From the Long Beach Press Telegram: Thousands of patient care and service workers at UCLA, UC Irvine and other University of California campuses across the state [staged] a two-day strike starting tomorrow, alleging unfair bargaining tactics, allegations the UC system denies. According to the AFSCME Local 3299 union, the strike will include roughly 37,000 UC workers “at every UC campus and medical facility across the state.” The strike [began] Wednesday morning and [will] continue until midnight Thursday night...
“The University’s serial lawbreaking at the bargaining table means that the epidemic of understaffing at UC facilities, and the related cost of living and housing affordability crises plaguing frontline UC workers are only getting worse,” AFSCME Local 3299 President Michael Avant said in a statement. “By failing to meet its most basic legal responsibilities to the dedicated professionals who clean its facilities, serve students food, and treat its patients, UC has left workers with no choice but to exercise their legal right to strike.”
The UC system issued a statement earlier this month when the strike notice was issued, saying officials “fundamentally disagree with AFSCME’s claims of bad faith bargaining and characterization of unacceptable bargaining proposals.” ...
From Silicon Valley: Construction of a new student housing project on the former People’s Park site is expected to continue on time and as planned, regardless of weather conditions or protests, university officials confirmed Monday.
Recently laid concrete and the erection of a crane are the latest signs of forward movement on a UC Berkeley housing project on a 2.8-acre lot known as People’s Park. The site – bounded by Haste and Bowditch streets, Telegraph Avenue and Dwight Way – is expected to house more than 1,100 undergraduates and at least 100 former homeless Berkeley residents once completed at the start of the 2027-28 academic school year.
“Construction has been underway for several months now and is progressing as planned, and on schedule, largely without incident,” said UC Berkeley spokesperson Kyle Gibson in an email Monday. “Like any other construction site, this site is closed to the public and trespassing is prohibited.”
Gibson’s comments came just days after about 20 people protested the development of the site, just the latest in a long history of activism and protest at the lot that became an unofficial park after activists took it over in the late 1960s...
Boston U Suspends Admissions to Humanities and Social Science Ph.D. Programs
In an email obtained by Inside Higher Ed on condition of anonymity, the heads of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), in which all the affected programs are located, pointed to increased costs associated with the union contract that graduate student workers won after their historic, nearly seven-month strike ended in October.
According to an undated post on the university’s website, the programs not accepting Ph.D. students for next academic year are American and New England studies, anthropology, classical studies, English, history, history of art and architecture, linguistics, philosophy, political science, religion, Romance studies, and sociology...
In the email, Stan Sclaroff, dean of CAS, and Malika Jeffries-EL, senior associate dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, referenced the new collective bargaining agreement multiple times as the source of what they called “budgetary implications.”
The deans also suggested that the larger university (which last reported an over $3.1 billion endowment) is leaving the college largely on its own to pay the higher tab. “The provost’s office has agreed to fund the increased costs this fiscal year, including students funded on external grants,” the deans wrote. “Beyond this year, CAS must work within our existing budget to fund this transition in our doctoral programs.”
The new grad workers’ contract did give Ph.D. students a big raise: They now have a $45,000 minimum annual stipend plus 3 percent annual raises during the three-year collective bargaining agreement. That’s roughly a 70 percent increase for the lowest-paid doctoral students. The university also continues to pay for Ph.D. students’ tuition.
But the BU Graduate Workers Union had sought much more in compensation, including $17,000 more in annual stipends for Ph.D. workers. The union also wanted 7 percent annual cost-of-living adjustments or adjustments tied to the median Boston rent increase, whichever was higher.
The university continually refused these demands, leading to the longest union-authorized work stoppage among any U.S. college or university employees in at least a decade, according to the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions. (Center executive director William A. Herbert has cautioned that his organization doesn’t know the length of some strikes during that period.) Last month, the union ended the strike—accepting a deal that gave it less than it desired...
The deans wrote that the pause in admissions won’t merely give the College of Arts and Sciences more time to understand the ramifications of the union contract. They mentioned an effort, underway long before that collective bargaining agreement was signed, in which the university was exploring possibly lowering the number of students in Ph.D. programs. They wrote that “all departments and programs contributed valuable reports on how to right-size our doctoral cohorts, considering factors such as selectivity in admissions, student success, job prospects and placements, standing and reputation of the program, etc.”
We're going to jump ahead in our coverage of last week's Regents meeting to the third day, November 14 which was entirely a series of full board meetings, including closed sessions.
Public comments in the morning were heavily tilted toward Israel-Gaza, antisemitism, and free speech issues. Also included were nonunion staff salaries, undergrad health clinics including for sexual assault, the use of a nonunion contractor on a construction project, COVID, and underrepresented student recruitment.
Grad student government comments covered federal funding in the post-election environment, and student debt. Undergrad comments were largely anti-Israel and concern about student health clinics and tuition increases for out-of-state students.
The board heard a presentation on the UC response to COVID by EVP Carrie Byington. It was noted that $1.69 billion was received from the federal government during that period. Precautions and other steps reduced excess mortality at UC to about 17 per 100,000, about a tenth of the rate for the State of California as a whole.
In the afternoon, the board approved recommendations from the various committees. Two items were singled out for discussion. Item F5 - the UCLA cogeneration plant - was controversial because of the 30% increase in costs when the original contract had a supposed ceiling on costs. Nonetheless, it was approved with some dissent. Item F10 - the UC budget for 2025-26 - also attracted concern because of the proposed 10% tuition hike for incoming nonstate students. But it was also approved. Note that what the budget will actually be awaits action by the state legislature next year.
Finally, the Regents took up "campus climate," code words for the protests and related issues. The board had received a report on campus antisemitism and other on Islamophobia. Most of the focus was on the antisemitism report, in part because there was regental criticism of the Islamophobia report as non-specific. Remarks concerning campus antisemitism included "insidious," "intolerable," etc., including by Chair Reily and President Drake.
Interim UCLA chancellor Hunt was asked if any UCLA student, staff member, or faculty who was the subject of a complaint had been disciplined. He responded that while there were "hundreds" of such complaints, nobody in any of these groups had (yet) been disciplined. The Regents were not happy to hear that response. The faculty rep made a defensive comment about the workings of the senate procedures. Again, the Regents were not happy.
But the most telling remark - in the opinion of yours truly - came from Regent Pérez who questioned the way the issue was being presented. Back in 2015, when the issue of campus antisemitism was discussed at the Regents, Pérez complained that unlike other groups, there was always a twinning of the issue with Islamophobia - in contrast with discussion of discrimination against other (non-Jewish) groups. You can hear his remarks back then at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUC07I-CikM beginning at minute 8:42. Perez's remarks this time in the same vein are at the links below:
From Gov. Newsom's website: Governor Gavin Newsom... announced the following appointment:
Robert “Bob” Myers, of Santa Monica, has been appointed to the University of California Board of Regents. Myers has been an Advisor for the Washington Commanders since 2024 and a National Basketball Association Studio Host and Analyst at ESPN since 2023. He held multiple roles at the Golden State Warriors from 2012 to 2023, including General Manager and President of Basketball Operations. Myers was a Managing Executive and Agent at Wasserman Media Group from 2006 to 2010. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Myers is registered to vote with no party preference.
There is no further explanation for this choice. However, as blog readers will know, Newsom showed up at a closed Regents meeting and kicked up the storm over UCLA's change of athletic conference and its impact on Berkeley. Part of the outfall of that intervention was the creation of a Special Committee on Athletics at the Regents who had not previously showed great interest in athletics. It may be that having someone with an athletic background is one reason for this choice. Newly-appointed Regents must be approved by the state Senate. However, they take office on an interim basis prior to Senate action.
Inside Higher Ed recently carried a learned piece entitled "Grade Inflation: An Ahistorical Narrative."* After pointing to the interesting fact that back in the day (19th century), grades as we know them did not exist, the authors agree that grade inflation - starting in the 1960s - is real. But the piece never gets to the cause. And the cause is not hard to discern.
During the 1960s, and especially in the decade that followed, students - as a consequence of the protests back then - were given the opportunity to rate their professors and those ratings began to matter in the promotion process.
Unhappy students were able to create unhappy consequences for professors. That change created the incentive system that led to the outcome.
When prices inflate, there is always a higher price available. Thus, something that cost $10 could later cost $12, then $14, etc. There is, unfortunately, no letter before "A" and so eventually grades stop going up and all become A. Unlike uncapped price inflation, relativity disappears under a regime of grade inflation. Grade inflation stops when everyone hits the cap. While one good can always be more expensive than another, nobody's A is better than anyone else's A. If you don't like that outcome, you need to change the incentive system. Some academic departments do so by requiring grading on a curve and (presumably) penalizing faculty who deviate.
There are obvious problems with grading on a curve, particularly in small classes, but no incentive system is perfect. The true ahistorical lesson is that people, even faculty (!), respond to incentives. It has always been true. It will always be true.
The Regents met at UC-San Francisco last week. Tuesday's meeting included the Health Services Committee - evidently differed from last October to avoid problems around October 7th - and the Investments Committee.
The Health meeting began with public comments, all dealing with the Israel-Gaza War. There was also a very brief disruption during one of the subsequent topics, probably related to the war. EVP Rubin reviewed the year's developments in UC Health and then a discussion of what UC was doing in local community health. Regent Makarechian noted some confusion in data presented concerning the share of UC expenditures in uncompensated care.
Of most interest to UCLA was the presentation on UCLA's establishment of a Medicare Advantage plan for the LA County market which will launch on January 1. The plan is already advertising and taking in subscribers. This plan should NOT be confused be confused with the Medicare Advantage plan that UC offers to its own retirees. It was said that three fourths of patients at UC generally are connected with government-operated programs. About half of such patients are said to be Medicare. Forty percent of all patients at UCLA are said to be Medicare.
While UCLA currently services patients from other Medicare Advantage plans, it got permission from the Regents to start its own plan in LA County from the Regents two years ago. It was said that 60-65% of Medicare-eligible patients in the County are already in some Medicare Advantage plan.
Makarechian asked about the financial sustainability of the new UCLA plan. It was said that UCLA would need to attract 15,000 to 16,000 clients to its plan at a minimum to be sustainable. But it is shooting for a significantly higher intake.
The question was raised as to whether the basic license that UCLA obtained to set up its plan could cover other campuses with med centers if they were to choose to set up similar Medicare Advantage plans and it was said that the license would cover such potential plans.
It seems likely that the other campuses will be watching UCLA's experience.
The recent expansions of the UCLA via purchases of hospitals and other facilities - and the fact that there is a large network of urgent care centers and practices around the County under the UCLA brand may reflect the Medicare Advantage venture. In order to create a Medicare Advantage plan in a county, applicants have to show that they have facilities close to areas where there are significant concentrations of Medicare-eligible populations.
The Health Services Committee concluded with a presentation on UC-Davis' veterinary hospital. It was noted that some treatments on animals translate into new forms of treatment for people.
At the Investments Committee, there was a relatively brief presentation without the usual slides by UC CIO Bachhar. At the moment, his office is dealing with a portfolio of $188 billion of which $104 billion is the pension plan. He said the outlook for the US economy is bright. And he tended to avoid questions about the effect of the election, notably about the earlier UC divestment from fossil fuels, an industry which the incoming Trump administration is likely to favor.
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We are happy to report that the Internet Archive is getting back to normal. While there are still hiccups remaining from the cyber attack, we were able to upload the various Regents sessions for November since - as blog readers will know - it is unclear how long the Regents will retain their recordings.
You can find both the Health Services and the Investments recordings at:
From Inside Higher Ed: The 2025–26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid is on track to launch ahead of its Dec. 1 deadline, Education Department officials announced on a press call Thursday afternoon, likely around Nov. 22—though the officials said they couldn’t confirm an exact date. The department released this year’s FAFSA in phases to test the form for bugs and user compatibility issues. Officials said the rollout entered its fourth and final testing phase Wednesday, after initial testing received cautiously positive feedback from families and college access groups...
All eyes are on the FAFSA after last year’s overhaul and bungled rollout of the application led to months of delays and a significant decline in completion rates, dampening first-year enrollment this fall. Last year, the form launched at the end of December, with a slew of technical errors and glitches that flummoxed students and stymied financial aid offices...
Wilshire Bl and Westwood Bl: Manhole Maintenance Work
Summary
Metro contractors will access manholes for maintenance needs on Wilshire Blvd and Westwood Bl to continue work at the UCLA Station. The work will require temporary closures restricting traffic along Wilshire Bl, Westwood Bl, Ashton Av, and Midvale Av. Please follow the traffic restriction signage.
Date: November 16, 2024, to January 15, 2025
Work hours: Continuous Weekends, Friday, 9pm to Monday, 6am
Traffic Control:
Phase 1:
Two westbound lanes on Wilshire Bl will be closed to traffic between Glendon Av and Westwood Av, including the left turn pockets at the intersection.
The east leg crosswalk at the intersection of Wilshire Bl and Westwood Bl will be closed. Three other crosswalks will remain accessible.
Phase 2:
A Westwood Bl lane for north and southbound traffic will be closed between Ashton Av and Wilshire Bl.
The northbound left turn pocket lanes will be closed at Westwood Bl and Wilshire and Westwood Bl and Aston Av.
One of the left turn pockets for westbound Wilshire Bl traffic at Westwood Bl will be closed, and one will remain open.
The south leg crosswalk at Wilshire Blvd/Westwood Bl will be closed. Three other crosswalks will remain open at all times.
Phase 3:
The Ashton Av center lane will be closed between Westwood Bl and Midvale Av.
The east leg crosswalk at Midvale Av and Aston will be closed. The west leg crosswalk will always be maintained for pedestrian access in this area.
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
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Wilshire Bl and Gayley Av: Manhole Access Work
Summary
Metro contractors will access a pressure-rated manhole on Wilshire Blvd and Gayley to continue work at the UCLA Station. The work will require temporary closures restricting traffic along Wilshire Bl, Gayley Av, and Midvale Av. Please follow the traffic restriction signage.
Date: November 2024 to January 15, 2025
Work hours: Monday to Friday, 9pm to 6am
Traffic Control:
Phase 1:
Three eastbound Wilshire Blvd eastbound lanes between Veteran Ave to Gayley Av will be closed.
The south leg crosswalk closure at Wilshire Bl and Gayley Av will be closed. Three other crosswalks will remain accessible at all times.
Northbound through traffic on Midvale Av and the left turn pocket between Ashton and Av and Wilshire Bl will be restricted.
The southbound Gayley Av through traffic and left turn pocket between Lindbrook Dr and Wilshire Bl will be closed.
Phase 2:
Three eastbound Wilshire Blvd eastbound lanes between Veteran Ave to Gayley Ave will be closed.
The east leg crosswalk at Wilshire Blvd/Gayley Ave will be closed. Three other crosswalks will remain open at all times.
Northbound Midvale Av through lane traffic and the left turn pocket between Ashton and Av and Wilshire Bl will be closed.
The southbound Gayley Av through traffic and left turn pocket between Lindbrook Dr and Wilshire Bl will be closed.
The westbound Wilshire Bl left turn pocket at Gayley Av/Midvale Av to proceed southbound will be closed.
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.
The state continues to take in more revenue this fiscal year than projected when the current-year budget was enacted. State controller Malia Cohen reports an excess of projected revenue of $5.7 billion, essentially coming from income taxes and corporate taxes. That outcome suggests the overage mainly reflects capital gains and corporate profits. Sales tax receipts are performing more or less on target, suggesting that the underlying economy is performing as anticipated.
The state's unused borrowable resources now total $97 billion, almost $6 billion ahead of projections, and veritable mountain of cash. So why the squeeze? Basically, the extra revenue is largely committed. Note that the voters approved more bonds whose debt service will be required in the future. And not all of that cash can be used legally to support the general fund beyond intrayear borrowing to deal with seasonality.
From CalMatters: California’s top Senate Democrat called a prominent labor union “morally bankrupt” after it spent more than $1 million to oppose the state’s most vulnerable Democratic senator in a tight race that could put a Republican in his seat.
The union apparently spent the money against Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton because leaders were angered by at least one vote that he cast. And while it’s not uncommon for unions to criticize or threaten Democrats who stray from their agenda, Senate Democrats said that spending such a large amount to help elect a Republican was a step too far... On Tuesday, Newman was trailing Steven Choi, a former Republican Assemblymember and Irvine mayor, by about 9,400 votes with about 126,000 ballots left to process in Orange County.
The union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, was furious at Newman for joining a group of Senate Democrats in killing a bill last year that the union sponsored, according to Newman and his Senate colleagues. The bill sought to enshrine the rights of workers at the University of California in the state constitution.*
A spokesperson for the union and its lobbyist, Richie Ross, could not be reached for comment. The union, representing 30,000 workers at 10 UC campuses as well as medical centers, clinics and research laboratories, is planning a two-day strike for next week, the latest in a longstanding labor battle that was reflected in the worker rights issues raised in the bill...
*A description of the bill: This measure would require employees of the Regents of the University of California to have the right to, and be covered by, certain basic state labor standards, as provided. The measure would require individuals who perform certain work for the regents to have the right to the payment of a prevailing wage. The measure would authorize the Legislature to enact laws that further these rights, establish, define, or specify the basic state labor standards applicable to the regents, or establish other health, safety, and labor protections for individuals performing work for the regents.
In our prior election analysis, we noted that the governor had called a special session of the legislature to try and insulate California from the incoming administration.* We also noted that it would be hard to insulate UC, because of its dependence on federal funds and various forms of federal regulation.
In pursuit of his insulation goals, the governor went to DC recently to try and get the Biden folks to assist. Politico has a list of what he requested help on:
Disaster aid: It’s tough to parse which threats Trump may follow
through on, but Newsom appears to be taking Trump’s promise to withhold
disaster relief funding from California seriously...
Electric cars: Newsom will advocate for the eight waivers that
California still hasn’t received from the federal Environmental
Protection Agency to let it phase out fossil fuel-burning cars, trucks
and trains...
Land preservation: Newsom has thrown his weight behind campaigns
led by environmental and tribal groups asking Biden to designate three
new national monuments: the Kw’tsán National Monument and the Chuckwalla
National Monument in the Southern California desert, and the Sáttítla
National Monument in the Shasta-Trinity highlands in Northern
California...
Federal health waivers: California has several big health care
programs pending federal approval, including efforts related to
reproductive health, behavioral health and funding for Medicaid. The two
programs Newsom is focusing on most for this trip are getting approval
on a behavioral health program that uses Medicaid dollars to strengthen
the broader system for mental health care so people have treatment
options outside of institutional settings. He’s also gunning for
approval of the state’s MCO tax, which could bring in billions at almost
no cost. Voters just overwhelmingly said they wanted this tax to be
renewed by approving the statewide ballot measure Proposition 35.
High-speed rail: Another big pot of money with a target on its
back is California’s embattled high-speed rail project, which is relying
on billions of dollars in federal funding to complete the Central
Valley leg of the route that could eventually connect Los Angeles to San
Francisco...
As can be seen above, none of these goals directly involve higher ed or UC. Possibly, however, UC med centers might indirectly benefit from the MCO tax, to the extent that it brings additional money into the California health system.
From the LA Times: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an emergency stay stopping work on the installation of more than 100 units of modular housing on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles campus. The stay blocks purchase of the modular units and prohibits a development team assembled by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter from accessing three parking lots on the 388-acre campus to begin the site preparation.
After a four-week trial in August, Carter ordered the VA to produce 1,800 new supportive housing units on the campus and 750 temporary housing units. His ruling also invalidated leases of VA property, including to UCLA and Brentwood School, and ordered the VA to increase its outreach staff. He subsequently backed off that number of temporary units, while issuing an emergency order to immediately build up to 200, including 32 on the parking lot of UCLA’s Jackie Robinson baseball stadium...
From the LA Times: UCLA failed to protect students from a protest melee this spring because a “highly chaotic” decision-making process, lack of communication among campus leaders and police, and other shortfalls led to institutional paralysis, according to a University of California independent review released Thursday. The highly anticipated review, conducted by a national law enforcement consulting agency, found myriad failures and breakdowns by UCLA administrators and police after pro-Palestinian students set up a late April encampment, which drew complaints of antisemitic behavior. The encampment came under a violent attack by counterprotesters in early May, fomenting widespread outrage and attention.
The review found that UCLA had no detailed plan for handling major protests, even as problems were “reasonably foreseeable” as encampments springing up at other campuses were drawing at times violent conflict. UCLA leaders had not identified who should control decision-making and at times shut out campus police from meetings. For their part, campus police had no effective plan to work with external law enforcement and failed to take command on the night of the melee — leading the LAPD and the California Highway Patrol to devise an ad-hoc response, the review said...
At a Zoom meeting today, UCLA Faculty Club president Linda Sarna reported that the current business plan of the Club is not working and that the new plan is to have the campus Housing and Hospitality service run the food and booking operation.
She provided assurance that other aspects of the Club would continue.
It was said that a transcript or summary of the meeting would be provided on the Club website for members.
We had previously posted that this change would be coming.*
We will be posting about this week's Regents meetings as time permits. The Good News is that we can now upload to the Internet Archive again after the cyber attack about which we have posted. So we can continue preserving recordings of Regents meetings. The Bad News is that the Internet Archive is not fully back to what it was. It sometimes becomes unavailable and - once something is successfully posted - no corrections (typos, etc.) can be entered thereafter. But we will persevere. And here is a preview of what the Regents were discussing from the LA Times:
The University of California wants to enroll nearly 3,600 more California students in the next academic year but is bracing for a looming budget crunch that could make it difficult to pay for increased enrollment. UC officials told regents Wednesday that the 10-campus university system could face a $504.7-million financial shortfall in 2025-26 if the state makes good on warnings earlier this year to reduce higher education funding as it grapples with a budget deficit. Lower state funding, along with higher costs primarily driven by faculty and staff pay increases, larger retirement plan contributions and more expensive healthcare, are projected to create that yawning UC budget hole.
“We’re facing a really tough budget year from the state,” Chief Financial Officer Nathan Brostrom told regents, who are meeting in San Francisco this week...
[The question is] is whether UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego will still give an additional 902 California students highly coveted seats in place of out-of-state and international students if the state cuts back funding that offsets the loss of the higher tuition that nonresidents pay...
In earlier posts, we have noted the professionalization of the labor relations function at UC since the 2022 student-worker strike. Part of the new approach is to publicize benefits and respond in public to developments in union relations, as the image above illustrates.
From Lookout Santa Cruz: UC Santa Cruz says it followed the law when it implemented two-week bans from campus against protesters who were arrested May 31 at the Gaza solidarity encampment. Two students and one professor filed a lawsuit alleging that the university didn’t follow policies on due process for the bans. Next Tuesday, a judge could decide the outcome.
A lawsuit challenging UC Santa Cruz’s use of two-week bans from campus against protesters is scheduled for a predisposition hearing and possible decision next Tuesday, Nov. 19, at Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
The lawsuit was filed in September by two UCSC students and one professor who, alongside more than 100 other people, were arrested when law enforcement disbanded a Gaza solidarity encampment on May 31. Police charged the majority with failure to disperse and resisting arrest, and issued notices that they were banned from campus for two weeks...
The Regents are being asked today for additional funding to upgrade the UCLA cogeneration plant:
...The Los Angeles campus is requesting a $20.5 million (33 percent) increase to the approved budget for the Cogeneration Plant Equipment Replacement project. Commissioned in early 1994, the plant generates electricity, steam, and chilled water for the main campus and the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center using two gas turbine generators, a steam turbine generator, and two supplementary fired Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs). The plant provides critical reliability and resilience. The gas turbine generators are at the end of their useful life and need to be replaced to comply with new South Coast Air Quality Management District emission limits that became effective on January 1, 2024. Operating the plant’s engines beyond these emission limits would expose the campus to daily citations and associated fines as high as $50,000 per day. The project will replace the existing gas turbine generators with two new units, modify the HRSGs to work with the new turbines, and include other associated improvements.
...The project was originally approved by the Chancellor in October 2022 with a total budget of $62 million, funded from campus funds. Since the project’s approval, the contractor’s Guaranteed Maximum Price has exceeded the target estimate. Several regulatory compliance challenges also emerged during consultations with the permitting agencies, including the need for significant modifications to previously procured equipment, resulting in higher costs.
Construction began in January 2024. The proposed revised budget is now $82.5 million. Since the budget exceeds $70 million, the Regents’ approval is required for this budget augmentation. The Regents are being asked to approve: (1) a $20.5 million augmentation, to be funded by external financing from Century Bonds proceeds, for a total budget of $82.5 million; and (2) $82.5 million in external financing from Century Bonds...
From Santa Monica Patch: UCLA Health Santa Monica Medical Center is among the top 10 hospitals in California, according to a new ranking released this week from Newsweek. It's one of two Santa Monica hospitals to appear on the statewide list. The publication worked with data firm Statista to analyze hundreds of medical facilities across the country to create the America’s Best In-State Hospitals 2025 report, based on metrics from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the AHA Annual Survey of Hospitals Database, patient experience surveys, and a nationwide online survey of medical professionals...
I am sure many blog readers are puzzled (and worried) about the outcome of the recent election. Even the forecast, pre-election, that the election would be very close proved to be incorrect. Although some commentators seem now to portray the result as a landslide for Trump, that would be a mischaracterization. (An example of a landslide would be, say, Reagan vs. Mondale in 1984). Nonetheless, the 2024 election was decisive. Below is a chart from the Financial Times indicating that a general shift toward Trump occurred among almost all groups, 2020 to 2024:
Here (below) is a 5-minute video of two experts the day before the election. One says - based on polls - that the election will be very close. The other says if it isn't close, the odds are it will tilt toward Harris:
So, we learn (once again) that relying on polling in perilous.
The chart at the very top of this post shows that if you look at real wages and ask the question - Are you better off than you were four years ago? - the answer for much of the electorate is "no." We can debate the causes of that answer, but not the fact. Below is another video (one hour) which makes the point that generally the electorate punishes the incumbent party when the answer is "no":
In short, the electorate behaved normally even though you could well argue that Trump was not a normal candidate. So, the question now becomes how the Republicans were able to get a normal result with an abnormal candidate - apart from just pushing the issue of high prices. If you look at the ads the circulated and the internet campaigning, the message was that it was the Democrats who were abnormal (boys in the girls bathroom, allowing open borders, crime in cities, etc.). And, yes, universities didn't help themselves over the past year - and are now particularly vulnerable - especially the research universities which receive a lot of federal funding. (Here's looking at you, UC.) In addition to direct receipt of federal funding, universities have endowments and pensions that are subject to federal tax and other regulations.*
It will be interesting to see if the Regents say anything this week about these developments. One suspects, however, that whatever they say will likely occur behind closed doors.
The governor has called a special session of the legisture somehow to insulate California from the feds. But UC is not easy to insulate.
The most immediate concern for UC would be protection of DACA and other undocumented students, given the Trump promise of a mass deportation campaign. (However, the idea of UC hiriing undocumented students and testing the federal government thereby is now unlikely to go anywhere, given the election outcome.) Beyond providing protection, I suggest everyone take a deep breath, see what develops, and avoid goading the lion. The one thing we know from the first Trump term is that he is mercurial and that people who seem to speak for him are often fired thereafter. We don't really know what is coming.
From the Bruin: Five thousand University of California workers filed to form a new union Friday. The union – representing student services and advising workers – will join the United Auto Workers, according to a press release from the Student Services & Advising Professionals at the University of California. UAW already represents academic student employees, graduate student researchers and academic and postdoctoral researchers across the UC through its 4811 chapter.
The workers filed to form the union with the state Public Employee Relations Board at noon [last] Friday. Sean Campbell, an admissions and recruitment worker at UCLA, said in a video announcing the union’s formation that he believes the arbitrary enforcement of University policies means workers are not able to dictate their working conditions...
UCLA is offering its own Medicare Advantage Plan to the general Medicare-eligible population in LA County. This plan should not be confused with the UC Medicare Advantage Plan offered to UC retirees. From Regents item H3 to be discussed at the Regents today:
...UCLA Health will launch its Medicare Advantage health plan under the name “UCLA Health Medicare Advantage Plan” on January 1, 2025, through New Century Health Plan, Inc. (NCHP). NCHP was established on July 6, 2023, as a California general business corporation wholly owned by the Regents of the University of California. Licensed by the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) under the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, NCHP is a fully authorized healthcare service plan provider offering comprehensive services to Medicare beneficiaries across all zip codes within Los Angeles County. NCHP’s Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug (MAPD) plan bid was approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on August 21, 2024. A calendar year contract for 2025 with CMS was executed on August 27, 2024, allowing NCHP to provide services to enrolled members on January 1, 2025.
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...The UCLA Health Medicare Advantage Plan offers two health maintenance organization (HMO) plans that meet the diverse needs of the Los Angeles County Medicare beneficiary market. The approach was to design affordable plans with predictable costs by offering low monthly premiums and an over-the-counter smart benefits card to keep out-of-pocket costs low. In addition to prescription drug coverage, both plans include dental, vision, and hearing benefits, along with fitness and nutrition services to support holistic health. The inclusion of transportation services in the benefits ensures accessible and reliable transportation to and from medical appointments, addressing a critical barrier to care that disproportionately affects underserved communities. Both plans are financially sustainable and market competitive.
Prescription Drug Benefits
The health plan includes full Part D prescription drug benefits, ensuring that members can access a comprehensive range of medications. The plan’s pharmacy benefits manager (PBM), MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. (MedImpact), a California-based organization with a vast network of pharmacies, will administer these benefits. Medimpact’s services include retail, specialty, and a mail-order pharmacy through BirdieRx, making prescription fulfillment convenient and accessible for members across Los Angeles County.
Professor-Emerita Judith Baca (left), the famed muralist, gave a presentation last Thursday to a combined meeting of the Emeriti and Retiree Associations at the UCLA Faculty Club. She was interviewed about her life and work by Rosina Becerra (right). You can find various posts on this blog about her work by typing "Baca" in the search option. Unfortunately, at the end of the presentation, the chair on which she was seated collapsed causing injury. I am informed she is now recovering. We wish her well.
From the Commercial Observer: UCLA is advancing its wide-ranging expansion with another real estate acquisition and a plan for a significant redevelopment in its hometown. UCLA put down $55 million for a nearly 170,000-square-foot office facility in Los Angeles’ South Bay, sources told Commercial Observer. The university has a roughly $90 million plan to redevelop the two-story facility for the UCLA Health Sports Medicine Institute.
Karney Properties sold the two-story asset at 5210 Pacific Concourse for about $324 per square foot. Previously nicknamed 52Ten, the facility is on 9.5 acres off Interstate 405 between El Segundo and Hawthorne, near the southeast corner of LAX. Property records show Karney purchased the now 22-year-old building from Siemens Corporation for $53 million in 2017, and renovated it in 2020, adding a cafe, a library and a common room.
According to a request for an architect from July, UCLA’s plans to redevelop the property for its sports medicine program could include adding an ambulatory surgery center, a medical clinic, advanced imaging, a microbiology/serology clinical lab and a specialty pharmacy. “The location and infrastructure of the building align with UCLA Health’s mission to provide leading-edge health care to the Los Angeles community,” UCLA Health said in a statement shared with CO. “The facility will enable us to leverage the existing lab infrastructure and add technologies to expand our patient care services.”
...UCLA has been rapidly expanding throughout L.A...
The Regents will begin their regular November meetings tomorrow. But they have been meeting from time to time regarding the presidential search, as shown above.
From Becker's Hospital Review: Members of the University Professional and Technical Employees at the University of California San Francisco are set to strike Nov. 20 and 21. The union represents approximately 4,000 UCSF healthcare, research and technical workers, according to a UPTE news release shared with Becker's. Of these, approximately 2,040 are healthcare workers.
Union members voted to authorize a strike in October. The union and management began negotiating a new labor contract in June, according to the University of California. Heather Hansen, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, which is negotiating with the union on behalf of the UC system, told Becker's that in October, the university made a "significant" offer to boost salaries by "5% in year one of the contract and by 19% to 23% over the life of the proposed three-year agreement.
"UC has also proposed $75 or $100 monthly premium subsidies for UPTE employees and is eager to continue to negotiate these issues with the union. UC has also agreed to raise wages for all UPTE and AFSCME employees to $25 an hour by July 1, 2025."
In October, UPTE filed a complaint with the California Public Employment Relations Board, contending that UC failed to provide necessary information about staffing vacancies and unilaterally — and illegally — increased health insurance costs outside of bargaining. The union also alleged that staffing levels within the UC system have not kept pace with increased demand for services, resulting in a decline in patient care quality...
