You have to read between the lines

University of California President James B. Milliken... issued the following statement on the 2026–27 final state budget:

I am grateful to Governor Newsom and the state legislature for their ongoing support of the University of California reflected in this budget. As the state continues to deal with a difficult financial environment, we share a fundamental belief with California leaders that our university is an engine for social and economic mobility, scientific and medical discovery, and patient care that serves every California community. 

The 7% increase from the state goes a long way toward fulfilling the compact and providing the funding necessary to educate and invest in our students. 

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Translation: "Goes a long way toward fulfilling the compact" = Less than the "compact" promised.

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This is especially important given the sustained attacks against UC and funding cuts by the federal government over the past 18 months. I want to specifically acknowledge and thank Governor Newsom for his unwavering support for the university throughout his tenure. His final budget again demonstrates his belief in the value of public higher education in California and in our hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, and staff.

Source: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-statement-2026-27-final-state-budget.

Limited Hours and Service

Notice from the University Club (formerly Faculty Club):

To continue enhancing your dining experience and strengthening the overall quality of our operations, the Club will undergo servery upgrades, essential kitchen repairs, and the installation of new cooking equipment. These improvements will support better service, greater efficiency, and an upgraded dining program for all members.

The Club will be partially closed from July 6 through September 18, 2026. During this period, the Playa Café will be open to provide convenient access to refreshments, offering:

• Hot and cold beverages
• Pre‑packaged salads and sandwiches

The venue will also be available for catering events during this time. For assistance with event bookings, please contact catering@ha.ucla.edu

Members may continue to enjoy access to the following Club spaces:

• Library
• Garden Patio
• West Patio

Summer hours of operation: Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

Additionally, please note that restroom renovations have been rescheduled to begin in September 2026. More details will be shared as the project approaches.

Straws in the Wind - Part 389

From Inside Higher Ed: The already-small number of colleges with full-fledged, student-enforced honor codes is dwindling. After a three-year pilot of proctored exams, Stanford University student, faculty and administrative leaders decided in April that the university will allow proctoring for all in-person tests starting in September. Princeton University faculty approved a similar plan a month later. In making those decisions, both institutions grappled with students’ increasing use—sanctioned and not—of artificial intelligence.

AI is at the “forefront” of honor code reform, said JT Torres, director of the Houston H. Harte Center for Teaching and Learning at Washington and Lee University... A typical honor code asks students to adhere to a set of academic integrity and behavioral standards that prohibit acts like cheating, plagiarism, lying and stealing, and enlists students as the enforcers of those standards. The code only works as well as the students who enforce it, and success relies on students’ desire to adhere to social norms...

According to a 2025 Inside Higher Ed survey of more than 1,000 students, 85 percent had used generative AI to complete coursework. Over half—55 percent—said they used it for brainstorming ideas, 44 percent used it to edit or check their work, a quarter used AI to complete assignments or coding work, and 19 percent used it to write free responses or essays. What types of AI use constitute cheating vary by institution, professor, class and assignment, and that makes it difficult for students to parse what constitutes an honor code violation...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/learning-assessment/2026/06/22/can-and-should-honor-codes-survive-ai-age.

Grants' Tomb

As blog readers will know, federal research grants have been a major element in the post-World War II higher ed system. The volume and value of grants vary by field but they are especially important in the medical and scientific areas. As part of the current conflict with the feds, and despite court opinions, access to grant funding has declined. There is a proposed rule change involving the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that would potentially upend procedures for grant review and restrict what funds could be used for. 

Before rule changes at OMB can go into effect, however, there is a mandatory public comment period. This period creates an opportunity potentially to block or modify proposed rule changes. The recording below contains details on the proposed changes and how to submit comments:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV-mgw1-nA8. Note that any member of the public can comment. You don't have to be a grant recipient. The recording provides guidance on how to submit comments and what to avoid. Essentially, avoid form letters or copying of other comments. Comments should be personalized. They do not have to be lengthy. The deadline for submission is July 13th, according to the recording.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 175

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard College is raising its sticker price at a rate that now consistently outstrips inflation, following a recent stretch of increases that have grown larger each year. For the 2026-27 academic year, Harvard will raise its total cost of attendance by more than five percent to $91,634. The increase marks the latest in a five-year run of increasingly large dollar hikes — and the fourth straight year in which the percentage increase has accelerated.

A Crimson analysis using annual CPI averages found that Harvard’s cost would have reached about $88,300 next year if it had tracked inflation from the 2025-26 academic year. Instead, it will climb to about $91,600 — roughly $3,300 higher. Multiplied across Harvard College’s undergraduate enrollment, that gap amounts to roughly $22 million in additional listed costs before accounting for financial aid....

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/6/29/harvard-sticker-price-inflation/.

Another reminder of the dissipating Master Plan

UC President Clark Kerr hands
Master Plan to Gov. Pat Brown

From CalMatters: It soon could become much easier for California community colleges to create new bachelor’s degree programs. The state’s community colleges, which primarily offer certificates and two-year associate degrees, are permitted to create bachelor’s degrees that fill workforce needs, but existing law allows them to do so only if they don’t duplicate what’s offered at California’s four-year universities. Debate over what is and isn’t duplication has created an ongoing turf war between the state’s two largest higher education systems, with California State University campuses often objecting to new community college degrees, claiming duplication of their own programs. Amid those objections, final approvals of several degree offerings have been delayed for years.

Now, California lawmakers are weighing legislation to clarify — and significantly restrict — when the state’s four-year universities can protest new community college bachelor’s degree programs. Two separate bills, Senate Bill 960 and Assembly Bill 2694, would prohibit four-year campuses from bringing objections if they aren’t located in the same geographic area as the community college proposing the degree. Both bills are opposed by CSU...

Full story at https://edsource.org/2026/community-colleges-bachelor-degrees/760627.

As we have noted many times, the old Master Plan of 1960 was the product of a deliberative process, not ad hoc legislative efforts.

Straws in the Wind - Part 388

From the Columbia Daily Spectator: Barnard plans to hire 22 full-time faculty members and not renew around 30 term faculty positions this fall, a Barnard official confirmed to Spectator. Administrators have framed the shift as part of a long-term institutional commitment to move away from contingent faculty—instructors employed on non-permanent contracts—and toward more permanent continuing faculty, who can be tenured, tenure-track, or lecturers.

The move was necessary to accommodate Barnard’s growing undergraduate population, increasing course demand, and expanding student interest in STEM areas, especially computer science, Barnard Provost Rebecca Walkowitz said in a May 4 interview with Spectator. It also comes amid broader restructuring and financial pressure at the college. However, the change has drawn criticism from a union representing contingent faculty who argues the decision was too abrupt and left some faculty unsure of their employment status...

Full story at https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2026/06/18/barnard-to-hire-22-full-time-professors-not-renew-around-30-term-faculty/.