Watch the Regents Meetings of the Morning of May 17, 2023

The full board met on the morning of May 17, first to hear public comments. Comments included the topics of undocumented student hiring, staff shortages, textbook costs, staff minimum pay, Blackstone, student rape tests, pathway for transfer students, gun investments, lecturer layoffs, management bullying behavior against staff, resources for disabled students, debt collection against students, Hawaiian telescope, and student safety at UC-Berkeley. A demonstration followed focused on minimum pay for staff leading to the room being cleared.

Regent chair Leib made mainly ceremonial remarks and took note of the later agenda item endorsing a bond, and of the establishment of a Special Committee on Athletics. He also mentioned the recent stabbing attacks at UC-Davis.

President Drake, as predicted, gave thanks to the governor for his proposed May Revise budget allocation for UC. And faculty representative Cochran spoke about the lingering effects of the pandemic on students and faculty.

Various committee meetings followed. 

The Health Services Committee, in a 3-minute open session, approved various executive pay recommendations. 

Public Engagement and Development heard a lengthy presentation on citris research at UC-Riverside. The committee endorsed SB 28 which would put a bond measure on the ballot that would benefit UC along with other elements of education. The May Revise budget proposal of the governor was reviewed. It was noted that if revenues fell short of expectations, there could be reductions through budget triggers or other revisions. It was said that the January proposal's transfer requirements for UCLA remain in the May Revise (although our preliminary review on this blog could not find reference to them.) Various bills in the legislature were reviewed including SB 295 that would allow UC to regulate e-scooters and the like on campus and AB 1307 which removes noise from CEQA reviews, thereby addressing the People's Park delay at UC-Berkeley.

At Compliance and Audit, it was noted that several campuses were falling short of their mandatory training requirements, namely UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and UC-Santa Barbara. Some explanations were that people who were about to leave employment didn't get trained, UCPath issues, and the presence of short-time temporary employees. However, the committee apparently plans to call the chancellors from the three campuses on the carpet at future meetings to explain their training issues. President Drake said he would like to see research on whether the various trainings in fact change behavior. There was also discussion of UC contracting out policies, pay standards for contractors, and whether employees of contractors accept UC employment when it is offered. The issue was raise of whether small minority contractors were not bidding on UC contracts due to complex compliance rules. It was said that most contracting out - especially in health services - was because of labor shortages, i.e., difficulties in hiring employees by UC directly. Regent Pérez suggested that if contractor employees were turning down offers of direct hiring by UC, it could be because of inadequate pay.

The full morning program is at:

https://archive.org/details/board-compliance-and-audit-committee-5-17-23-am.

The full board and Compliance and Audit are at:

https://ia601600.us.archive.org/19/items/board-compliance-and-audit-committee-5-17-23-am/Board%2C%20Compliance%20and%20Audit%20Committee%205-17-23AM.mp4.

Health Services is at:

https://ia801600.us.archive.org/19/items/board-compliance-and-audit-committee-5-17-23-am/Health%20Services%20Committee%205-17-23AM.mp4.

Public Engagement and Development is at:

https://ia601600.us.archive.org/19/items/board-compliance-and-audit-committee-5-17-23-am/Public%20Engagement%20and%20Development%20Committee%205-17-23AM.mp4.