An earlier post today noted that we couldn't provide instant archiving of the Regents meeting of yesterday. However, we can provide it for the morning meeting of today which had some significant discussion of the Committee of Two deal. Below is our summary. Scroll down for the audio of the meeting.
The public comments session opened with statements on
tuition for graduate and professional students, sexual violence as related to
graduate students, the Gill Tract farm, comments on the proposal that the
Regents adopt the U.S. Dept. of State definition of anti-Semitism, statements
by AFSCME that workers employed by contractors at UC should receive UC pay
levels, gun divestment, food pantries, a request by a group that may be
connected with UC which is opposing a professional stadium identify itself, and
English proficiency tests for foreign students. There was an interruption
related to the Gill Tract farm issue.
Regent Bruce Varner made some remarks as outgoing Regents
chair. UC president Napolitano thanked him, discussed transfer students and
other issues, gave out awards, and described negotiations within the Committee
of Two as “rigorous.” Faculty rep Mary Gilly said she would be consulting with
faculty about the Committee of Two and would report at future meetings. There
was then a discussion of a program 
Discussion then turned to the Committee of Two deal. UC president noted that the deal did not
include funding for added enrollment but that the governor indicated he would
not veto whatever extra money the legislature might allocate for that purpose.
There was discussion of the pension part of the deal, transfer students,
reduced units for various majors, and three-year degrees using summers. | |
| Top: Napolitano--Center: Gilly--Bottom: Oved & Saifuddin |
It was noted that the pension fund at market value is now
87% funded. Regent Zettel seemed unhappy that any defined benefit element
remained in the proposed new tier. Faculty rep Gilly noted the potential
impacts of the new tier on faculty retention and retirement.
There was some discussion on what it meant to endorse the
Committee of Two “framework.” Did such endorsement override the tuition
increases approved last November? UC president Napolitano said it would
override the November decision. Regent Pérez said he generally endorsed the
framework but couldn’t support the tuition element within the framework with
regard to out-of-state tuition and with regard to a rise in tuition to adjust
for inflation after the two-year freeze. Why couldn’t the endorsement be
postponed until the July meeting which would come after the legislature and
governor had approved a budget? Alternatively, he asked that the tuition
element be unbundled. He said he couldn’t vote for the package unless the
tuition element was separated. He presumably would then vote for everything
except tuition. In the end, however, the Committee on Finance voted unanimously
for endorsing the entire framework.
Regents could then vote as they wished when the full board considered
the recommendation. (Ultimately, Pérez voted for the framework.)
A talk by the designated student observer focused mainly on
complaints about nonresident tuition. It was followed by a review of the Dept.
of Energy labs which UC co-manages. It was noted in that context that there had
been a deal worked out on the large fine that had earlier been levied on UC in
connection with its lab responsibilities.
Audio of the session can be heard at the link below:
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