Enquiring Minds Want to Know

Enquiring minds want to know.

Back in mid-August, Chancellor Block circulated an email dealing with job security. If you are an attentive blog reader, you will recall that as part of that message, he threw out a $540 million price tag of the coronavirus for UCLA:

"UCLA will face the greatest financial impact of any University of California campus, an amount that currently stands at about $540 million."

As we noted at the time:

The $540 million figure is undefined in this email. Does it include the health complex? What is included? Lost dorm revenue? Sanitation expenses? Over what time period? To put the number in perspective, the entire cut in the state payment for this fiscal year to the entire UC (this year vs. last year) is about $483 million if there is no federal funding from Congress.

Source: http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2020/08/no-layoffs-with-qualification.html

News report often reproduce big numbers without questioning what they mean. Folks read about big numbers - millions, billions - and can't tell whether they are reasonable. The mid-August $540 million figure for UCLA has recently been picked up in more recent news stories - still without definition or context. See:

https://www.dailynews.com/2020/08/30/why-no-break-on-uc-tuition-despite-the-move-to-remote-classes-covid-19-costs-are-astronomical/

https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2020/08/30/why-no-break-on-uc-tuition-despite-the-move-to-remote-classes-covid-19-costs-are-astronomical/amp/

https://www.ocregister.com/2020/08/30/why-no-break-on-uc-tuition-despite-the-move-to-remote-classes-covid-19-costs-are-astronomical/

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/29/why-no-break-on-uc-tuition-despite-the-move-to-remote-classes-covid-19-costs-are-astronomical/

https://dailybruin.com/2020/08/25/student-programs-representing-historically-marginalized-groups-face-funding-cuts

In short, it's time to release a breakdown of the $540 million cost estimate for UCLA. What portion is lost revenue? What portion is increased expenditure? Where are these losses and increases located? Health facilities? North campus? How much has been, or might be, reimbursed by the federal government? Etc.