UCLA History: Westwood Before UCLA

Aerial view of Westwood area (looking north from Pico Blvd.) in 1922 before UCLA moved there from the old Vermont Avenue campus.

UCLA History: Janss

Korean-Americans sitting at the base of UCLA's Janss steps in 1940 (right). Edward Janss, the developer who gave land to build the Westwood UCLA campus (below).

U of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Closes Early in Aftermath of Tornado

From the U of Alabama website:

Classes and Normal Operations Suspended; Update on Final Exams and Commencement

UPDATED Thursday, April 28, 4:45 p.m. - Normal operations are suspended as recovery efforts continue. The University will not conduct final exams next week as scheduled. Students will have the option of accepting their existing grades as of April 27, 2011, or they can take a final exam at a later date. For those students who request to take a final exam, faculty will have the option of scheduling the final exam on site when normal operations resume or via distance education means. Commencement exercises scheduled for May 7, 2011, have been rescheduled for Aug. 6, 2011, when May and August graduates will be recognized.

UA encourages all students who can safely return home to do so. If you are preparing to leave campus, please refer to the Alabama Department of Transportation's emergency road closures web site to plan the safest route to your destination. Information about airport shuttles is available by calling 348-RIDE. Residence halls will close for the semester as scheduled on May 7. Students whose homes have been damaged can go to the Rec Center for immediate housing. Power outages continue to be widespread across campus, and Mayor Maddox has requested that water use be restricted as much as possible…

Source: http://www.ua.edu/

The Regents Reign from Spain (on May 5 - Cinco de Mayo)

The Regents seem to have an outpost in Spain, at least according to the agenda for the May 5 meeting of the Committee on Compliance and Audit. That seems to be the most exciting element in the meeting, although apparently there is also to be an outpost in Tennessee. See below:

NOTICE OF MEETING:
The Regents of the University of California, COMMITTEE ON COMPLIANCE AND AUDIT
Date: May 5, 2011
Time: 11:20 a.m.
Locations: 1111 Franklin Street, Room 11326, Oakland;
1130 K Street, Suite 340, Sacramento;
Henley Board Room, 3104 Mosher Alumni House, Santa Barbara Campus;
6840 Carothers Parkway, Franklin, Tennessee;
Calle San Magin 1, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Agenda – Open Session
Public Comment Period
Action Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 15, 2011
A3 Action Approval of Internal Audit Charter
A4 Discussion Summary of Results of the University’s 2010 A-133 Audit
A5 Discussion University of California Strategic Information Technology Initiatives
A6 Discussion Enhancing Sponsored Funding Compliance and Accountability, Riverside Campus
A7 Discussion Draft Annual Report on Internal Audit Plans 2011-12
A8 Discussion Draft Ethics and Compliance Plan 2011-12
A9 Discussion Report on Training Related to Campus Climate
A10 Discussion External Regulatory Agency Audits
= = = =
Even though it does not seem to be the most exciting agenda for a meeting, we do have some advance audio:

PS: No agenda has yet been posted for the full Regents meeting of May 17-18.

Budget Cuts are Good Things at UC-Davis

That's what UC-Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi says:

UCD chancellor says budget cuts prompt positive changes

"...UC Davis is facing a $107 million shortfall next year. While the budget pressure is difficult, Katehi said, it also creates opportunities for UC Davis to change in ways that will be beneficial, prompting professors to apply for more grants and the campus to increase the number of students it admits from outside California.

"I believe at the end of all of this, the university will be stronger after all of these changes," she said.

Katehi said she wants the campus to bring in more international and out-of-state students both because they bring in more tuition and because they bring more diversity to the school. UC Davis increased the number of out-of-state students it admitted for the fall by 57 percent compared with last year, and increased the number of international students it admitted by 84 percent. Together, the two groups of non-California students make up 13.5 percent of the students UC Davis admitted for the fall, up from 8.6 percent of admits last year.

Another impact of the budget cuts is that UC Davis is consolidating some services, such as payroll, accounting and IT, Katehi said. Other services that may be combined or eliminated include parking departments at the UC campuses in Davis and Sacramento, health services for students and staff and consulting services for employees' retirement planning...

Full article at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/28/3586556/ucd-chancellor-says-budget-cuts.html

Yours truly just reports the news; he doesn't make it up.

Where's the Money?

The legislature is in the habit of recommending what UC should be doing, but not offering to pay for it. Below is a recent example which yours truly became aware of from an article in the “educated guess” blog today (excerpt):

(Darrell) Steinberg, the Senate president pro tem, is the author of SB 611, which would write into law the mission of a new UC institute charged with overseeing the design of career tech courses satisfying the entrance requirements to UC and the California State University system. It’s in a package of three Steinberg bills that would significantly reshape K-12 education. SB 612 reauthorizing collaborative projects between UC educators and K-12 teachers, is partly a companion to SB 611 and would provide teacher training for the new courses that the Institute would establish. SB 547, …would add new performance measures to the Academic Performance Index (API), while sharply deemphasizing standardized test scores in a handful of subjects.

Full article at http://toped.svefoundation.org/2011/04/28/new-uc-role-grow-career-tech/

Below is the intro to the bill itself:

BILL NUMBER: SB 611 INTRODUCED

BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Steinberg

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

An act to add Section 66205.6 to the Education Code, relating to instructional strategies.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 611, as introduced, Steinberg. Public postsecondary education: the University of California.

Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of California's public and independent segments of higher education, and their respective institutions of higher education. Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, act to make a provision applicable. Existing law also requires the California State University, and requests the University of California, to establish model uniform academic standards, develop and implement a speedy process whereby high schools may obtain approval of their courses as satisfying specified admissions requirements, and develop a simple procedure to evaluate career technical education courses, as specified.

This bill would request the Regents of the University of California, subject to availability of funds in the annual Budget Act, the availability of federal or private funds, or any combination thereof, to establish and maintain the University of California Curriculum Integration Institute (UCCII) to be administered by the President of the University of California.

The UCCII would facilitate statewide collaboration and innovation in providing pupils with course content and experience within priority industry sectors among those identified in the California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards as adopted by the State Board of Education. The UCCII would also develop, disseminate, and promote career-oriented, integrated academic and technical education courses that meet course requirements for admission to the University of California and the California State University, and align with high-priority industry sectors among those identified in the California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards as adopted by the state board.

The President of the University of California, in consultation with appropriate state entities, industry leaders, representatives of organized labor, educators, and other parties, would determine the priority among the industry sectors.

The bill would make legislative declarations and findings.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.

State-mandated local program: no.

The full text of the bill is at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_0601-0650/sb_611_bill_20110217_introduced.html

Actually, Yudof did talk to the legislature about this but unfortunately not all the audio came through:

UCLA Data Source

The chart above (data for Fall 2009) is one of many charts and tables for UCLA available from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Below is an example of a table:

Full-time beginning undergraduate students at UCLA who received Title IV aid by income: 2008-09

Income Average net price*

$0 – $30,000 $7,495

$30,001 – $48,000 $8,331

$48,001 – $75,000 $13,190

$75,001 – $110,000 $19,706

$110,001 and more $22,971

All incomes $12,752

*Net price includes living costs, whether on or off campus, including living with family for those off campus.

Obviously, the data above appeared with a lag. But you can find the whole collection of tables and charts at http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=ucla&s=all&id=110662

PPIC April Poll Suggests Uncertain Outlook for Tax Propositions

Here are two charts from the latest PPIC poll. The poll dealt mainly with issues of K-12 education and finance. However, Californians have long had a warm spot for K-12 and so framing budgetary issues as linked to K-12 (which they are, of course) probably makes voters more likely to support taxes than otherwise.

There remains majority support for calling a special election as proposed by the governor. However, such an election can no longer be called before the end of the fiscal year (before June 30). So that means what were to be billed as tax extensions become tax increases since the temporary tax increases enacted in February 2009 expire on June 30.

As the chart shows, support for increases in two of the taxes involved - sales and income - drops below the majority level unless it is only taxes on the wealthy. It is unlikely that Republican votes in the legislature could be found for wealthy-only taxes.

You can find the full PPIC poll at http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S_411MBS.pdf.

There are reports that there is pressure on the governor somehow to get the legislature to pass tax extensions by the California Teachers Assn., among others. Exactly how he is supposed to get the needed 2/3 vote to do so is unclear.

It has been proposed in the past that there might be a legally-uncertain way of passing tax extensions by a simple majority in the legislature. But apart from violating the governor's campaign pledge to raise taxes only by a vote of the electorate, using an untested strategy which is likely to be tied up in the courts does not seem a particularly inviting strategy.

Yours truly cannot make sense of the proposal that the legislature should pass the tax extensions somehow. But here is the reference: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/04/california-teachers-association-tax-election.html.

It appears that there was a song about the proposal:

Analysis of State & Local Pensions Suggests Uncertainty About Status of Current Employees

The Congressional Research Service recently issued a report on state and local public pensions. Among the issues addressed is what, if any, changes can be made for current employees. (The report states that benefits of already-retired employees have been seen as not subject to cutbacks but indicates that this concept is under challenge in some states.) There is no specific analysis of California although various states are referenced in the text.

The report indicates that while in the private sector it is clear that already-accrued benefits cannot be taken away, employers can terminate plans going forward or reduce future accrual formulas for current workers. It indicates that the ability of state and local governments to make such changes for current workers is uncertain and provides discussion, but not a definitive answer.

A sample from page 9 of the report: …The ability of states to modify their pension plans for current employees varies depending when a contract is deemed to exist, and this varies from state to state. For example, in some states, courts have held that an employee’s right to a pension cannot be changed in any way that reduced the benefit that would be payable upon the day of hire or the first day the employee could participate in the plan. This view entitles plan participants the most generous amount of protection for their pension benefits, as employees have a right to accrue benefits in the future. States may, however, alter the benefits available to new hires.

In other states, reductions in pension plan benefits could be prohibited when, under the terms of a state statute, a participant is eligible to receive a pension (e.g., the employee has fulfilled the plan’s service requirement).63 This approach is in line with federal requirements for private sector pension benefits. Under this view, retirement benefits must be provided for service already performed, but prospective plan modifications may still be acceptable. It is also possible that based on interpretation of a state statute, contractual rights to a pension take effect at other times. For example, interpreting an Ohio statute, one court found that the right to a pension benefit attached at retirement.

Despite the variation in when a contractual right to a public plan pension benefit begins, as noted above, state courts generally find that the benefits of individuals who have already retired may not be diminished or impaired.65 However, the modification of post-retirement benefits is currently being challenged by retired state workers in three states, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Colorado. The litigation is based on adjustments that the state legislatures made to post-retirement cost of living adjustments in an attempt to address pension plan underfunding…

The full report is at http://www.nasra.org/resources/CRS%20state%20and%20local%20legal%20framework%201104.pdf

Readers of this blog will know that the Regents last December approved a modified pension plan for new hires but not current employees. The issue is whether a state ballot proposition might override what the Regents did and cover current employees in some fashion.

Lonesome Travelers at UC?

The governor just issued an executive order banning non-essential travel of state employees under his direct authority. UC is not under his direct authority but the order contains the following language:

IT IS REQUESTED that other entities of State government not under my direct executive authority conduct an analysis to determine the discretionary nature of their travel in order to reduce unnecessary costs.

The full order is at http://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17008

Exactly what UC will do in response is not known at this time. But you might assume UC travelers will be lonesome as fewer folks take trips:

Physical Capital vs. Human Capital

The LA Times today carries a story suggesting that not all major gifts in higher ed need to go to building new structures. Aid to students – which for UC and UCLA becomes more crucial as the sticker price of tuition rises – is an alternative. Any lessons for UCLA fundraising? Read on!

Couple donates $110 million for USC undergraduate scholarships: John Mork, a USC alumnus and trustee who made a fortune in the oil industry, says the gift will 'allow the very best kids to get a degree at USC, whether they can afford it or not.'

Buried in the article: ...“John Mork grew up in Encino and, after graduating from USC in 1970, followed his father into the oil and gas exploration industry. He and his wife founded the business that became the Energy Corp. of America. Julie Mork, a UCLA graduate, helps run the firm's charitable foundation, which focuses on helping youth, and she is active in education groups.”

…The Mork donation is USC's largest for undergraduate scholarships. The biggest in the nation was $400 million from media magnate John W. Kluge to his alma mater, Columbia University, in 2007, according to Rae Goldsmith, a vice president at the Washington, D.C.-based Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Donations for new university buildings and endowed faculty chairs are more common, she said, but gifts for financial aid have risen since the recession began three years ago.

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-usc-scholarships-20110427,0,2977965.story

If reading the material above reminds you of the current controversy at UCLA surrounding the proposed hotel/conference center to replace the Faculty Center, that's the point. It's time to focus on human capital, not physical capital. Capital projects may seem to provide immortality. But nothing lasts forever, even hotels:

The Economist Takes On California

The Economist magazine - from which the photo on the left derives - offers its solution to California's governance and budgetary woes this week. Basically, it says there is too much direct democracy - ballot initiatives, etc.

A conference this evening at UCLA - on which yours truly is a panelist - is devoted to the Economist's proposition (pun definitely intended!). See our earlier post for details at:

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/04/andreas-kluth-of-economist-leads-ucla.html

Links to the Economist's California report are at http://www.economist.com/node/18586520 and http://www.economist.com/node/18563638

Are We About to Burst With Pride?

Dean Judy Olian of the Anderson School circulated links to two articles (really three when you follow the links) on the thesis that the next bubble is higher ed. A sample:

..Like the housing bubble, the education bubble is about security and insurance against the future. Both whisper a seductive promise into the ears of worried Americans: Do this and you will be safe. The excesses of both were always excused by a core national belief that no matter what happens in the world, these were the best investments you could make. Housing prices would always go up, and you will always make more money if you are college educated.

Like any good bubble, this belief – while rooted in truth – gets pushed to unhealthy levels…

Full article at http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/10/peter-thiel-were-in-a-bubble-and-its-not-the-internet-its-higher-education/

The other two on this theme are at http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2011/04/higher_education and http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2011/04/higher_education?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/isitreallythenextbubble

By the way, the namesake of the Anderson School just gave the School another $25 million. So he apparently thinks higher ed, at least business higher ed, is worthwhile. See http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_17924279

UCLA History: Bruin Notes Shift from Reagan to Brown

Headline in Daily Bruin, 1-6-75, notes the shift as Governor Reagan departs and Jerry Brown is inaugurated as governor.

Long Road to Tenure at U of Michigan

Inside Higher Ed is reporting today on a decision of the U of Michigan Regents to lengthen the period to tenure:

10 Years to Tenure at Michigan (excerpt):

April 25, 2011, Dan Berrett

Professors at the University of Michigan could face a possible wait of up to 10 years for tenure thanks to a new policy adopted Thursday by its Board of Regents -- over the objections of faculty. The change to a university bylaw, as Michigan administrators are quick to point out, is not mandated. It gives schools and colleges at Michigan's campuses the option to extend the maximum allowable pre-tenure probationary period (including the terminal year) by two years, from the current maximum of 8 years to 10. In practice, each college and school sets its own policy through its governing faculty body, and this would not change…

(One) reason for the change, as cited… by the measure’s supporters -- particularly those from the medical school -- relates to the changing demographics of the professoriate. The growth in two-career and single-parent households -- coupled with longer postgraduate training periods -- has strained junior faculty who are trying to juggle personal and professional obligations…

Full story at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/04/25/university_of_michigan_adopts_longer_pre_tenure_despite_faculty_objections

Yours Truly is Still Waiting

The Contra Costa Times today is complaining that some public entities - but no UC- have not yet provided it with all of their salary data so it could publish them on its website. The article includes the following quote:

"It's insane, absolutely asinine" that some governments continue to balk at making compensation data readily public, said Tom Newton, executive director of the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Full article at http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_17916681

As yours truly has done with the Orange County Register and the Sacramento Bee, I have posted a modest request on the Contra Costa Times website:

While you're waiting for public sector pay, please publish the salary of each employee of the Contra Costa Times. Thanks.

So yours truly is waiting, too, for my request to be fulfilled. I guess we’re all waiting now:

Time Warp

This is odd. UCLA produced a strategic plan dated January 6, 2010. In that report on page 10, it refers to a conference center. The word “residential” is not used and, of course, “hotel” is not used. The text on page 10 reads:

Conference Center: A conference center at UCLA could serve three purposes: support academic programs by offering a convenient venue for scholarly programs and interaction, serve as a gateway for the Los Angeles Community into UCLA, and establish UCLA as a meeting point for international academic conferences and programs. We should conduct a feasibility study for a conference center that could attract visitors from around the world to UCLA; if desirable, initiate planning. [underline & boldface added]

Yet the already-completed consultant’s report on the residential conference center is dated July 24, 2009. For a consultant’s report to have been commissioned and researched by mid-2009, there must have been planning “initiated” well before that July 2009 date. Be sure to scroll all the way down in this entry for a possible solution to this time warp.

The 2010 strategic plan is at:

Open publication - Free publishing - More hotel

The 2009 consultant's report is at:

Open publication - Free publishing - More hotel

Yours truly may have uncovered how it is possible to discover in 2010 that you need a report and then commission it in the past!!

Wake Up UCOP and Regents: The Governor Says There Is Still Time to Make Your Voice Heard

Is there a budget deal in sight and does it include some kind of pension limit? Not yet - but the clock is ticking. UCOP and the Regents need to wake up and make their voice heard on behalf of UC, particularly on pensions, but also on the budget in general. See below.

April 22: …(Governor Brown) said a budget deal remains elusive and could take several more weeks to reach.

"We're not at the point of, 'OK, if you do this pension reform and A, B, C and D regulatory, you've got a deal,' " Brown told reporters after a panel discussion at an IBM research facility. "We're not at that level of specificity, and I think we have several weeks of conversations to get to a point where people feel, 'OK, that sounds like a good deal.' "

Full article at: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/04/jerry-brown-personalizes-tax-appeal.html

By the way, if you are thinking that in the event of a pension cap, UC will just put in a supplementary defined contribution plan to make up for the difference, you might think again. Here is an excerpt from an article on the governor's latest deal with the prison guards' union:

Brown noted other victories, including that the contract would end a state-funded, $42 million-a-year 401(k)-type plan that correctional officers received in addition to their pensions.
Full article at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/22/MN0H1J3TMU.DTL

Maybe some further encouragement to UCOP & the Regents is needed:

Andreas Kluth of The Economist Leads UCLA Roundtable Discussion on California Dysfunction: April 26

The event below coming up on Tuesday may be of interest to those concerned with the California budget crisis and general Sacramento dysfunction:

Andreas Kluth of The Economist Leads UCLA Roundtable Discussion

California—few regions in the world have caught the popular imagination of so many. From the glitz of Hollywood to the energy and innovation of Silicon Valley, from the weather to the wine, California is envied around the globe. Yet despite the state’s immense advantages, its finances are in deep trouble. For the past few years California has been in a budget and governance crisis, reaching its nadir in 2009 when the state no longer paid its bills in cash but issued IOUs instead. It has been declared a “failed state,” “dysfunctional,” and “ungovernable.” The good news is that California’s problems, though complex, are now well understood, so reform has become possible.

This event, a companion to a special report in the April 23, 2011 issue of The Economist brings together report author Andreas Kluth, and a team of California experts to discuss how the state got into its current fiscal mess—and also how, by introducing the right reforms, it can get out of it again.

Speakers will address the following questions:

• What are the priority reforms that will improve the governance of the state?
• Who must enact these, and what challenges do they face?
• What are the costs of failing to act on these reforms?

ANDREAS KLUTH has been writing for The Economist since 1997. He is currently the US West Coast Correspondent, covering politics, society and economy in California and the western states. Before this, he covered technology from Silicon Valley, Asian business from Hong Kong, and finance from London.

Roundtable participants

Daniel J.B. Mitchell • UCLA Professor Emeritus; editor, California Policy Options

Carol Whiteside • Partner of California Strategies, LLC. Specializes in strategic consulting and communications in California's political, legislative, regulatory and media environments with a focus on good governance.

Robert Hertzberg • Co-chair, California Forward, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to bring government closer to the people and move the state in the right direction; former Speaker of the California State Assembly

Co-sponsored by UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA Lewis Center, UCLA Anderson Alumni Network, and The Economist.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
6:15 - 8:00 p.m., UCLA Korn Convocation Hall

Registration at:

https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e3mfzpqj30231310&oseq=

This program is free and open to the public. Registration does not guarantee seating; stand by lines admitted for available seating within five minutes of start time.

PS: For those not familiar with the Winchester Mystery House to which the cartoon on the upper right alludes, check it out on the web http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Empires

Yours truly doubts that most faculty are aware of the scale of the business enterprises that operate at UCLA. Below you can take a look at the 2008 strategic plan for UCLA Housing and Hospitality. Among other things, on page 9 you will find that the hotel/conference center that was slated to replace the Faculty Center is not so recent. It was first surfaced to faculty about a year ago. But it goes back at least to 2008-09.

Open publication - Free publishing - More hospitality

These guys are hard to resist!

Fiefdoms

We all know about the body parts scandal at UCLA. Then there was the scrambled eggs/fertility scandal at UC-Irvine. Now comes word that a former UC-Davis official will be sentenced in June for embezzlement and related offenses. In that case, the head of the Campus Violence Prevention Program for 16 years began to receive attention when a newspaper reported that she had apparently submitted false numbers on campus violence to the feds.

That investigation turned up further info that she had a problem with travel reimbursement and had to pay back some money to the university. One would think alarm bells would have been sounding - but apparently not. However, eventually she was arrested after more newspaper reporting and last week pleaded no contest to various charges. You can read this sad tale at http://daviswiki.org/Jennifer_Beeman_%28CVPP%29 (with various links) and at http://www.calwatchdog.com/2011/04/20/uc-davis-fraud-sentencing/.

The tales above deal with outright corruption. But they spotlight a more general problem on UC campuses of managerial control. A typical campus has a lot of bureaucracy at the lower levels, worrying about $20 reimbursements. But as you go up in the administrative hierarchy, the bureaucracy gets very thin. Ultimately, every major unit reports to a chancellor and an EVC. Unfortunately, there is a limit to what two top officials - particularly on larger campuses - can monitor effectively.

So what can develop in the levels below the top two officials is empire building and quasi-autonomous fiefdoms. When things go awry below, top management is insulated until a major problem or controversy arises. While the problem can be corruption as above, it is much more often just poor decision making that can waste scarce funding and/or embarrass the campus.

It probably was the case from the Master Plan era until the 1990s that the managerial system - despite its inherent deficiencies - worked well enough; the state was generally expanding rapidly and there was enough funding around to deal with inefficiencies in control. That era, however, is gone - but the old system remains.

If you have read this far, you might be thinking about the current controversy over the proposed hotel/conference center at UCLA. And, indeed, that is a good example to think about. But it won't be the last unless changes are made.

A Plug for Today's Events

Yours truly will be speaking at a "Public Sector Forum" today (Thursday, April 21), 5 PM, 1447 Law School, on California's "Governance, Budgets, and Public Workers." The program has a panel on the subject and was organized by Prof. Katherine Stone of the Law School.

Note that Obama is visiting the Westside today so if you are not on campus, you may not be able to get there due to traffic gridlock. On the other hand, you might not be able to get home if you are on campus so the forum is something to do while you are stuck.

And wait, there is more!

After the Forum, former Chancellor Charles Young will be speaking at 6:30 PM on "The State of California and its University" at the Faculty Center as part of the Bollens-Ries-Hoffenberg lecture program. Although I don't know for sure what he will say, I suspect you can find the general thrust in his chapter (chapter 5) in California Policy Options 2011, available at http://issuu.com/uclapubaffairs/docs/cpo2011.

Regents Meeting of 3-16-11: Streaming Audio

Text repeats explanation posted for March 15 Regents meeting:

In the past, readers of this blog will know we have provided partial audio of Regents meetings. The Regents provide streaming audio of their meetings. Yours truly captured the audio – when he had the time and no schedule conflicts – using an audio recorder, converted them to videos using a still picture, divided them into roughly 20 minutes segments, posted them on Facebook (which has a 20-minute limit), and then embedded the audio/videos on the blog. This procedure was both time consuming and incomplete. From time to time, yours truly raised the question of why the Regents did not archive the audio and make it available after the meeting was over.

The Faculty Association has found that the Regents will supply a CD with the audio pursuant to a Public Documents request. We now have the CD for the meeting of March 15-16-17, 2011. So we will try a new procedure. Yours truly will post the audios to archive.org from which you can either listen online as streaming audio or download the file yourself. Below are links to the meeting of March 16, 2011 in three parts (because the files were sent in three parts).

http://www.archive.org/details/UniversityOfCaliforniaRegentsMeeting3-16-11Part1

http://www.archive.org/details/UniversityOfCaliforniaRegentsMeeting3-16-11Part2

http://www.archive.org/details/UniversityOfCaliforniaRegentsMeeting3-16-11Part3

The agenda for the meeting was listed as:

===================================================

Wednesday, March 16

8:30 am Committee of the Whole (public comment)

9:30 am* Committee on Finance (open session)

12:15 pm Lunch

1:15 pm* Committee on Finance (open session continued)

3:00 pm* Committee on Educational Policy (open session)

3:30 pm* Committee on Compensation (closed session)

4:00 pm* Committees on Compensation (Regents only session)

4:15 pm* Committee on Finance (Regents only session)

4:50 pm* Committee on Governance (Regents only session)

4:55 pm* Board (Regents only session)

*or upon adjournment of previous session

Note: To see the attachments for the various items on the agenda, go to the Regents page:

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/mar11.html

========================================================

Regents Meeting of March 17, 2011: Streaming Audio

Text repeats explanation posted for March 15 Regents meeting:

In the past, readers of this blog will know we have provided partial audio of Regents meetings. The Regents provide streaming audio of their meetings. Yours truly captured the audio – when he had the time and no schedule conflicts – using an audio recorder, converted them to videos using a still picture, divided them into roughly 20 minutes segments, posted them on Facebook (which has a 20-minute limit), and then embedded the audio/videos on the blog. This procedure was both time consuming and incomplete. From time to time, yours truly raised the question of why the Regents did not archive the audio and make it available after the meeting was over.

The Faculty Association has found that the Regents will supply a CD with the audio pursuant to a Public Documents request. We now have the CD for the meeting of March 15-16-17, 2011. So we will try a new procedure. Yours truly will post the audios to archive.org from which you can either listen online as streaming audio or download the file yourself. Below are links to the meeting of March 17, 2011 in three parts (because the files were sent in three parts).

http://www.archive.org/details/UniversityOfCaliforniaRegentsMeeting3-17-11Part1

http://www.archive.org/details/UniversityOfCaliforniaRegentsMeeting3-17-11Part2

http://www.archive.org/details/UniversityOfCaliforniaRegentsMeeting3-17-11Part3

The agenda for the meeting was listed as:

===================================================

Thursday, March 17

8:30 am Committee of the Whole (public comment)

8:50 am* Committee on Compensation (open session)

9:10 am* Committee on Educational Policy (open session)

9:45 am* Committee on Finance (open session)

10:15am* Committee on Health Services (open session)

10:45am* Joint Meeting: Committees on Long Range Planning and Educational Policy (open session)

11:15am* Committee on Goverance (open session)

11:30 am* Board (open session)

*or upon adjournment of previous session

Note: To see the attachments for the various items on the agenda, go to the Regents page:

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/mar11.html

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In a subsequent post, we will provide the links to the March 16 audios.

Regents Meeting of March 15, 2011: Streaming Audio

In the past, readers of this blog will know we have provided partial audio of Regents meetings. The Regents provide streaming audio of their meetings. Yours truly captured the audio – when he had the time and no schedule conflicts – using an audio recorder, converted it to video using a still picture, divided it into roughly 20 minutes segments, posted them on Facebook (which has a 20-minute video limit), and then embedded the Facebook audio/videos on the blog. This procedure was both time consuming and incomplete. From time to time, yours truly raised the question of why the Regents did not archive their audio and make it available indefinitely after the meeting was over.

That questions was never answered. However, the Faculty Association has found that the Regents will supply a CD with the audio pursuant to a Public Documents request. We now have the CD for the meeting of March 15-16-17, 2011. So we will try a new procedure. Yours truly will post the audios to archive.org from which you can either listen online as streaming audio or download the file yourself. Below are links to the meeting of March 15, 2011 in three parts (because the files were sent to us in three parts).

http://www.archive.org/details/UniversityOfCaliforniaRegentsMeeting3-15-11Part1

http://www.archive.org/details/UniversityOfCaliforniaRegentsMeeting3-15-11Part2

http://www.archive.org/details/UniversityOfCaliforniaRegentsMeeting3-15-11Part3

The agenda for the meeting was listed as:

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Tuesday, March 15

12:30 pm Committee on Compliance and Audit (Regents only session)

1:00 pm* Committee on Compliance and Audit (open session - includes public comment)

3:00 pm* Committee on Grounds and Buildings (open session - includes public comment)

concurrent with regular meeting *

Special Meeting: Committee on Grounds and Buildings (open session)

*or upon adjournment of previous session

Note: To see the attachments for the various items on the agenda, go to the Regents page:

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/mar11.html

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In subsequent posts, we will provide the links to the March 16 and March 17, 2011 audios.