UCLA Faculty Association: The Big Ten Decision at the Regents

As we noted in a prior post, the Regents meeting was disrupted by demonstrations related to the student worker strike. Because of the disruptions, the agenda of the Health Services Committee was deferred to that committee's next meeting. However, there were public comments interrupted by demonstrations until the meeting room was cleared.

Phone comments came in during the clearing period. Comments dealt with the strike, abortion, hiring undocumented students, a student or possibly some other UC-affiliated person being held in Venezuela, and the Big Ten matter. Because of the delay, the segment that was supposed to be devoted to Health Services in the morning was delayed until the afternoon.

The full board went into closed session and emerged with Item B2. It approves the UCLA move to the Big Ten but earmarks funding for Berkeley as compensation for its expected loss and sets specific amounts UCLA should set aside for the benefit of student athlete services. It was proposed that recommendation 11 be modified so that instead of the amount of money going to Berkeley being between $2 million and $5 million on advice of the UC president, the ceiling be raised to $10 million. That amendment was approved. Then there was approval by a vote of 11 to 5 of the entire package. No statement was made by those who voted no as to why they were opposed. Presumably, that discussion took place in the closed portion of the meeting.

It was noted that there was a larger potential issue raised by this decision. The various campuses compete in other ways for resources, notably for research grants. Will winners be made to compensate losers in those situations?

Apart from inter-campus transfers, there is notable micro-management in Item B2 in its specifications of specific amounts UCLA shall budget for student-athletes. No discussion of micro-management occurred in the open session.

Item B2 is reproduced below:

UCLA BIG TEN MEMBERSHIP (Item B2)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

On June 30, 2022, UCLA announced its plan to leave the Pac-12 Conference and join the Big Ten Conference in 2024. Over the past six months, the Board of Regents has engaged in extended discussions about UCLA’s prospective membership in the Big Ten, including its associated financial and legal implications. As noted in prior meetings, UCLA exercised authority delegated from the President in executing its agreement with the Big Ten; however, the Board retains the authority to take action to affirm, overturn, or abstain from acting on UCLA’s decision.

Considerations related to the student-athlete experience, financial impacts, and legal risks vary with each of these options. Specific considerations carrying legal risk will have been discussed in the noticed closed session discussion item.

In the final months of 2022, UCLA is planning for its athletics programs in 2024, including recruitment of student-athletes and scheduling of competitions. To provide clarity on UCLA’s conference membership, the Board of Regents must determine what action, if any, to take regarding UCLA’s agreement to join the Big Ten in 2024.

The Chair of the Board and the President of the University recommend the following implementation of mitigation measures as a condition of endorsing UCLA’s decision to become a member of the Big Ten Conference:

1. UCLA may proceed with its planned membership in the Big Ten Conference on condition that it implement the mitigation measures described below;

2. UCLA will adopt and implement annual plans to mitigate the travel impacts of its membership in the Big Ten Conference; such plans will take into account the competition schedule for each athletic team and shall be designed to reduce the burden of travel on student-athletes to levels comparable to the burden they would have experienced had UCLA continued its membership in the Pac-12 Conference; these mitigation strategies shall also include enhanced education for student-athletes and coaches around sleep, mental health, and physiology, which would guide nutrition, practice, and competition schedules during and after travel and will be reviewed for compliance with this provision by the Office of the President;

3. UCLA will increase budgeted student-athlete academic support beyond levels established for the 2023-2024 fiscal year in an amount not less than $1.5 million; such academic support shall include additional learning specialists, the expansion of summer bridge programming for student-athletes, and direct stipends to student-athletes for investment in learning technology;

4. UCLA will increase budgeted student-athlete nutritional support beyond levels established for the 2023-2024 fiscal year in an amount not less than $4.3 million; such support shall include guaranteed breakfast and lunch availability on campus for all UCLA student-athletes, professional dietician services, and funds not less than $250,000 set aside for additional nutritious meals while traveling;

5. UCLA will increase budgeted student-athlete mental health services beyond levels established for the 2023-2024 fiscal year in an amount not less than $562,800; such support shall include additional mental health service providers for student-athletes and education programs around stress management, sleep, disordered eating, and other conditions;

6. UCLA will work with the UCLA Division of the Academic Senate to request that faculty provide appropriate accommodations and access to remote courses and online materials to student-athletes, and will engage Student Affairs in facilitating conversations between student-athletes and faculty members;

7. UCLA will collect information on an annual basis from student-athletes concerning their experiences with mental health services provided by UCLA, particularly with regard to wait times;

8. UCLA will conduct an annual survey of student-athletes to ensure the mitigation measures described in this item are sufficient and to identify any additional areas of support that may be needed. Results of such survey shall be shared with the President of the University;

9. The requirements of Paragraphs 1 to 8 shall be effective starting July 1, 2024 (the beginning of the University’s fiscal year) and shall continue until the expiration or termination of the Big Ten Conference New Member Agreement executed by UCLA on or about July 13, 2022, or earlier, if UCLA ceases to be a member of the Big Ten Conference, in which case these requirements will be reviewed and may be modified, as appropriate, by approval of the Board of Regents;

10. UCLA will establish a reserve fund with the Office of the President in the amount of $2.5 million to be used to supplement the amounts specified in this item, if the mitigation measures are determined to be insufficient; such reserve fund shall be established no later than July 1, 2024 and shall remain in place until the earlier of June 30, 2026, or until UCLA ceases to be a member of the Big Ten Conference;

11. The President will return to the Regents at a future meeting, after Pac-12 media agreements are finalized, with a recommendation for a contribution by UCLA to the Berkeley campus in the range of $2 million to $10 million, to be used to enhance student-athlete support at that campus. Such recommendation will be based on the best available information on projected revenues for both campuses. (The top of the range was raised by amendment from $5 million to $10 million.)

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As always, we preserve Regents meetings since the Regents delete their recordings after one year. Below are the links:

Full meeting at https://archive.org/details/health-services-committee

Demonstration compiliation: https://ia601401.us.archive.org/0/items/health-services-committee/Demonstrations.mp4

Health Services: https://ia801401.us.archive.org/0/items/health-services-committee/Health%20Services%20Committee.mp4

Board: https://ia801401.us.archive.org/0/items/health-services-committee/Board.mp4.

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