The Way We Live Now

UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATIONAL POLICY: ANNUAL REMINDER ABOUT THREATS TO ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

This is a reminder from the University Committee on Educational Policy (UCEP) to all University of California faculty to be vigilant about the threats to academic integrity and intellectual property posed by online services where students share copyrighted course materials and pay third parties for completing students’ assignments, papers, and exams.

Posting of instructor-owned course materials to third-party websites without the instructor’s permission is especially problematic because it may at once violate intellectual property rights, provide opportunities for students to cheat, and financially enrich these third-party online services.

In an effort to mitigate these risks, we recommend several measures:

(1) remind students of the specific actions that constitute violations of academic integrity and intellectual property policies and of the serious consequences of committing such violations. This can be done through statements in course syllabi and announcements in class meetings at the beginning of each quarter or semester.

(2) include a copyright notice on your course materials. For some guidance on copyright notices, please see the following link: https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/faqs/#h.

(3) include the following sentence in your course materials in the header or footer of course materials: “This content is protected and may not be shared, uploaded, or distributed.” One online service, Course Hero, has indicated that its filtering tool will generally prohibit the upload of documents that contain this statement.

(4) define whether the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools is acceptable. And, if so, articulate what type of use is acceptable (e.g., are they allowed to share your course materials?). The syllabus should notify students if they are required to acknowledge use of GenAI in their coursework.

The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) has issued similar guidance regarding the unauthorized uploading of course materials; such guidance may be found here:

https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/ownership/protect-course-materials.html 

In addition, each campus has its own policies and procedures related to violations of academic integrity, and faculty should make sure they are fully aware of the most up-to-date information on this topic. The UCOP webpage referenced in this paragraph includes a drop-down menu titled “UC Resources,” which includes links to further information about policies and resources on each campus.

UCEP recognizes there are no easy solutions to the unauthorized posting of course materials onto third party websites and that dealing with these issues adds yet another item to a faculty member’s long list of responsibilities. The measures referenced in this memo are, however, relatively straightforward and not unduly onerous, especially given the seriousness and importance of the concerns they address.

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Source: https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/council-chair-to-senate-divisions-re-ucep-recs-on-academic-integrity-annual-reminder-10-7-26.pdf.

Straws in the Wind - Part 496

From The Dartmouth: Dartmouth Dialogues, College President Sian Leah Beilock’s signature initiative to promote meaningful dialogue across differing perspectives, launched a new certificate program for students on Sept. 14. The purpose of the Certificate in Principles of Dialogue program is to train Dartmouth students to “feel confident” in “productive dialogue around complex topics,” manage their emotional responses and ask “genuinely curious questions” about a conversation partner’s “underlying values and experiences,” according to the Dartmouth Dialogues website. Upon completion, students will receive a “digital badge that can be added to their LinkedIn profile.”

Dartmouth Dialogues program coordinator Trevor Fornara, who joined in March, “took up the mantle” of launching the certificate program, Fornara said in an interview with The Dartmouth. The digital badge can “articulate” to potential employers that a student was “engaged in the culture of dialogue” at Dartmouth and is an example of micro-credentialing, or a short program focused on a particular skill, Fornara said... In the age of artificial intelligence, technical skills are “increasingly devalued” by employers, Fornara said. “Now, hiring managers are looking more for people with social communication skills as opposed to technical skills.” ...

Full story at https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/10/angell-tenn-dartmouth-dialogues-launches-certificate-program-for-students.

Calculations

                         UCLA       USC 

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Students/Faculty         18.3       7.1

Faculty/Employment        4.6%     25.2% 

Part-Timers/Faculty      17.1%     29.5%

Degrees/Faculty          10.2       3.7

Undergrads/Total         70.7%     45.7

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Source: LA Business Journal, Sept. 14, 2026, p. 17. "Faculty" = full time and part time. Employment = faculty and nonfaculty employees.

The Bond - Part 2

Gov. Newsom has come out in favor of Proposition 38 on the November ballot: a measure to authorize $8.4 billion in state general obligation bonds for immunology and immunotherapy research, split between a University of California-affiliated nonprofit institute and a grant program for public or nonprofit research institutions. The Institute will be housed at the former Westside Pavilion site now owned by UCLA.

Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/gavin-newsom-ballot-propositions-22470170.php.

Straws in the Wind - Part 495

From Inside Higher Ed: A group of current and former Lincoln University students filed a federal lawsuit... against the state of Missouri, seeking $548.7 million owed to the Black land-grant institution for funds the state neglected to allocate to the university between 1987 and 2020, plus interest.

The filing marks the beginning of a campaign by a group called the 1890 Project to seek repayment of the $12.6 billion of documented underfunding of historically Black land-grant colleges in 16 states. Donald Calloway Jr., the group’s lead attorney, said they will pursue repayment through litigation, negotiation and legislation...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/courts/2026/10/07/lincoln-u-students-alumni-sue-missouri-549m. 

Translation

A recent look at the UC webpage https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-uc had the upper left title as Universidad de California (image on right). Using the Internet Archive's Wayback machine, I found that the conversion from University of California (image on left) occurred some time between August and September. Oddly, given the change, there is no Spanish option for anything else on the page in the later version.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 205

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard is privately weighing a rapid-fire fundraising push to secure $500 million for University-wide scientific research priorities, according to two people familiar with the matter. The $500 million target has been floated internally in recent conversations, the two people said, but is not a finalized goal. The two said the University was hoping to raise the money by the end of the academic year. The short-term fundraising campaign would arrive in tandem with a sweeping University effort to rethink how Harvard will support its science and medical research in the wake of massive federal grant cuts.

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 initiated a faculty Science Advisory Committee this summer to map out a long-term vision for scientific research, and the University set aside $150 million last week to fund cutting-edge projects. The tentative fundraising initiative mimics a successful Faculty of Arts and Sciences campaign this spring to raise $100 million for endowed Ph.D. fellowships. That campaign, launched in February, met its goal within four months, and the FAS promptly announced another $100 million challenge. The newest push appears to apply that template — short-term fundraising for targeted needs — more widely. As it stands, the University will seek fundraising support for defined scientific research occurring across Harvard, the two people said...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/10/9/science-fundraising/.