The first day of last week's Regents meetings included the Investments Committee, the Special Committee on Athletics, and Health Services. It opened with public comments. Topics included a statement about a UC program involving IT/medical technology in low-income countries, staff pay issues, union relations, anti-Israel demands, various compliants about the takeover of Children's Hospital-Oakland by UC-San Francisco, a UC-Santa Cruz housing development known as Hilltop, support for undocumented students, and support for students who are also parents.
Then Chief Investment Officer Bachhar spoke about recent volatility in financial markets and the need for "liquidity" - which seemed to refer to having less private equity investments as well as cash. At one point in the session, there was an anti-Israel disturbance which led to the room being cleared by security. Bachhar touted a program his office runs teaching students about financial management. He noted that in the voluntary savings programs, there had been a small shift from equities to fixed income and an uptick in interest in TIPs (inflation-adjusted Treasury securities). As we have noted in a prior post, in response to concerns expressed by Regent Makarechian, Bachhar indicated that the proposed delay in pension contributions was inconsistent with faculty demands for 100% funding.
The meeting of the Special Committee on athletics was the last one the committee will have. But a continuing "working group" of the Regents on athletics was announced. Two athletic programs were reviewed: UCLA and UC-Santa Cruz. Both are having financial issues, but UCLA's problem is Big Time: a deficit of $50 million which Chancellor Frenk and Athletics Director Jarmond referred to. Fifty million is not chicken feed, folks and yours truly did not hear a solution. No one commented on UCLA being taxed to benefit Berkeley in the aftermath of UCLA's move to the Big Ten.
It was noted that UCLA will be hosting the Olympics in 2028 although Olympic sports don't bring in revenue. UCLA does note have its own football stadium. There was talk of adding premium seats to the Rose Bowl - which it doesn't own - and to Pauley as a way of raising more revenue. NIL programs set up by UCLA raise funds for athletes - but that doesn't close the gap for the university. Much was made about a 91% graduation rate for athletes.
UCSC also reported financial issues, but of a lesser magnitude.
At Health Services, UC Health's "Strategic Plan" was discussed, although it's not clear you can do much strategizing until there is more clarity from Washington, DC as well as the state. Budget cuts and a ten percent reduction in FTE were mentioned, as well as a hiring "freeze" until January 2026. Some possible substitution of industry support for research to replace federal was mentioned.
There was also a presentation on UC's "340B Program." As yours truly understands it, this program involves UC getting discounts on drugs from drug companies, but getting reimbursed at the regular price from Medicare and private insurance. The revenue thus created is then used to provide uncompensated care. The program was created by federal law.
Finally, there was a review of Medicaid (Medi-Cal) payments received by UC and the uncertainty surrounding them coming from DC.
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We preserve the recording of Regents meetings indefinitely since the Regents have no policy on duration of retention. You can see the sessions at the following links:
Investments (including public comments) at:
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Athletics at:
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Health Services at:
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The general website for May 13th is at:
https://archive.org/details/cio-bachhar-on-deferring-pension-funding-5-13-2025.
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