The session opened with the full board hearing public comments. Topics covered were antisemitism, opposition to the Hawaiian telescope (TMT), decarbonization (anti-fossil fuels), staffing problems, staff pay, item J1 (departmental political statements - deferred to May meetings), substance abuse services, sexual abuse services, undocumented students, climate change, and FAFSA deadlines. A talk by an undergraduate student leader also picked up on FAFSA problems and substance abuse. Regent Makarechian, who had been attending meetings on Zoom after a major accident appeared in person. A graduate student leader spoke about professional tuition supplements and protested against unpaid internships required in some professional programs. There was then a presentation on CRISPR technology by Prof. Jennifer Doudna. A brief disturbance occurred during her remarks but the meeting continued.
The second part of the full board meeting featured a presentation on UC basic needs programs. A disturbance occurred but the session continued after a warning. A presentation on UC sustainability policies followed.
The Investments Committee featured a presentation by students in the "Investment Academy" sponsored by the Investments team. Some kind of unheard disruption occurred but, after warning, the presentation continued. There was then some discussion of a UC program to invest in its own medical IT - a kind of internal venture capital program modeled after a program at CalTech. A disturbance at that point led to the room being cleared. After the meeting resumed, CIO Bachhar cited AI, climate change, demographics, and "deglobalization" as factors affecting the investment outlook along with the two current wars. Regent Makarechian indicated that the Investments Committee should focus less on past and current events and performance and more on how future events would affect the long term outlook. He wondered if the expectation for the pension of a return of 6.25%/annum was realistic. Should it be raised or lowered?
As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meetings since the Regents have no fixed policy on retention.
The general link for the March 21 meeting is at:
https://archive.org/details/regents-board-part-1-3-21-2024.
Part 1 of the full board is at:
Part 2 of the full board is at:
The Investments Committee is at:
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