want to recognize that not all officers present tonight were at the meeting last week. I also want to make it clear that my office condemns doxxing of any kind.” ...

...UCLA released a statement following the student body’s letter, saying: “The event’s message was one of resilience and respect for human rights and dignity — a message we support. “We stand by UCLA Hillel, UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the UCLA chapter of Students Supporting Israel’s invitation to have this very important dialogue, which occurred on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. “We firmly stand against violence of any kind. Omer Shem Tov spoke with students and other members of the community with the chancellor and Dr. Felicia Knaul in attendance, and the event occurred without any disruption.

“We will review the process by which this letter was issued. The condemnation of such a peaceful event to share a story of resilience in the face of extreme suffering is antithetical to the values of our Bruin community.” ...

Jewish students make up an estimated 9% of UCLA’s undergraduate population, or roughly 3,100 to 4,000 students.

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/04/22/us-news/ucla-students-protest-israeli-hostages-campus-visit/.

And there was one more letter yours truly found on the web:

Source: https://x.com/yashar/status/2047737036568969352.

Straws in the Wind - Part 324

From Inside Higher Ed: The Department of Education released its third and final set of regulations related to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for public comment... This proposal fleshes out a new accountability metric designed to test the return on investment of each degree program at more than 4,000 colleges and universities. (The previous two—for which public comment has already closed—outlined new graduate student loan caps and an expansion of the Pell Grant for short-term job training programs.) If the regulations are finalized, undergraduate programs would be required to show that their average graduate earns more than a working adult with only a high school degree. The same would be true for graduate programs, but students’ earning would be compared to a bachelor’s degree holder.

Programs that fail the test for two out of three consecutive years would lose access to federal student loans, and in certain circumstances a program could eventually lose access to the Pell Grant as well...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/04/20/new-college-accountability-metric-published-public-comment.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 150

From the Harvard Crimson: Members of the Harvard faculty subcommittee that drafted a proposal to cap A grades said Yale’s recent recommendation of a 3.0 mean GPA would cut deeper into student transcripts than Harvard’s own plan — even as they welcomed Yale’s entry into a debate that has so far unfolded largely in Cambridge.

The Yale Committee on Trust in Higher Education, in a report released April 10, urged Yale College to adopt “a 3.0 mean, or some other college-wide standard” to address grade inflation, alongside a new percentile-rank metric on transcripts. A Harvard committee proposed a different instrument: a 20 percent cap on A grades per course, with four additional As permitted, and no mandated distribution across other grades.

Government professor Alisha C. Holland, a member of the Harvard subcommittee, said the two proposals would land in very different places on student transcripts. “I would expect — especially in the short term, as instructors make adjustments – that the median grade at Harvard will be an A-minus,” Holland said. “That is far off from the mean of a 3.0 that Yale is recommending.” ...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/23/yale-report-harvard-reacts/.