The meeting opened with public comments. Comments were received from various unions at UC concerning the upcoming hike in the cost of health insurance. There was also a series of anti-Israel comments focusing on divestments. In some cases, the calls focused on military divestment or, more generally, ethical investment. There were also complaints about campus antisemitism. Other topics included nonunion staff pay, basic needs of students, opposition to a proposed increase in tuition for non-California students, and concerns about undocumented students. One comment that was phoned in was largely unintelligible.
After public comments, there were statements by Regent Chair Reilly, President Drake, and faculty representative Cheung. All referred to the recent election and the potential challenges UC would face as a result. Drake also noted the budgetary challenges facing UC. And Cheung took note of the increase in health insurance costs.
Regent Pérez - who has been one of the more influential Regents - announced that the November meetings would be his last. As we noted in an earlier post, the governor recently nominated a new Regent.
At Finance and Capital Strategies the main items of concern were increased costs of upgrading UCLA's cogeneration plant. Regent Makarechian pointed to what appeared to be a guaranteed price from the contractor. He asked what it means to have a guarantee if the price can be raised. UCLA blamed the cost increases on a delay of one year caused by the SCAQMD regarding smog standards. Makarechian insisted that such increases would not occur in private sector contracting. Regent Pérez indicated that if UCLA had come to the Regents with its SCAQMD problem, various members would have been able to help expedite the project.
There was a series of reports related to UC's proposed capital and regular budget. Under the terms of the so-called compact with the state, UC didn't get the cut that had been proposed for the current year but now faces a bigger cuts in the coming fiscal year. To deal with the upcoming cut, the proposal is to charge out-of-state students who are newly enrolled higher tuition.
Other issues: It was noted that UC seismic standards are higher than state standards. But sometimes, when leased space is needed in an area, there are no buildings that meet the UC standards even though they do meet the state's requirements. In such cases - the reference was to health facilities in particular - exceptions are allowed.
Finally, there was an actuarial review of the pension plan, which is 84.7% funded on a market basis but 82.5% on an actuarial basis (which involves 5-year smoothing). The health plan, which is not prefunded, nonetheless requires an actuarial assessment. Both plans each have an unfunded liability of around $20 billion. If all assumptions continue, the pension would be fully funded in 17 years.
Academic and Student Affairs featured a discussion of AI with examples of its use in agriculture, wildfires, and protection of infrastructure from cyber attacks. The meeting concluded with a review of UC diversity with regard to students, largely measured by progress in graduation rates.
As always, we preserve recordings of the Regents since they have no policy on retention. The general link for the morning of Nov. 13, 2024 is at https://archive.org/details/regents-academic-and-student-affairs-11-13-2024.
The board meeting with public comments is at:
Finance and Capital Strategies is at:
Academic and Student Affairs is at:
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