A Joint Effort With the State?

Here's something you probably didn't know about from SFGATE:

California has a new tool in its effort to regulate the state’s unruly pot industry: an $11 million cannabis testing lab, run out of the University of California, San Diego. The lab’s first task? Shutting down labeling fraud in California’s multibillion-dollar pot marketplace. Pot labels have become deeply controversial in California. 

The state’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) requires every marijuana product to be tested by a private lab for safety and potency, and then labeled with the percentages of several components, including THC, the primary intoxicant in cannabis. Although such testing facilities are licensed by the DCC, industry insiders have for years accused labs of fraudulently inflating THC levels to lure more customers. In the past month, rumors turned into court action, when lawsuits hit some of the state’s largest pot companies over claims they’ve been lying about how much THC their products contain...

The new lab at UCSD is a key part of the state’s plan to rein in testing fraud. In February 2021, the state signed a deal promising the university $11 million over five years to build and operate a “reference laboratory” for legal cannabis inside UCSD’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, including $2.3 million in laboratory equipment the first year and just under $1 million each year for staff. The lab, run by university professors Igor Grant and Jeremiah Momper, has struggled with delays; despite receiving initial funds in February 2021, it has yet to meet a single deadline for testing capabilities. That includes a July 2022 deadline to complete International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification proving the lab’s staff and equipment are capable of running contamination and potency testing...

Full story at https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/california-cannabis-lab-rocky-start-17610822.php.

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To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/joint.mp3

Sometimes No (US) News is Good News - Part 7 (Not Everyone Joins the Exodus)

We have been tracking law schools that have withdrawn participation from the US News and World Report rankings. At UC, these include Berkeley, UCLA, and Irvine. As blog readers will know, it all started with Harvard and Yale and then began to spread. But not all top schools are going along. From Inside Higher Ed:

The law schools of the University of Chicago and Cornell University may not love the U.S. News & World Report rankings, but they aren’t walking away from them. University of Chicago dean Thomas J. Miles wrote to students that “my past practice has been to avoid direct, public comment on the U.S. News ranking. The ranking is not our guide, and I prefer to shine a light on the substantive attributes that make our Law School the home of the most intellectually ambitious faculty and the most powerful legal education. Most of the data we supply to U.S. News are already public, and the rest is information we have no reason to withhold...

Cornell’s law school also announced that it will still participate in the rankings of U.S. News & World Report. “My own view is that the rankings distort academic decision-making, fail to adequately capture institutional quality, and create perverse incentives that are not in the best interests of students or the legal profession,” said Jens David Ohlin, dean of the law school. He added, “However, withdrawal from the rankings process will not have the desired impact that many assume that it will have. For one, U.S. News has said that it will continue to rank all law schools regardless of their level of participation...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2022/11/29/u-chicago-cornell-law-schools-will-stay-%E2%80%98us-news%E2%80%99-rankings.

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To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/not%20joining.mp3

This Just In: Partial Tentative Strike Settlement - Update

Our last post - yesterday - had only a portion of the tentative labor agreement covering some of the strikers participating in the student worker strike.* The union local, UAW 5810, has now posted a more complete summary:

Postdocs 

The University proposed a comprehensive proposal to Postdocs that the bargaining team has tentatively agreed to... Highlights include:

• Compensation that addresses cost of living
• Most Postdocs will receive a 20-23% salary increase (up to $12,000) by October 2023; over the course of 5 years as a Postdoc at UC, the current lowest paid Postdoc would see a 57% salary increase;
• For 2024-2027: 7.2% annual increase for Postdocs on the scale (3.5% scale increase and 3.7% experience step), 3% annual increase for above-scale Postdocs
• Faster timeline to first experience-based step
• Increase from 4 weeks to 8 weeks of Parental and Family Leave paid at 100% for all Postdocs
• Childcare subsidies that will start at $2,500 annually and increase to $2,800 annually – the first time Postdocs have won a childcare subsidy after 12 years of fighting
• Lengthened initial appointments from 1 year to 2 years to ensure job security and longer visas
• New Respectful Work Environment Article including industry-setting protections against abusive conduct and bullying that are fully grievable and arbitable
• New Immigration Article with guaranteed leave time for immigration appointments and protections if immigration laws change
• Protections for workers with disabilities that go beyond the ADA, guaranteeing interim accommodations while the interactive process is ongoing
• Commitment to implement free transit passes within 3 years, and a commitment to bargain if free passes have not been implemented in that timeframe
• E-bike discount of at least 15%

Academic Researchers

Tonight the University also made a comprehensive proposal to Academic Researchers that the bargaining team has tentatively agreed to. Highlights include:

• Compensation that addresses cost of living
• A typical Academic Researcher will receive 29% in salary increases (between scale and merit increases) over the life of the contract
• An Assistant Project Scientist hired in July 2022 would see their compensation increase by $3,078 by July 2023, by an additional $6,395 by July 2024, and by $19,423 by the end of the contract.
• A Junior Specialist hired in July 2022 would see their compensation increase by $5,459 by July 2023; if they continued as an Assistant Specialist their salary would increase by an additional $6,668 by July 2024, and by a total of $20,620 over the life of the contract.
• 8 Weeks of Parental and Family Leave paid at 100%, up from 70% pay
• Better job security: Longer appointments before merit review, and fewer exceptions to 1-year minimum appointments
• All ARs are now eligible to apply for PI status and UC commits to meet with the Union to discuss the expansion of Bridge Funding Programs at each campus
• New Respectful Work Environment Article including industry-setting protections against abusive conduct and bullying that are fully grievable and arbitable
• Protections for workers with disabilities that go beyond the ADA, guaranteeing interim accommodations while the interactive process is ongoing
• Commitment to implement free transit passes within 3 years, and a commitment to bargain if free passes have not been implemented in that timeframe
• E-bike discounts of at least 15%
• An improved Union Security article to keep our union strong, and a better Grievance and Arbitration process to enforce the contract

Full description at https://uaw5810.org/2022/11/29/major-victory-tentative-agreements-for-ars-postdocs/. (A more complete version is available at this link.)

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As previously noted, workers covered by the tentative agreement remain on strike since other locals have not reached a tentative contract. However, there could well be a tendency for others to follow the model that has been established. If not, our comments in past posts about the use of some form of arbitration and possible intervention by the governor remain. The fact that the tentative deal is for five years - a long duration compared to most labor agreements - suggests that UC is anxious not to have frequent repeats of such disputes.

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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/this-just-in-partial-tentative-strike.html.

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To hear the text above, click on the link below: 

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/tentative%202.mp3

This Just In: Partial Tentative Strike Settlement

The Hill is reporting a settlement with some of the student worker strikers. 

UC researchers, postdoctoral scholars reach tentative deal, still on strike

By Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech, Nov. 29, 2022 

University of California officials and the school system’s postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers have reached tentative agreement after more than two weeks of striking. Bargaining teams from the University of California and the United Auto Workers, the union representing the school system’s academic workers, have potentially reached a deal on a new five-year contract for postdoctoral scholars and researchers. Postdocs and academic researchers will remain on strike until the contract is ratified and in solidarity with the roughly 36,000 academic student employees and student researchers who are still striking.

Once officially ratified, the new contracts will be effective until Sept. 30, 2027.  

“We are proud to have reached agreements that address the soaring cost of living, and reflect the value of our contributions at UC,” said Neal Sweeney, President of UAW Local 5810. “These agreements represent a new, best-in-class model that will improve quality of life – and the quality of research – for scientists across the US. It is now time for UC to make serious proposals to Academic Student Employees and Student Researchers and to reach fair agreements that recognize the contributions these workers make.” 

About 48,000 University of California teaching assistants, graduate researchers and other workers walked off the job 15 days ago calling for higher wages and better benefits.  

As a part of Tuesday’s tentative agreement, most postdocs will receive up to $12,000 more in their annual salary by October of next year. UC officials have agreed to expand paid parental and family leave for postdocs from four to eight weeks as well as provide at least $2,500 a year in childcare subsidies. Postdocs will also get longer appointments, more transportation subsidies, better protections from workplace bullying and guaranteed leave time for immigration appointments and protections if immigration laws change...

Academic researchers will also get eight weeks of paid parental and family leave starting in January under the contract as well as a 29 percent salary increase over five years...*   

Full story at https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/3755317-uc-researchers-postdoctoral-scholars-reach-tentative-deal-still-on-strike/.

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*Note: Twenty-nine percent over five years is an average of about 5.3% per year, although the proposed contract is probably front-loaded, i.e., more in the first year and less in the later years. (The university has talked about 7% in the first year.) That's quite a bit less than the initial union demands and may require a significant "selling" job by the union leadership if expectations of members are much higher.

The settlement will likely put pressure on the remaining groups to agree on something similar.

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To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/tentative.mp3

Enough Said

A sampling of news links from today's UCOP Daily News Clips:

'Unconscionable': Academic Workers Accuse UC of Stalling as Strike Enters Third Week

KQED (Emma Silvers)

https://www.kqed.org/news/11933284/unconscionable-academic-workers-accuse-uc-of-stalling-as-strike-enters-third-week

Chaos over grades, finals and ongoing classes erupts as UC strike continues

Los Angeles Times (Teresa Watanabe, Howard Blume and Debbie Truong)

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-29/chaos-over-grades-finals-ongoing-classes-erupts-as-uc-strike-enters-third-week

Hundreds of striking UC student educators, researchers march to UC president’s office

San Francisco Chronicle (Michael Cabanatuan)

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Hundreds-of-striking-UC-student-educators-17617082.php

What’s at Stake in the University of California Graduate-Worker Strike 

The New Yorker (Jay Caspian Kang)

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/whats-at-stake-in-the-university-of-california-graduate-worker-strike

How the University of California Strike Could Reshape Higher Education

Time (Katie Reilly)

https://time.com/6237230/uc-strike-higher-education-implications/

Hundreds of UC Faculty Members Stop Teaching as Strike Continues

Chronicle of Higher Education (Grace Mayor)

https://www.chronicle.com/article/hundreds-of-uc-faculty-members-stop-teaching-as-strike-continues

University of California faculty join teaching assistant strike

Times of Higher Education (Paul Basken)

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/university-california-faculty-join-teaching-assistant-strike

With final grades due soon, hundreds of UC faculty pledge support for striking academic workers

EdSource (Michael Burke)

https://edsource.org/2022/with-final-grades-due-soon-hundreds-of-uc-faculty-pledge-support-for-striking-academic-workers/681772

WhatMatters: UC, CSU campuses in the hot seat

CalMatters (Emily Hoeven)

https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2022/11/uc-strike-csu-black-students/

Disability rights are workers’ rights’: Disabled UC Davis workers on strike advocate for greater accessibility on the picket and in the university

Capital Public Radio (Janelle Salanga)

https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/11/28/disability-rights-are-workers-rights-disabled-uc-davis-workers-on-strike-advocate-for-greater-accessibility-on-the-picket-and-in-the-university/

State Board Slaps UC with Six Labor Complaints as Academic Workers’ Strike Enters Week Three

Santa Barbara Independent (Callie Fausey)

https://www.independent.com/2022/11/28/state-board-slaps-uc-with-six-labor-complaints-as-academic-workers-strike-enters-week-three/

Finals at UC Irvine set to start soon as student workers strike enters 3rd week

ABC 7 Los Angeles (David Gonzalez)

Additional ABC 7 placement: California Today: New York Times

https://abc7.com/university-of-california-student-worker-strikes-campus-uc-irvine/12504448/

No deal in sight between University of California and faculty members

KTLA (Chip Yost)

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/no-deal-in-sight-between-university-of-california-and-faculty-members/

UC strike enters third week ahead of quarter ending, finals

CBS Sacramento (Shawnte Passmore)

https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/uc-strike-enters-third-week-ahead-of-quarter-ending-finals/

Strike of higher-education workers at UC schools impacting students

ABC 10 Sacramento (Kurt Rivera)

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/protests/uc-worker-strike/103-46b594e2-e502-4f32-ac08-5ab5971566aa

UC strike enters third week as finals approach

CBS 8 San Diego (Jasmine Ramirez)

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/uc-strike-enters-third-week/509-7d12b5db-23ac-44fb-bdba-04d56c9a01c4

STUDENT PRESS: Campus releases plans for final exams, grades amid ongoing academic workers strike

Daily Californian (Riley Cooke and Anna Armstrong)

https://www.dailycal.org/2022/11/28/campus-releases-plans-for-final-exams-grades-amid-ongoing-academic-workers-strike

STUDENT PRESS: Op-ed: Academic workers are striking to create a better campus for everyone

Daily Bruin (Alexa Barger)

https://dailybruin.com/2022/11/28/op-ed-academic-workers-are-striking-to-create-a-better-campus-for-everyone 

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And there is this from the systemwide Academic Senate:

https://ucla.app.box.com/s/5m9hqapf7i78jppy23yeexh4a0q9ltq9.

Student Worker Strike Drags On

The student worker strike continues to drag on. As we have noted, there is a point at which the parties come face to face with the costs: missing paychecks, missing grades, missing sessions with TAs, missing labs, missing research on funded grants, etc. And - as we have also noted - there are potential solutions at that point, particularly some form of arbitration that can bring the dispute to a close.*

Let's first note that the Regents, although they heard directly about the strike during the public comment periods of their last meetings, took no particular action. Indeed, we also noted that, aside from a comment that negotiations were underway, there was only one very brief comment on the strike at the Regents by President Drake - essentially putting the cost of the pay demands at $2 billion - that seemed to quash any further discussion. You can see that brief episode at the link below:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6J3P85xhe0. 

To help you understand the clip, here is a summary: On Nov. 16, 2022 at a meeting of the Finance and Capital Strategies Committee.** UC President Drake said the demands of the UAW would cost $2 billion. He said it indirectly, referring first to requests by nonunion staff which would cost $200 million. Drake then referred to "other" demands, later qualified as those of the UAW, and said they would cost ten times as much, i.e., $2 billion. It was then clarified that not all of the $2 billion would come from "core" funds, i.e., educational funds supplied by the state. Some would come from research grants from outside sources, e.g., federal research funding. In the clip, first we see Regent Pérez saying it would be important for those making requests to understand the costs of their demands. Then we see Drake's comment. Nathan Brostrom, chief financial officer for UC, makes the point about core vs. non-core funds. Regent Cohen then says we'll allow the amount of the costs to sink in.

It's worth noting that the political ex officio Regents - the governor, lieutenant governor (who is technically the presiding officer of the state senate), the speaker of the state assembly, and the state superintendent of public instruction - have chosen not to intervene. In particular, the governor - who got the Regents all in a tizzy over the summer about where UCLA should play football - was notably absent from any discussion at the Regents about how UC is to function when the two sides to the dispute are so far apart on money. 

It might be noted that yesterday, President Biden - while saying it would be best if the parties to a threatened railroad strike could come to an agreement on their own - called for Congressional action to impose a settlement if they couldn't. We may be nearing the time when Governor Newsom will need to do something similar.

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*Our prior coverage of the strike is at:

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/student-worker-strike-news-perb.html; http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-strike-if-it-drags-on-part-3.html; http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-strike-if-it-drags-on-part-2-hard.html; http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/strike-links.html; and 

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-strike-if-it-drags-on.html. (Our note about arbitration is contained in this last link.)

**Video of the full session of that committee can be found at: 

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/watch-regents-afternoon-meeting-of-nov.html.

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To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/drag%20on.mp3

The One Percent

From the Century City-Westwood News:

...39 UCLA faculty members were named among world’s most influential researchers in the sciences and social sciences this week. The Highly Cited Researchers list, compiled annually by analytics firm Clarivate, identifies scholars whose work has been cited most often in papers published by other researchers in their fields over the past decade. Those chosen for the 2022 list have authored studies that rank in the top 1% in the number of scholarly citations worldwide. Several UCLA scholars were among the most highly cited researchers in more than one of the list’s 22 research categories.

“The Highly Cited Researchers list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers at UCLA who are having a significant impact on the research community as evidenced by the rate at which their work is being cited by their peers,” said David Pendlebury, head of research analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate. “These individuals are helping to transform human ingenuity into our world’s greatest breakthroughs — and it is an honor to celebrate their achievements.” Current UCLA faculty members named to the list, along with their primary UCLA research field or fields, are:

Nasim Annabi, chemical and biomolecular engineering 

Matthew Budoff, medicine

Jun Chen, bioengineering 

Bartosz Chmielewski, medicine

Giovanni Coppola, psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences 

Xiangfeng Duan, inorganic chemistry 

Bruce Dunn, materials science and engineering

David Eisenberg, biochemistry

Richard Finn, medicine 

Gregg Fonarow, medicine 

Edward Garon, medicine 

Daniel Geschwind, neurology

Tamir Gonen, biological chemistry

Michael Green, psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences 

Sander Greenland, statistics and epidemiology 

Steve Horvath, biostatistics and human genetics 

Elaine Hsiao, integrative biology

Yu Huang, materials science and engineering

Michael Jerrett, environmental health sciences

Richard Kaner, inorganic chemistry 

Baljit Khakh, physiology 

Nathan Kraft, ecology and evolutionary biology 

David Liebeskind, neurology 

Yuzhang Li, chemical and biomolecular engineering 

Aldons Lusis, medicine 

Carol Mangione, medicine

Bengt Muthen, education

Aydogan Ozcan, electrical engineering 

Mason Porter, mathematics 

Steven Reise, psychology 

Antoni Ribas, medicine 

Lawren Sack, ecology and evolutionary biology 

Jeffrey Saver, neurology 

Michael Sawaya, molecular biology 

Michael Sofroniew, neurobiology 

Marc Suchard, human genetics

Christopher Tang, business administration

Edward Wright, astronomy

Yang Yang, materials science and engineering

Full story at https://centurycity-westwoodnews.com/nearly-40-ucla-scholars-are-among-the-most-highly-cited-researchers-in-their-fields/.

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To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/1%20percent.mp3

 

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Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6oGytt0Hiw.

Watch the Regents Afternoon Meeting of Nov. 16, 2022

We are finally catching up with the one segment of the Regents' meetings of November 16 and 17 we haven't previously discussed: the afternoon of November 16.

At the Investments Committee, there was discussion of the degree to which pension and endowment funds could be used for such things as student housing or university office space. When this item was first put on the agenda, yours truly suggested that if someone was looking for subsidies for such purposes, they were going to be disappointed. And, indeed, the legal analysis was that while pension and investment funds could contain real estate holdings that might be used by a campus, commercial market rates would have to be charged and such facilities would have to be open to all renters, not just those associated with the campus.

At Academic and Student Affairs, there were some changes in residency policy designed to follow revised federal and state legal requirements. Pandemic effects on the faculty were discussed. Not surprisingly, the emphasis was on the added work caused by the switch to remote instruction. Faculty generally feel that in-person learning is better. It was noted that there were direct and indirect negative effects on research.

The committee then turned to what was supposed to be an evaluation of required DEI statements for promotions and new hires. But - again as yours truly predicted - the discussion was all on inputs, not results. That is, there was discussion of the history of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) statements at UC, how they evolved, etc. Regent Park picked up the point that there was no discussion of results. How do we know the statements are not "performative"? There was a following segment on diversity of students and faculty, but the presentation was not related to the statements. 

The Governance Committee endorsed the appointment of a new secretary to the Regents. There were some changes to the appointment process for new campus chancellors. It was unclear, however, how concerns about faculty participation in the process were dealt with in the new process.

At Finance and Capital Strategies, UCLA received approval for renovations of the mid-Wilshire hospital and office building it had acquired to treat mental health patients. During the discussion of the UC budget, President Drake made a reference to the ongoing student worker strike and indicated that the pay demands were very costly. Apart from this brief remark, there was no discussion of the strike (except for what was heard in public comments).

There was a review of what was happening under the pension tier that began to be offered to new hires as of July 2016. Of new hires since then, 36% directly elected the pension choice option. Another 27% made no election and were thus defaulted into pension choice. For the remaining 37% who elected a defined contribution-only option, there is an option after five years to opt into pension choice. Of those within the 37% who actually became eligible at five years, 15% made the switch to pension choice. In short, the current system ends up with something around two thirds in pension choice. There was no discussion of whether this outcome was a Good Thing or a Bad Thing.

As blog readers will know, we preserve recording of Regents meetings since the Regents delete them after one year. You can find the links below.

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To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/nov%2016%20pm.mp3

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Links to the meetings:

All afternoon sessions: https://archive.org/details/investments-committee

Investments: https://ia801409.us.archive.org/11/items/investments-committee/Investments%20Committee.mp4 [Note: Official recording is incomplete and starts several minutes into the program.]

Academic and Student Affairs: https://ia601409.us.archive.org/11/items/investments-committee/Academic%20and%20Student%20Affairs%20Committee.mp4

Governance: https://ia601409.us.archive.org/11/items/investments-committee/Governance%20Committee.mp4

Finance and Capital Strategies: https://ia801409.us.archive.org/11/items/investments-committee/Finance%20and%20Capital%20Strategies%20Committee.mp4

Upward Creep

Our weekly review of data on new California weekly claims for unemployment insurance is showing an upward creep, so perhaps those highly publicized layoffs in tech are having a toll. We will be watching.

As always, the latest claims data are at https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf.

The Big Ten Rumor Mill Continues to Spin - Part 2 (Carrots and Sticks)

We noted after the Regents kicked the decision on whether to reverse UCLA's move to the Big Ten to December 14, rumors started appearing in news sources about what might happen. Some of these rumors can be seen as indirect bargaining leaks designed to influence the Regents' eventual decision. One was that maybe the Pac-12 would somehow offer to pay off the Big Ten to compensate for its not getting UCLA.* Presumably, the payment would be a "carrot" to go away. 

Now we have another rumor, but this one is more of a "stick." Under this scenario, if UCLA isn't allowed to move, the Big Ten will grab other Pac-12 teams, thus undermining the Pac-12 so that the net effect could be less revenue for UCLA and Berkeley.

From Larry Brown's Sports Blog:

The University of California regents are meeting in December to determine whether the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) should be allowed to move to the Big Ten. UCLA and rival USC plan to move to the Big Ten in 2024. The move will result in a financial windfall for both schools, which is especially needed by UCLA, whose athletic department is reportedly around $100 million in debt. The UC system is concerned about the amount of money that will be spent on travel, as well as the academic impact to student-athletes, when moving to play in a conference where schools are located across the country rather than closer along the West Coast. They are also concerned about their other flagship school — UC Berkeley — being left behind in the weaker Pac-12. If the regents were to prevent UCLA from making the move, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd believes that the Big Ten would respond by taking Oregon and Washington from the Pac-12. That would leave UCLA in a conference without USC, Oregon or Washington. 

The Pac-12 would be significantly weakened at that point, having just UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State. 

The regents better not test the Big Ten about whether or not this is a threat; the Big Ten is expanding, and plenty of schools would love to be a part of the conference if UCLA is blocked from going.

Source: https://larrybrownsports.com/college-football/big-ten-big-backup-plan-ucla-blocked/607596.

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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-big-ten-rumor-mill-continues-to-spin.html.

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To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/carrot%20stick.mp3

Sometimes No (US) News is Good News - Part 6 (Irvine follows)

The saga of law schools boycotting the US News and World Report rankings continues with UC-Irvine joining the list. Our most recent post on this topic featured UCLA deciding to boycott the rankings.* The LA Times article on which that blog posting was based has since been updated to note the addition of Irvine. More on Irvine from another source:

UC-Irvine Is First Non-Elite Law School To Join U.S. News Rankings Boycott

Austen Parrish (Dean, UC-Irvine), University of California, Irvine School of Law Withdraws From Participating in U.S. News Annual Law School Rankings:

I write to share our decision to withdraw from participating in the U.S. News & World Report annual law school rankings — a decision that we have not reached lightly. Over the last several days, faculty have met to discuss as a group, and I have had conversations and meetings with staff, student leaders, alumni, and others. With thoughtful feedback and strong encouragement within our community, we will not be submitting proprietary data this year to U.S. News for use in its law school rankings. We are a young school, whose founders in 2008 had a vision for creating an extraordinary public law school. As part of a leading public research university, we committed ourselves to providing exceptional experiential and lawyering skills training, while underscoring the need to understand changes affecting the legal profession, and the value of interdisciplinary approaches to legal problems taught by faculty who are leaders in their fields. In all that we do, we emphasize public service, social justice, and global engagement, and we recruit students who share our vision...

Full story from the TaxProf blog at https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2022/11/uc-irvine-is-first-non-elite-law-school-to-join-us-news-rankings-boycott.html.

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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/sometimes-no-us-news-is-good-news-part.html.

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To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia801402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/irvine%20joins.mp3

New Undergrad Degrees

Two new undergraduate majors will be offered in public health. From the Bruin:

The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health announced in November that it will offer two new undergraduate degrees in public health. The public health major will provide students with the opportunity to explore a broader range of courses than the existing minor, said Ron Brookmeyer, dean of the School of Public Health and a distinguished professor of biostatistics. Students will be able to pursue either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree, which will prepare them for a wide variety of careers, Brookmeyer said. Kyle McJunkin, assistant dean for academic programs at the School of Public Health, said in an emailed statement that discussions to create a public health degree program began in 2016, accompanying a national increase in undergraduate public health programs as well as increased interest among UCLA undergraduates. The major includes a series of lower division preparatory courses, five core upper division courses, elective courses and a capstone project...

...Brookmeyer said students will address a real-world public health problem in the capstone project, adding that the school’s connections with local organizations will allow students to engage with the greater community...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2022/11/23/ucla-to-offer-new-undergraduate-public-health-degrees-with-capstone-component.

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Medicare Advantage: Uh Oh - Part 2

In past blog postings, we have noted that UC retirees are being offered a Medicare Advantage plan as one of the options for retiree health and added a cautionary note.* Most retirees and emeriti are eligible for Medicare, typically at age 65 but also based on disability. UC has offered various traditional Medicare supplement plans that essentially cover some or all expenses not paid for by Medicare. These supplements are offered by private insurance carriers, but traditional Medicare is a government-run insurance program. 

Years ago, Medicare allowed private carriers to offer Medicare Advantage plans. These plans essentially replace both traditional Medicare and supplements with one program - run by the carrier - but paid for, or partially paid for, by Medicare. The private carrier is given a risk-adjusted premium to take over the coverage. There is a growing body of evidence that the carriers are being overpaid. They advertise on late-night TV, send out advertising mailers to individuals over 65, and - in short - aggressively compete for business. They sometimes add extra features such as gym memberships to entice subscribers. Essentially, traditional Medicare is being rapidly privatized; soon more than half of all Medicare retirees will be under Medicare Advantage programs. It is thus ironic that advocates for government-run single-payer insurance for everyone refer to it as "Medicare for All."

NPR had a recent piece on these developments:

Newly released federal audits reveal widespread overcharges and other errors in payments to Medicare Advantage health plans, with some plans overbilling the government more than $1,000 per patient a year on average. Summaries of the 90 audits, which examined billings from 2011 through 2013 and are the most recent reviews completed, were obtained exclusively by [Kaiser Health News] through a three-year Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which was settled in late September. The government's audits uncovered about $12 million in net overpayments for the care of 18,090 patients sampled, though the actual losses to taxpayers are likely much higher. Medicare Advantage, a fast-growing alternative to original Medicare, is run primarily by major insurance companies.

Officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have said they intend to extrapolate the payment error rates from those samples across the total membership of each plan — and recoup an estimated $650 million from insurers as a result. But after nearly a decade, that has yet to happen. CMS was set to unveil a final extrapolation rule Nov. 1 but recently put that decision off until February. Ted Doolittle, a former deputy director of CMS' Center for Program Integrity, which oversees Medicare's efforts to fight fraud and billing abuse, said the agency has failed to hold Medicare Advantage plans accountable. "I think CMS fell down on the job on this," said Doolittle, now the health care advocate for the state of Connecticut.

Doolittle said CMS appears to be "carrying water" for the insurance industry, which is "making money hand over fist" off Medicare Advantage plans. "From the outside, it seems pretty smelly," he said...

Full story at https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/11/21/1137500875/audit-medicare-advantage-overcharged-medicare.

The question now is what happens if and when Congress takes note of the increasing evidence. With Congress likely to be paralyzed due to the Republican takeover of the House and Democrats in control of the Senate, such note taking may not occur in the next couple of years. However, at some point, a future Congress may take away the overpayments. UC's low cost Medicare Advantage option - which has gained subscribers at the expense of traditional Medicare+supplement plans - could then lose its current cost advantage for retirees. But what will be available to them at that point?

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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/10/medicare-advantage-uh-oh.html.

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No Mail Privilege for Thanksgiving

We'll deviate from our usual coverage of UCLA and UC issues today (Thanksgiving) for some miscellaneous - but relevant - material on lack of mail privilege:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeffLapjj34.

And here is a radio children's concert for Thanksgiving from 1941: [You may need to click twice and wait. It takes awhile for the tubes to warm up.]

Or direct to https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZawNYkZs65FknKH0PQXPRbwW274Tkk7ds9k.

Student Worker Strike News: PERB Involvement

Various "complaints" have been issued by the state Public Employment Relations Board in the current student worker strike. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

State employment officials said Tuesday they have issued seven complaints alleging unfair labor practices against the University of California in its negotiations with the union that is leading the massive student workers’ strike across 10 campuses and UC laboratories. The complaints from the Public Employee Relations Board support union allegations that UC improperly withheld information from employees and changed their pay without negotiating. They do not mean that UC has violated state labor laws. The agency’s findings now head to an administrative law judge who will decide whether UC broke the law. The sides will also have a chance to settle their disputes before then.

“PERB has found sufficient evidence to issue several complaints in a variety of cases brought by the union,” Wendi Ross, deputy general counsel for the Public Employee Relations board, told The Chronicle. UC officials emphasized on Tuesday that they have bargained in good faith. “We disagree with (the union’s) claims, and note that to date there has been no finding of wrongdoing by the PERB against the university,” said Ryan King, a UC spokesperson.

...The new state findings cover allegations at seven campuses, including UCSF and UC Berkeley. At UC Berkeley, union officials accuse the university of improperly withholding information about wages and stipends, in one case for two years. At UCSF, the union accuses the university of unilaterally setting wages without bargaining. The other UC campuses the state complained about are in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Irvine and San Diego, which had two complaints. Once an administrative law judge makes a ruling in an unfair labor case, either party can appeal the decision to PERB. If a finding of an unfair labor practice is upheld, the guilty party is rarely fined. Instead, the remedy is generally to repair the problem...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/State-employment-officials-side-with-union-s-17605284.php.

Just to be clear, PERB, in issuing complaints, is not acting as a mediating agency nor does it have the power of mandatory arbitration. It is not even deciding at this point the merit of the complaints. PERB is more of a referee in the conflict. And its processes work slowly. The state does have a mediation agency, at one time separate but now a subdivision of PERB. However, the two parties to the dispute would have to agree to use its services.* And, as we have noted in previous posts about the strike, some kind of modified arbitration - agreed to by the parties - could be a route out of the current impasse. But there is no state law that imposes such arbitration.

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*https://perb.ca.gov/laws-and-regulations/state-mediation-and-conciliation-service-transfer/.

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Sometimes No (US) News is Good News - Part 5 (UCLA Caves)

As blog readers will know, we have been tracking the various law schools that have decided to be non-participants in the US News and World Report rankings. UCLA's law dean initially was reluctant to join the others.* But apparently, the bandwagon effect has now prevailed. Northwestern has also jumped on. From the LA Times:

UCLA Law School announced Tuesday it is joining the growing boycott of U.S. News & World Report‘s rankings, saying the methodology the publication uses penalizes institutions that encourage public law careers and seek to enroll students from diverse and marginalized communities. UCLA’s decision amplifies what is shaping into the biggest challenge yet to the college rankings industry, following similar decisions in the last week by other top law schools to shun the publication. At least half of U.S. News’ top 20 law schools have announced they will not participate in the rankings because of longstanding issues with the methodology. In addition to UCLA, they include Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, UC Berkeley, Georgetown, Michigan, Duke and Northwestern...

“The rankings disincentivize schools from supporting public service careers for their graduates, building a diverse student population, and awarding need-based financial aid,” UCLA Law School interim Dean Russell Korobkin said in a message to the law school community. “UCLA Law does all of these things, but honoring our core values comes at a cost in rankings points.” ...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-22/ucla-law-school-joins-boycott-of-u-s-news-world-report-rankings.

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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/sometimes-no-us-news-is-good-news-part-2.html.

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Just another reason to avoid Wilshire when coming to UCLA

If you can approach UCLA from Sunset, you will avoid a hassle. Here is a note from LA Metro: --- Wilshire Bl between Veteran Av and Gayley Av: Subsurface Investigations  Summary  Metro contractors will conduct subsurface investigations in coordination with the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP). This work will occur on Wilshire Bl between Veteran Av and Gayley Av. Utilities will be maintained; there are no planned outages.  When  Date: November 22 to 30 (No work on November 24 and 25)  Work hours:    Monday to Friday, 9 pm to 6 am  Traffic Control:   Three eastbound Wilshire Bl lanes between Veteran Av to Gayley Av will be restricted. One lane will be available to traffic.  The south leg crosswalk will be closed at Wilshire Bl and Gayley Av.  One lane and the left turn pocket for northbound Midvale Av traffic between Ashton Av and Wilshire Bl will be restricted.  One southbound lane for Gayley Av traffic between Lindbrook Dr and Wilshire Bl will be restricted.  Noteworthy:  All work will receive the necessary permits and approvals.  Access to driveways, residences & businesses will always be maintained unless notified in advance.  Access for pedestrians will be maintained outside of construction zones.  Access for the Fire Department and emergency responders will be maintained.  Parking restrictions will be implemented in the immediate area of the work zone.  Construction is dynamic and schedules are subject to change.  24/7 Hotline: 213-922-6934

Source: https://cloud.sfmc.metro.net/PLE3SubsurfaceInvestigations 

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