Columbia Goes the Dartmouth Route: UCLA Needs to Follow

As blog readers will know, when tensions arose on various campuses due to the current Israel-Gaza War, Dartmouth was an early pioneer in creating educational dialogues as an alternative to the kinds of disruptions that occurred elsewhere.

We also noted an example of that approach at the UCLA med school.* 

Columbia University has now followed the dialogue example. From the Daily Spectator:

The School of International and Public Affairs’s Institute for Global Politics hosted “What’s Next for the Middle East?” on Friday [Jan. 26], a conversation on the future of diplomacy and peace negotiations in the Israel-Hamas war.

The event was part of the Dialogue Across Difference series, an initiative announced on Dec. 20 as part of University President Minouche Shafik’s efforts to cultivate a “culture of civility and empathy” on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Secretary of State and professor of international and public affairs, delivered the event’s opening remarks.

“As a new Universitywide initiative, this series provides our community with a vital forum to come together, hold difficult yet meaningful conversations, and model civil discourse for our students and ourselves,” Clinton said.

Ghaith al-Omari, former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine and senior fellow at the Washington Institute, and Dennis Ross, former U.S. director of policy planning and distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute, discussed possible avenues toward peace in the Middle East.

The event, which took place on the 15th floor of the International Affairs Building, was moderated by Laura Secor, an international editor at the Atlantic.

Both al-Omari and Ross have direct experience in peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating parties. Al-Omari was a member of the Palestinian negotiating team during the 1999-2001 peace negotiations, including the 2000 Camp David Summit. During both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations, Ross helped broker peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating parties, and was appointed Clinton’s Middle East envoy in 1993.

...Following a 40-minute long discussion between the former diplomats and Secor, the conversation opened to the audience for a Q&A...

Full story at https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/01/28/sipas-institute-for-global-politics-hosts-conversation-on-diplomacy-amid-israel-hamas-war/.

You can see the dialogue at:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmNShwoWlA8. Alternative:

https://ia801406.us.archive.org/35/items/a-laugh-a-tear-a-mitzvah/What%27s%20Next%20for%20the%20Middle%20East_.mp4.

UCLA needs to get its own version of such dialogues on the road, and not just confined to the med school.

===

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/12/uclas-med-school-has-dartmouth.html.

In case you were wondering...

A Regents item last week indicated that a purchase by UCLA of (yet) a(nother) hospital was to be reviewed in closed session. The hospital in question was not named. It turned out to be the West Hills Hospital in the San Fernando Valley.

From the Bruin: UCLA Health has received approval to acquire the 260-bed West Hills Hospital and Medical Center. The proposed expansion was approved by the UC Board of Regents and will help UCLA Health mitigate issues with capacity constraints, said a UCLA Health spokesperson in an emailed statement. “This effort will help UCLA Health to immediately address the significant inpatient, emergency department and operating room capacity constraints in our health system,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “It also helps us to fulfill our commitment to enhance access to care across the region.”

The West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, located in the west San Fernando Valley, includes a staff of around 900 employees and 450 medical staff and has serviced the community for over 50 years, according to its website. It ranked on Healthgrades’ list of America’s 250 Best Hospitals in 2024...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2024/01/26/ucla-health-to-acquire-west-hills-hospital-and-medical-center.

One suspects that just as health insurance companies have become more concentrated - which gives them more bargaining leverage in negotiating fees - there is an incentive for providers to do the same for the same purpose.

Watch the Afternoon Meeting of the Regents: Jan. 24

Continuing our catching up with the portions of the Regents meetings of last week, we now move to the afternoon of January 24th. We have already covered the discussion of departmental political statements which was the hot topic of that day. 

Beyond that topic, the Governance Committee approved appoints and pay for new head librarians at Berkeley and UCLA.

At Public Engagement and Development, there was discussion of a homeless initiative at UC-San Francisco. A survey found that 90% of homeless were from California and 75% were in their county of origin. Affordable housing provision was emphasized.

There was a government relations report which noted the deferral of the increment due to UC in the governor's budget to the following year, but with the usual gratitude expressed despite the violation of the compact. Issues expected in the legislature include athletics, AI, housing, and labor standards at UC. 

Finally, there was a presentation on the UC Advocacy Network (UCAN) and its lobbying for UC interests.

As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meeting indefinitely since the Regents have no policy concerning duration of retention.

You can see the Governance Committee at:

https://ia801300.us.archive.org/29/items/governance-committee-1-24-2024-pm/Governance%20Committee%201-24-2024%20pm.mp4

Public Engagement and Development at:

https://ia601300.us.archive.org/29/items/governance-committee-1-24-2024-pm/Public%20Engagement%20and%20Development%201-24-2024%20pm.mp4

And the full web address for the afternoon session at:

https://archive.org/details/governance-committee-1-24-2024-pm. The previously-discussed department statement issue is also at this site.

Watch the Regents Morning Meetings of January 24th

We have been summarizing the meetings last week of the UC Regents in somewhat piecemeal fashion because certain issues stood out separately from others. Here we summarize other matters that came up during the morning meeting of January 24th (some of which drifted into the afternoon). 

Public comments were largely anti-Israel speakers along with some pushing for the "Opportunity for All" proposal allowing UC hiring of undocumented students. As blog readers will know, the latter proposal was later shelved by the Regents for one year, probably killing it. Other topics included the UC-San Francisco takeover of St. Mary's and St. Francis hospitals, Teamster negotiations, aid to Black students, general student aid, reinstatement of a public service program at UC-Berkeley law school. A demonstration occurred after public comments which led to the room being cleared.

After the session resumed, Regent Chair Leib spoke about enrollment data and endorsed the proposal on the agenda to ban departmental political statements. As blog readers will know, that proposal was deferred to March amid controversy that was partially tied to the undocumented issue. President Drake referred to the deferral of the incremental contribution to the UC budget due from the state under the "compact" and said he was assured the deferred amount would be paid in the year after it was due. (As blog readers will know, there can be no guarantee that such an assurance will come to pass.) Faculty representative Steintrager went over current Senate guidelines concerning department statements, hinting at his later position that the matter should be further reviewed by the Senate. He also alluded an item that was on the agenda later: online education.

The Health Services Committee had only a short public session approving an executive pay matter.

At Finance and Capital Strategies, there was a review of the cost and planning for seismic upgrading. In some cases, buildings can be upgraded but others have to be replaced to meet standards. Current policy requires all buildings to meet standards by 2030, but lack of sufficient funding will likely delay full compliance.

The discussion on the state budget referred to the above-mentioned compact deferral along with other smaller cutbacks. UC is continuing with enrollment increases under the compact even though the state commitment has been "deferred." Regent Pérez noted that UC had better work on alternative planning in case we don't get the deferral or even any increment at all in the second year.

At Academic and Student Affairs, tuition (fee) increases were increased for nine professional graduate programs. The discussion then turned to a report on students with disabilities which can be found at:

https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jan24/a2.pdf

and

https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jan24/a2attach1.pdf.

Generally, the Regents praised the report. The committee also heard a report on online education at UC. Over 40% of students took at least one online course during 2022-23, i.e., after the period in which the pandemic forced courses online. A strategic plan for the future was said to be under development.

Finally, the National Labs committee heard that the three UC labs received very high performance ratings from the Dept. of Energy. The methodology behind those ratings was not explained.

As always, we preserve Regents meetings indefinitely since the Regents have no policy on duration of retention.

The morning board meeting is at:

https://ia601304.us.archive.org/5/items/board-1-24-2024-am/Board%201-24-2024%20am.mp4

Health Services is at:

https://ia801304.us.archive.org/5/items/board-1-24-2024-am/Health%20Services%20Committee%201-24-2024%20am.mp4

Academic and Student Affairs is at:

https://ia801304.us.archive.org/5/items/board-1-24-2024-am/Academic%20and%20Student%20Affairs%20Committee%201-24-2024%20am.mp4.

Finance and Capital Strategies and National Labs are at:

https://ia801304.us.archive.org/5/items/board-1-24-2024-am/Health%20Services%20Committee%201-24-2024%20am.mp4

The general web link for the morning session is:

https://archive.org/details/board-1-24-2024-am.

New University Librarian

From the Bruin: Former UCLA director of library special collections Athena Jackson will be the next Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian, UCLA announced Thursday. Jackson will start in the role March 1, succeeding Virginia Steel – who had occupied the position since 2013, according to an announcement from Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt. Jackson previously served as director of library special collections at UCLA beginning in 2019 before becoming the dean of libraries and Elizabeth D. Rockwell Chair at the University of Houston in 2021. 

Jackson was also previously the Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair and head of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library at Penn State University, a special collections librarian at the University of Miami, the coordinator of the North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project and an archivist at the North Carolina State Archives.  She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Houston and received a Master of Science in library and information science from the University of North Texas. Jackson is also involved in scholarship dialogues through member organizations of the University of Houston such as the Association of Research Libraries, the Council on Library and Information Resources and the Texas Digital Library...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2024/01/25/ucla-appoints-athena-jackson-as-norman-and-armena-powell-university-librarian. 

Grateful - Part 2

As we predicted earlier,* UC president Drake expressed gratitude for the governor's assurance that the "deferred" piece of the budget UC was supposed to get in 2024-25 would be paid the following year, assuming the legislature enacts his January budget plan. (We pointed out that what the legislature enacts the year after next is up to the legislature then; there is no guarantee.) 

Beyond that issue is the fact that the January plan, according the Legislative Analyst's Office, leaves uncertain where a missing $8 billion that must be paid to K-14 under Prop 98 will come from. From EdSource:

...School districts have already spent funding from 2022–23, including on staff pay raises that they negotiated with good faith estimates. Newsom and the Legislature could try to deduct that overpayment from the current and 2024-25 budgets, but such a move “would be devastating for students and staff,” Patti Herrera, vice president of the school consulting firm California School Services, told a workshop last week with more than 1,000 school district administrators in Sacramento.

As an alternative, Newsom proposes to find reductions from the non-Proposition 98 side of the general fund, which covers higher education, child care and all other non-education expenses, from prisons to climate change programs.

“We are super grateful there will be no attempts to claw back” the money given to school districts in a past year’s budget, Herrera said... 

Full story at https://edsource.org/2024/newsoms-8-billion-fix-to-spare-cuts-to-schools-community-colleges-may-face-tough-sell/704432.

===

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/01/grateful.html.

The rest of Thursday's Dysfunctional Regents Meeting

Our previous post covered a portion of the Regents meeting yesterday dealing with the use of UC websites for departmental political statements. In the end, the Regents deferred that issue to March. However, as noted, Regent Pérez at one point connected the website matter - which had a lot of loose ends - with another issue on the agenda: the possibility of UC hiring undocumented students. He noted that the undocumented issue had gone through extensive legal review. We'll come back to that linkage below.

The Thursday morning session began with public comment, most of which consisted of anti-Israel statements, demands for divestment, etc. But there was also reference to the undocumented issue and to pay determination for nonunion employees. The prior post dealt with website issue so there is no need to repeat the summary here. After public comment, Regent Pérez asked that item B1 dealing with faculty discipline for misconduct be put at the end of the agenda if time permitted. That move, which was done at his behest since he had put B1 on the agenda back in November, was likely to kill B1 since meetings often run out of time. It wasn't clear what had motivated Pérez in November, but it may have been widely publicized reports of faculty misconduct related to Israel-Gaza. No one outside the Regents knows for sure. What does seem clear is that by the time of this meeting, Pérez likely knew that the Board would not go ahead with the hiring of undocumented students.

After the agenda adjustment, there were statements from undergraduate and graduate students. The former pushed for more resources to deal with student substance abuse issues. She also complained that most chancellors weren't meeting with student groups and suggested that there would be less angry rhetoric by students at Regents meetings if chancellors met with them. The latter express support for anti-Israel divestment, opposed the website item, but spent most of his time on a report and issues related to disabled students.

After the discussion deferring the website issue, there was a lengthy presentation on UC-Merced.

The afternoon session began with President Drake indicating that after their legal review, the committee that had been formed to deal with the undocumented issue had concluded that the risks were too great to go ahead and he proposed that the matter be deferred for one year. It was not clear what would happen over the course of a year to change the risks he enumerated which included legal risks to undocumented students who had been hired, to human resource staff members who facilitated the hiring, and to legal staff who went along with the hiring. In addition, university federal grants would be at risk.  (As blog readers will know, it appears that the Biden administration had signaled to UC that it would have to litigate against UC if the plan went ahead. The political optic before the election would not be good, but a year from now the election would have occurred.) 

Pérez was clearly angered by Drake's position. He complained that UC has never been a leader regarding undocumented students and that policies it has have always been reactive. Regent Hernandez was also against the one year delay. School Superintendent Thurmond was the only elected ex officio Regent present (via remote connection) and was also opposed. One of the alumni regents proposed just killing the issue since the one year delay was just holding out a false hope and nothing would change in a year. But it was ruled that such a change would have to be voted on separately, although it never was.

In the end, the proposal to defer the matter for a year passed. At that point, there was shouting from the audience which appeared to come from one audience member rather than a multi-person demonstration. It was decided to take a 5-minute break, presumably to remove the shouter. But the Regents never came back. For a time, the university seal was on the screen with the statement that the meeting would resume. But then there was a brief image of the conference room with most of the Regents gone. The seal came back saying the meeting had adjourned.

In the end, therefore, there will be no further discussion of hiring undocumented students for a year, if then. Item B1 is in limbo but presumably would be rescheduled for March if Pérez want it considered. And the website issue is definitely on the March agenda unless something else happens between now and then.

The Regents seems to be in a state of dysfunction in the moment along with some ongoing tensions with the Academic Senate.

As always, we preserve Regents recordings since the Regents have no policy on duration of retention. Our policy is indefinite retention.

The morning session is at:

https://ia601306.us.archive.org/11/items/board-1-25-2024-am/Board%201-25-2024%20AM.mp4

The afternoon session is at:

https://ia601306.us.archive.org/11/items/board-1-25-2024-am/Board%201-25-2024%20PM.mp4

And the general link for the entire day is:

https://archive.org/details/board-1-25-2024-am.

===

We have now covered the Tuesday and Thursday sessions and part of the Wednesday session. We will complete our coverage of the rest of the meetings in due course.

Follow up on discussion of use of dept. websites

Yesterday, we got ahead of our usual review of Regents meeting and discussed Wednesday's committee discussion of the use of departmental websites for political statements, known as Item J3 on the agenda.* That session ended with instruction for the working group's chair to come back with a policy statement that dealt with a variety of ambiguities and issues raised.

At the full board meeting, Regent Pérez asked that the board table J3 until it had gotten as thorough a review as another item dealing with whether UC could hire undocumented students. That item was undeer review by a special committee and was delayed. As blog readers will know, there are reports that the delay was due to legal issues and political concerns coming from the Biden administration**

The discussion was interrupted by an anti-Israel demonstration. After the room was cleared and the program resumed, the discussion on the motion to table started again. This time the motion was not geared to the timeframe of the undocumented student hiring issue. Instead, it was simply to defer consideration of J3 until the March Regents meetings. It passed despite some negative votes and abstentions.

As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meeting since the Regents have no policy on duration of retention. You can see the relevant portions of the morning segment of the Regents meeting at the link below:

https://ia601306.us.archive.org/11/items/board-1-25-2024-am/Board%201-25-2024%20AM.mp4

The initial Pérez motion to table linked to the undocumented issue is at 1:00:52

The resumption after the demonstration with the motion to postpone until March is at 1:22:26.

===

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/01/committee-discussion-on-use-of-dept.html.

**https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/01/now-it-is-revealed.html.

Committee Discussion on Use of Dept. Websites

Normally, we review Regents meetings as a group, either as a day or morning and afternoon sessions. However, one of the controversial topics taken up yesterday - the use of departmental websites to represent official views of the department - was up for discussion at a joint meeting of Academic and Student Affairs Committee & Compliance and Audit which ran on beyond 6 pm.

As it turned out, there were lots of ambiguities that surfaced.

The policy as it stood at that session involved what could be put on the "landing page" of a department. It was unclear what the definition of a landing page was.

Given some definition of landing page, it was unclear the degree to which the policy applied to secondary pages that might be linked to a landing page.

There was one option discussed that when a political statement appeared on a secondary page, it should be explicitly labeled as "opinion." 

It was said that if the policy was adopted and ambiguities arose, chancellors would have to set up a process to "call balls and strikes." Some kind of process for review would be needed. Perhaps there should be a report back to the Regents after some period of time as to how the process was working.

It was suggested that perhaps there should be an exemption for webpages of student government and the alumni association.

The representative of ethnic studies indicated he could live with the opinion page option despite reservations. He said the issue had become tangled with current external political divisions in society.

Regent Pérez said that the chair of the working group that drafted the policy - Regent Sures with the help of the general counsel - should come back to the full board today with a redrafted policy that took account of all the comments. The Regents could then decide what to do. Regent Park seemed to endorse the Pérez idea and noted that the UC diversity policy involved teaching people to get along with others.

Faculty representative Steintrager complained that the policy was too ambiguous. Regent Sures remarked that Steintrager had been part of the working group and never objected. Why was he objecting now? The exchange was testy.

One issue not discussed was the potential coercive effect of official departmental statements - wherever expressed - on junior faculty, students, staff, and job applicants who might have differing views.

In short, the meeting closed without a vote but with instructions for Sures and the general counsel to come back today with a revision. As of 8 am today, it is unknown as to whether a revision had been circulated to the Regents. There is nothing new on the webpage with the Regents' agenda. Possibly, however, paper versions have been distributed to members of the board.

As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meetings since the Regents have no policy on duration of retention. You can see this particular session at:

https://ia601300.us.archive.org/29/items/governance-committee-1-24-2024-pm/Joint%20Meetings_%20ASAC%20%26%20Compliance%20and%20Audit%2C%20ASAC%20%26%20Finance%20and%20Capital%20Strategies%201-24-2024%20pm.mp4.

Watch the Regents Special Committee on Athletics, Jan. 23, 2024

On the first day of the three-day Regents meeting, the Special Committee on Athletics that was set up in the aftermath of the brouhaha caused by UCLA changing athletic conferences and the impact on UC-Berkeley. 

There was, however, a public comment period in which all of the comments were directed towards issues other than athletics. Most of the comments involved the delayed regental decision on whether it would be legal to provide UC employment opportunities to undocumented students. Since the Regents committee studying that issue has been meeting behind closed doors, the source of the delay is unknown. A surmise would be that the general counsel has raised some doubts about the legality of the proposal.

In any event, there were several speakers on that topic and a threat of a hunger strike. One speaker talked in favor of UC-San Francisco reinstating mask requirements. A UCLA student complained of antisemitism on that campus and proposed training about antisemitism as part of the DEI program and penalties for disruptive unauthorized activities.

The committee then heard reports on student athletic programs at UC-Santa Barbara and other campuses but not UCLA and Berkeley, i.e., not from the two campuses who were at the heart of the above-mentioned controversy - mainly because of the large dollars involved at those two campuses. Chancellors from the other campuses all said athletics was very important but there were important differences in where the revenue came from to support athletics, i.e., student fees vs. direct campus allocations.

As always we preserve the videos of the Regents since they have no policy with regard to duration of preservation. You can see the hearing at:

https://archive.org/details/special-committee-on-athletics.
 

Kamala Harris Potential Traffic Jam This Afternoon

Patch newspapers report that Vice President will be in town late this afternoon for a fundraiser, possibly also traveling to Brentwood, and potentially causing a traffic jam in the UCLA area or on routes to and from UCLA. 

As usual, exact travel plans are not being revealed. That's all we know.

See https://patch.com/california/santamonica/s/iugao/vice-president-kamala-harris-heads-to-la-expect-traffic-delays.

Now It Is revealed...

The Regents at one point seemed excited about the idea that UC could hire undocumented students, thanks to a loophole in federal law. They formed a committee to study the issue, but then delayed its decision. Now they are supposed to make a decision on Thursday. Maybe. In any event, Politico has an explanation for the delay.

The Biden administration has quietly pushed back against a plan by the University of California to allow thousands of young people without legal immigration status to hold campus jobs. Through a series of recent calls, the Department of Homeland Security pressed UC officials to reconsider what it saw as a direct challenge to federal law during an election year, according to four university officials.

The governing Board of Regents is expected to discuss the proposal on Thursday and could even approve it — amid pressure from pro-immigrant activists who are increasingly concerned about what may happen to the students, and other undocumented people, if former President Donald Trump is reelected. About 4,000 current students could benefit from the change.

...The proposal would challenge a 1986 federal law prohibiting people without immigration status from legally working. The UC seeks to create an exception for people who were largely brought to the U.S. by their parents as children and would previously have been allowed to work under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Students without legal immigration status already attend the University of California while paying in-state tuition.

DHS officials, concerned about a breach of federal law, warned the university that the Biden administration might be forced to sue or take administrative action blocking the effort if the proposal was approved — teeing up an awkward confrontation at a time when the president is already under fire over immigration. People familiar with the discussions say that — because of the legal uncertainty — approval from the regents is in question despite interest in helping undocumented students among some on the board. The panel is made up of Democratic appointees and prominent elected state officials including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.

“It’s complicated because it’s an election year and because of all the legal issues,” said one UC official involved with the negotiations. That official, and others, were granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations.

...Board members, UC President Michael V. Drake and other university officials have grown increasingly skeptical because of the federal pushback and after reviewing outside legal opinions, according to people familiar with the discussion who were granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “Their main question is: ‘Why now?’” a UC official said of the Biden administration’s position...

Full story at https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/24/biden-undocumented-immigrants-university-of-california-00137449.

There's always something...

Remember Yik Yak, an anonymous social media posting site aimed at college students that (inevitably, it seems) ended up with hate speech, etc. Now we have a relatively new one in the news - Sidechat. From Inside Higher Ed today:

Harvard University has asked the leaders of a social media app that allows anonymous posting to tamp down on “concerning content” following student complaints of antisemitic messages. University officials met with the app Sidechat’s team this month, asking them to do more to monitor and moderate content, Harvard said in a statement to Inside Higher Ed. Sidechat assured Harvard that it will monitor posts to ensure they follow its terms of use and community guidelines. The move comes only weeks after Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned in the wake of a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on antisemitism in higher education.

Sidechat has played a role in the recent tensions over antisemitism at Harvard. In a Jan. 9 letter, Virginia Foxx, Republican chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, pointed out Sidechat’s potentially problematic posts. She requested that Harvard produce posts “by Harvard students, faculty, staff, and other Harvard affiliates on Sidechat and other social media platforms targeting Jews, Israelis, Israel, Zionists, or Zionism.” Sidechat co-founder Sebastian Gil said in an email that Harvard is the only university to ask the app to increase its moderation. He said his company does “more than most (if not all) social media apps in moderation,” pointing to a moderation team of 30 employees and the company’s use of machine learning models to “detect bigotry.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/2024/01/24/harvard-seeks-oversight-sidechat-app-after-antisemitic-posts.

No, yours truly has not downloaded Sidechat and joined whatever there is for UCLA. Yik Yak was sufficient, back in the day, to tell him the answer to "What could possibly go wrong?"

Note: The image above is from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/27/style/sidechat-app-college.html.

The UCLA Numbers

Given the legislature's and governor's preoccupation with UCLA enrollments, particularly undergraduate, we have provided the highlights above. More detail is available for UC as a whole, other campuses, and other data cuts at:

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/fall-enrollment-glance.

Is Berkeley Catching Up with Yale?

Back in early December, the NY Times ran a piece revealing that almost everyone at Yale gets an A or A-.* Now the San Francisco Chronicle indicates Berkeley is moving in Yale's direction:

Nearly two-thirds of all grades given to undergraduates at UC Berkeley were A’s or A minuses last year, representing a significant increase from a decade ago. Data published by UC Berkeley shows that while grade inflation accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a prolonged trend, with average grades at Berkeley inching higher each year over the past decade. 

About 64% of grades given to undergraduates were A’s or A minuses in 2022 (which includes the spring and fall semesters). While this share of A’s is lower than its pandemic peak of 77% in 2020, it’s up 13 percentage points from 10 years ago. The pandemic-induced surge in A’s is primarily a result of changes in the school’s grading policies during this period, according to Oliver O’Reilly, vice provost for undergraduate education and a mechanical engineering professor at Berkeley. Students could opt for a pass/fail grading system instead of receiving letter grades in most classes, and they were able to make this choice at any point during the semester... 

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2023/uc-berkeley-grade-inflation/.

But at least one Yalie thinks everyone getting an A is a Good Thing:**

So maybe we shouldn't worry.

===

*https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/nyregion/yale-grade-inflation.html.

**https://www.businessinsider.com/yale-grade-inflation-good-student-college-stress-2023-12.

NCAA Trying to Regain Control

Inside Higher Ed ran an article on the NCAA's efforts in Congress to get control of NIL (name, image, likeness) payments to student athletes. By allowing NIL, the Supreme Court opened the door to payments to such athletes which in turn cracked open the door to considering them as employees. 

A House subcommittee is moving forward on a bill that would create national rules of the road to rein in the growing name, image and likeness “Wild West” in college sports. The House Innovation, Data and Commerce Subcommittee heard testimony and feedback on a draft version of the legislation Thursday. The hearing was the 11th Congress has held about the NIL rights of student athletes, but the first one focused on a specific piece of legislation—showing some forward progress on an issue that’s the top legislative priority for the National Collegiate Athletic Association...

Since 2021, college athletes have been able to sign deals with businesses and other entities to make money off their names, images and likenesses. This has led to a patchwork of state laws outlining NIL rights for students, which the NCAA says creates an uneven playing field. Meanwhile, leading athletes have cashed in, some earning more than $1 million a year. However, the windfall hasn’t been evenly felt across sports and institutions, fueling concerns that NIL could jeopardize non-revenue-generating sports...

The NCAA... wants Congress to affirm that student athletes are not employees of an institution, which the association says is critical. Some student athletes have sought to unionize in recent years, arguing that they are employees with collective bargaining rights, while the NCAA says they are amateurs and not able to form a union. A federal lawsuit, Johnson v. NCAA, filed in 2019 also argues that student athletes are employees. A decision in favor of the plaintiffs could spell the end of the amateur model. “It’s the No. 1 priority for the NCAA; they are deathly afraid of employee status for college athletes,” said Ehrlich of Boise State. “It really feels to me like they’re reaching out to the federal government to make their lives easier.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/2024/01/19/draft-nil-bill-aims-save-college-sports-we-know-it.

Given the current dysfunction in Congress, it seems unlikely that this bill will be enacted anytime soon, if ever. 

As we noted in a prior post, the economic model for college sports at UCLA (and elsewhere) is under strain.* The Regents' committee to deal with student athletics is meeting today. Whether anyone will bring up the NIL issue is unknown.

===

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/01/but-apart-from-that-chancellors-block.html.

Inquiring minds want to know...

From a recent email by the chair of the UCLA Academic Senate sent to all Senate members: ...By now, many of you have seen the announcement that UCLA acquired the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall for development as a UCLA Research Park, which will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering. This is the third property acquisition for UCLA in 15 months (in addition to the Trust Building in downtown Los Angeles and the UCLA South Bay Campus in Palos Verdes and San Pedro).

While each of these properties are tied to the academic mission of research, teaching and service (which should also inform decision making regarding their use), many of you may be asking how we can afford these acquisitions in the context of the recent labor contract for graduate student academic employees, the modest salary increases for faculty (which were offset for many by increases in health insurance costs) and other financial challenges to campus. It’s a fair question, and one that the Senate leadership has raised. It will be important to involve faculty in decision-making for each of these properties, and to be transparent about both the short- and long-term costs and benefits of these acquisitions. We’ve encouraged administration to seek input from faculty in the process of campus expansion to ensure we are prioritizing the academic mission and serving all parts of campus. We encourage you to send questions to your Legislative Assembly (LgA) representatives (Chancellor Block and EVCP Hunt will present at the LgA meeting on February 8, 2024), to attend any information sessions about the acquisitions and to otherwise engage on envisioning how these properties can be best utilized to support research, teaching and service...

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We look forward to February 8 when all will be revealed...or will it?

Blackstone REIT Still Draining - Part 12

As blog readers will know, from time to time we have raised questions about the Blackstone Real Estate Investment Trust, UC's chief investment officer put $4.5 billion as a kind of bailout as the BREIT was experiencing a slow-motion run on the bank. In exchange, we got a "guaranteed" 11.25% return, presumably at the expense of other BREIT investors. 

Usually, high returns come with risk, but there was very little questioning about this investment by the Regents, other than whether BREIT was a nice landlord. (BREIT's PR team testified at a Regents meeting that it was nice.) But now comes word that a year later, month by month, the slow motion run continued, i.e., there were more requests for withdrawals than the BREIT would permit:

BREIT’s returns fell short of the 5% annual gain threshold that enables the firm to take a share of profits, Bloomberg reports. For the first time, the trust missed the target to earn carried interest, which incentivizes deal-makers and rewards them for generating returns.

At one point, the nontraded REIT catering to affluent investors sat on $70B in value. It was a favorite of financial advisers and individual investors alike as it bet big on favored property sectors.

But the trust took a hit in December, posting a 1.2% loss due to hedges that dropped in value when borrowing rates declined in late 2023, according to Bloomberg. Blackstone deployed interest rate hedges to ease the pain from an uptick in borrowing costs...

Last month, the trust received $1.1B in redemption requests, down 41% from November and 80% from the redemption peak in January 2023. BREIT began limiting redemptions in late 2022 and kept those limits in place in 2023. 

Full story at https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/commercial-real-estate/breit-records-worst-annual-return-in-its-history-122438.

As we have said umpteen times, the issue is not whether or not eventually it will turn out that UC made money on the deal. The question concerns the methodology by which the risk-return trade-off was made and whether the set-up for making such evaluation is prudent. It appears that the "methodology" was that the chief investment officer heard about the run and, on his own motion, decided to put billions into BREIT after a chat with BREIT's CEO.

Award for Kent Wong

From UCLA Newsroom: Kent Wong, who led the work of the UCLA Labor Center for over 30 years and now serves as the center’s project director for labor and community partnerships, was presented with the John Allen Buggs Leadership Award by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission on Jan. 16 for his longtime human relations advocacy and leadership.

The recognition was part of the commission’s John Anson Ford Awards ceremony, an annual event that honors human relations champions throughout the county. In a press release on the awards, the commission lauded Wong for devoting “his entire adult life to bringing together workers and communities of all backgrounds to stand up for social justice, fair wages, and humane working conditions.”

“I am humbled to receive the John Allen Buggs Leadership Award,” Wong said during his video acceptance speech. “I am so fortunate to play a small role in this vibrant labor movement to advance worker rights, immigrant rights, human and civil rights.”

Under Wong’s leadership from 1992 to 2023, the UCLA Labor Center expanded its staff from 3 to 40 members, becoming nationally and internationally recognized for its efforts to advance worker justice. In 2021, with the support of state Sen. María Elena Durazo, the center secured funding from the Legislature to establish a permanent home in MacArthur Park and to name the historic building in honor of worker and civil rights icon Rev. James Lawson Jr...

Full story at https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/ucla-kent-wong-honored-by-county-with-human-relations-award.

Mystery Item Again on the Regents' Agenda

From time to time, a mystery item appears on agendas of Regents meetings: "Pension Administration Project." No one will say exactly what it is, but it appears and reappears in closed-door sessions. The meetings this week are no exception. Does it have something to do with RASC and its varied problems? Something else?

If you are a fly on the wall at the closed-door session of the Compliance and Audit Committee on January 24th, do let us know what you find out.*

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*https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jan24/audit.pdf.

Regental Discussion of Faculty Disciplinary Process

At the November 2023 Regents meetings, Regent Pérez asked that there be a review of faculty discipline procedures and the role of the Regents therein at the upcoming January meetings. 

The agenda for the session at which that discussion will take place now contains a detailed document which describes the disciplinary process. The document is a discussion item only. No change in policy is included as an action item. 

Pérez did not say why he wanted the matter reviewed back in November. It is possible that some faculty actions taken in the context of current campus tensions over the Israel-Gaza War were the motivation, but presumably he will reveal his concerns during the discussion.

You can find the item listing the disciplinary procedures at:

https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jan24/b1.pdf.

Regental Policy on Departmental Website Use

There is now more detail available on the Regents' upcoming agenda. One of the issues to be taken up is the use of departmental websites for political statements. The Academic Senate dealt with this issue in the past and came up with guidelines for such use. However, the guidelines were not mandates and generally seem not to have been followed.

The Regents will take up the issue of departmental political statements at their upcoming meeting. More details on the policy to be proposed by the Regents are now available on the agenda.* 

The introductory material to the Regents item indicates that official departmental websites are maintained only to provide information on courses, events, etc., and that other use conveys to the public that the views expressed are official university opinions:

...Expressions of the personal or collective opinions of unit members or of the entity is not the official business of the entity. Other means of publicly conveying such opinions are available. Individual or group statements that are posted on the University’s official channels of communication are likely to be interpreted by the public and the community as the University’s institutional views, as opposed to individual or group speech. To avoid any such confusion, the proposed Regents Policy would provide that the official channels of communication to conduct the business of the University should not be used for purposes of publicly expressing the personal or collective opinions of unit members or of the entity...

The actual proposal to be voted on reads:

Regents Policy on Use of University Administrative Websites

POLICY TEXT

Upholding the values of freedom of speech and inquiry are core to the University of California’s mission. Under the First Amendment and principles of academic freedom, faculty members, individually and collectively, have the right to express their views. While individual members of the University community are free to express constitutionally protected viewpoints through all non-official channels of communication, they may not associate the official administrative units of the University with their personal viewpoints. Long-standing principles of academic freedom have recognized that when faculty members speak or write as citizens, they should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution.

The University of California establishes websites and other official channels of communication maintained by the schools, departments, centers, units, and other entities for purposes of conducting the official business of the University and these entities. Examples of an entity’s official business may include delivering informational resources about the unit, such as course descriptions, and communicating personnel changes, dates of upcoming events, the release of new publications, the issuance of new policies, and similar activities. The official channels of communication, including the main landing pages of websites, of schools, departments, centers, units, and other entities should not be used for purposes of publicly expressing the personal or collective opinions of unit members or of the entity, as other means of publicly conveying such opinions are available.

Notwithstanding the above, the Chair of the Board of Regents, the President, the Chancellors, and the leadership of the Academic Senate, may use the official channels of communication to comment on matters of University or public import, and such use by these spokespersons shall be deemed to be conducting official University business for purposes of this policy.

Nothing in this policy shall limit the use of any privately-maintained resource or other nonUniversity media by any member of the University community for any purpose. This policy shall be construed in a manner consistent with the First Amendment and other applicable laws.

COMPLIANCE/DELEGATION

Any questions concerning the application of this policy shall be referred to the administrator responsible for maintaining the website and such administrator shall be responsible for assuring compliance with this policy.

NO RIGHT OF ACTION

This policy is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the University of California or its Board of Regents, individual Regents, officers, employees, or agents.

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*https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jan24/j3.pdf.

**https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/jan24/j3attach1.pdf.

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Note that the proposed policy could be enacted as currently worded, modified, or rejected during the discussion.

Maybe Not an Advantage - Part 2

Last Wednesday we noted that there are significant questions about the seemingly-cheap Medicare Advantage plans over the longer term. Barrons suggests that the longer term may be arriving:

America’s health insurance giants have gone all-in on the government-funded Medicare Advantage program over the past decade, reshaping their businesses to capture the profits it promised. Now, a sharp spike in hospital and doctor office visits among older Americans is raising questions about whether a program that once seemed to promise growth for the sector might emerge as a major liability.

Managed-care companies are reporting that seniors on Medicare Advantage plans used far more medical services than expected in the final months of 2023. The announcements have sparked two separate selloffs over the past week: The first came Jan. 12, when UnitedHealth Group announced its fourth-quarter earnings. The second came Thursday, after Humana laid out preliminary fourth-quarter results, and said the high utilization trends would have a material impact on its 2024 performance “if current trends continue.” ...

It’s hard to overstate how far the insurers have gone to cater to Medicare Advantage: CVS spent $10.6 billion to acquire Oak Street Health, a primary care chain that focuses on Medicare Advantage patients, while UnitedHealth has built out a large chain of healthcare providers under its Optum Health division. But the high utilization rates announced over the past week show how Medicare Advantage can also be a lead weight. While the federal government pays large premiums, they are fixed, which means the companies carry significant risk if medical costs come in higher than expected. The companies might be able to compensate for higher utilization over time—either by extracting better terms from the federal government or by cutting benefits...

Full story at https://www.barrons.com/articles/humana-stock-unitedhealth-cvs-medicare-advantage-ea828e53.

New Police Chief Appointment

From the Bruin: The current interim chief of police John Thomas will serve as UCLA’s new chief of police. Thomas, who attended UCLA from 1980 to 1984, has served as UCLA’s interim chief of police since December 2022. The previous chief of police, Tony Lee, retired in 2022 after serving since 2017.

Thomas previously held positions at the University of Southern California’s Department of Public Safety from 2006 to 2022, including police captain, assistant chief, executive director and chief, and was also a special advisor to the senior vice president for administration...

Additionally, Thomas was deputy chief of police and emergency management at the University of the District of Columbia from 2005 to 2006. He has also served in various positions in the LAPD, achieving the rank of lieutenant, according to a campuswide email...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2024/01/11/john-thomas-named-as-uclas-new-chief-of-police.

Amateur Photos from Memorial for Chancellor Charles Young: Jan. 18, 2024

Cover of program. Full program agenda at bottom. Scroll down.

Musical interlude

Chancellor Block

Ted Mitchell

Carole Goldberg

Zev Yaroslavsky

Keith Parker

Musical interlude

Ann Meyers Drysdale

Ralph Ochoa

Cara Young

Judy Young

Chancellor Block

Program Agenda

Nasty Things Seem to Be Happening at UC-San Diego

From NBC San Diego: Disgraced former County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher is facing more harassment allegations.* And this time, he and the County of San Diego are accused of retaliation. The complaint filed in court alleges the county and Nathan Fletcher — a county supervisor at the time — retaliated against UC San Diego professor Juli Hinds in April of 2023, after she reported a student's harassment claims against him.** 

Court documents detail how Hinds informed university administrators at UCSD’s Office of Student Disability Services that a student had reported “harassing conduct” from Fletcher.*** Fletcher was UCSD’s first professor of practice in political science in 2013. It’s when a retired or practicing professional teaches through expertise, without a traditional academic background or credentials. Before that, he had served two terms in the California Assembly. 

Hinds stated, in the following days, the county began to end county contracts she was working on. Complaint documents state that “the County of San Diego tortiously interfered with contractual and economic relationships of claimant Juli Beth Hinds, causing her economic damages.” It alleges she was terminated from county contracted projects with UCSD focused on the implementation of the county’s Regional Decarbonization Framework and preparation of the Regional Water Equity Report.

Hinds is listed in the complaint as a staff research associate and lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at UCSD and principal of Birchline Planning LLC. 

The county of San Diego is not providing comment at this time. 

Source: https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/county-accused-of-retaliation-after-professor-reported-complaint-against-nathan-fletcher/3407705/.

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*Information on Fletcher's career and current problems at at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Fletcher.

**Hinds is not a professor but is a lecturer: https://usp.ucsd.edu/people/faculty/profiles/beth-juli.html.

***Note that university rules generally require such reporting. One wonders what legal support UC-San Diego is thus providing.

But apart from that Chancellors Block and Crist...

While you are pondering exactly how UCLA is going to finance its various real estate deals (including the $700 million Westside Pavillion purchase), you might let you mind drift towards athletics where we are supposed to be turning a profit. From the Mercury News:

Months away from joining new conferences, UCLA and Cal might consider changing school colors before going their merry ways. A deep red hue seems appropriate. The Bruins and Bears continue to bleed cash as they prepare for life in the Big Ten and ACC, respectively. According to documents obtained by the Hotline, the two athletic departments posted a combined deficit of more than $80 million in the 2023 fiscal year when support from central campus is removed from the equation.

Without a course change, the grim financial trajectories in Westwood and Berkeley could undermine success on the field (and court) in their new leagues against peers with stronger fiscal foundations. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the Bruins reported revenues of $105.4 million and expenses of $142 million — a deficit of $36.6 million. The revenue total represents a 2.2 percent year-over-year increase while the expense figure marks a jump of 8.2 percent. No single item accounts for the uptick in UCLA’s operational expenses. However, the lifting of COVID restrictions and a change in the football schedule, which resulted in eight home games during the 2022 season, were key contributors.

Regardless of specifics, the bottom line is all too familiar for the Bruins, who reported a $28 million deficit in the 2022 fiscal year and were running deep in the red before COVID hit. “Like other athletic departments, financial challenges remain as a result of the pandemic which impacted revenue streams such as sponsorships and media rights,” the Bruins said in a statement issued to the Hotline.

“In this evolving college landscape, we have continued to emphasize putting our student-athletes first. This includes increasing our investments in student-athlete focused areas including mental health, team travel, nutrition and academic awards. “We will always put our student-athletes first and provide a world-class holistic athletic and academic experience.”

The situation in Berkeley appears significantly more dire. The Bears reported revenues of $126.1 million and expenses of $134.9 million in the 2023 fiscal year, a deficit of $8.8 million. Those figures represent year-over-year increases of 6.6 percent (revenue) and 17.8 percent (expenses). That eye-opening surge includes a $6.5 million increase in costs for coaching and administrative salaries — the Bears fired one men’s basketball staff and hired a new one — and a doubling of the dollars spent on fundraising and marketing, to $8.1 million, that was partly due to efforts related to the football game at Notre Dame in the fall of 2022.

What’s more, Cal’s revenue includes a whopping $36.7 million in direct support from campus — that’s 29 percent of the total revenue and a $5.7 million increase in raw dollars over the support level provided in the 2022 fiscal year. (The revenue figure excludes $3.4 million that the Bears transferred back to campus as part of an internal financial structure.) ...

Full story at https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/17/financial-challenges-intensify-for-ucla-cal-with-several-daunting-hurdles-ahead/.