Listen to the Regents Meeting of Jan. 20, 2016

As promised, we provide an indefinite archiving of yesterday's Regents meeting at the link below.

The meeting began with public comments. Topics included overcrowding in classes due to the planned admission of an extra 10,000 students, a demand that UC divest from Wells Fargo in relation to that firm's connection with private prisons, UC's sexual harassment policy (the requirement that misconduct be reported even when the victim objects), antisemitism incidents including at UCLA, union issues of pay and concerns about the Tier 3 pension proposal for new hires, space needs for mental health services, and the proposal to add a student advisor to the Regents.

UC prez Napolitano described a plan to house the extra students (eventually) and spoke about climate change research. Faculty representative Dan Hare raised concerns about the problems caused by adding 10,000 students without adequate facilities and resources.

The Committee on Education Policy quickly approved a new Herb Alpert Music School at UCLA. Concerns were expressed about a reported drop in enrollment of California students despite a rise in applications.

At the Committee on Finance, there was a discussion of the governor's budget proposal for UC. A proposal for an increase in tuition for certain profession grad student programs was tabled, especially because of concerns about nursing programs. It appears that the proposal involved comparisons with tuition at other institutions and the proposed increases were out of keeping with prior regental policy concerning the results of such comparisons. The proposal will be re-presented at the March meeting of the Regents.

There was a progress report on the much-delayed and over-budget UCPath payroll and HR system which is now functioning for UCOP. it is supposed to be rolled out to three campuses - Riverside, Merced, and UCLA - some time this calendar year. There was also a report on the captive "Fiat Lux" insurance company run by UC. It appears that most of the business so far is contracted out to other commercial insurance firms.

Finally, problems faced by low-income students were discussed.

The afternoon part of the meeting consisted of closed sessions.

A link to the audio of the meeting is below: