UCLA Legislative Assembly to Consider Appeal on MBA Self Sufficiency Proposal

An earlier post today reproduced an excerpt from an article by former UCLA Chancellor Young in which he endorses self sufficiency for at least some UC academic programs.  UCLA already has that issue before it.  As the notice below indicates, an appeal to the Legislative Assembly has been filed concerning the Anderson School's MBA Self Sufficiency proposal which the Graduate Council rejected.

UCLA Academic Senate

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May 15, 2012

RE:      Important announcement regarding June 7 Legislative Assembly meeting

Dear Colleague:

I am writing to you in your capacity as a representative to the Legislative Assembly (LgA).  We have an important meeting on Thursday, June 7 from 1-4 PM, and I am asking that you make a special effort to attend.

As you may be aware, self-supporting degree programs (SSPs) have been proposed as one way to generate funding for critical campus programs and to mitigate UCLA’s budget crisis.  The Anderson Graduate School of Management proposed in Fall 2011 to convert its MBA program to an SSP.  This proposal was supported in a vote by more than 70% of the Anderson faculty, and was endorsed by a majority of the School's Faculty Executive Committee.  The finances of the proposal were reviewed and endorsed by the Senate's Council on Planning and Budget, which supported approval for a period of three years followed by a review requiring reauthorization.  A majority of the members of the Graduate Council recently voted against the proposal, however, meaning that the MBA SSP could not be established.

Thirty-five Anderson School faculty members are appealing the Graduate Council decision.  Under the Bylaws of the Senate, the appeal must be voted on by the LgA, and the vote is scheduled for the June 7 meeting.  Representatives will be asked to vote on the following question:

“Does the Legislative Assembly affirm the appeal of the Anderson School faculty, and approve conversion of the MBA program from a state-supported program to a self-supporting program for a period of three years?”

A “yes” vote by a majority of representatives present would mean that the Senate approves the MBA SSP for a period of three years, after which time it would be reviewed again by the Graduate Council.  Before the SSP could be established, it would still require review by the systemwide Senate and final approval by the UC President.  A “no” vote by the majority of representatives present would mean that the SSP could not be established. 

We want to ensure that this appeal is considered by the largest possible group of LgA Representatives.  Please mark June 7 on your calendar so that you can represent your department.  If you are unable to attend, please inform us of your designated alternate, as they count toward quorum.  We will make available more background materials on the Anderson School proposal within two weeks so that you will be able to make an informed decision on this important issue.  

Please contact Dottie Ayer in the Senate office (dayer@senate.ucla.edu or310-206-2070) to confirm your attendance.

Sincerely,

Andrew Leuchter

Chair, Academic Senate

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UPDATE: In a recent email to colleagues in the Dept. of Public Policy, Chancellor Young - cited in the opening text of this blog entry and in a prior post - made it clear that he supports the Anderson MBA self sufficiency proposal.