Remember the Good Old Days when you could spot AI-written papers by made-up, "hallucinated" citations? Ah... them were the days!
Or direct to https://www.facebook.com/getliner/videos/1439802454250356/.
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Straws in the Wind - Part 250
From Inside Higher Ed: Faculty members at regional public and community colleges in Oklahoma can no longer be granted tenure. Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt decreed the end of tenure in an executive order, effective Thursday. The state has a “constitutional and statutory responsibility to steward taxpayer dollars wisely and ensure public institutions of higher education operate with accountability, transparency, and measurable outcomes,” the order states.
Public regional universities, which educate more than 54,000 students in the state combined, “shall not grant new lifetime tenure appointments,” the order states. Instead, they may hire faculty under fixed-term, renewable contracts, and the renewals are dependent on professors’ performance, student outcomes, “alignment with workforce and Oklahoma economic needs” and “institutional service.” Faculty members at these institutions who already have tenure may retain it. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 761 faculty members at Oklahoma regional colleges had tenure in 2024, and 412 faculty members were on the tenure track.
Faculty at public research universities—which includes the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and their health sciences institutions—may still receive tenure or tenure-track appointments, but will be subject to post-tenure review every five years or fewer and may be fired for “sustained failure to meet established performance standards.” ...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/tenure/2026/02/05/tenure-eliminated-oklahoma-colleges.
Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 120
From the Harvard Crimson: Faculty voiced cautious support for a proposal that would cap undergraduate A grades at roughly 20 percent and introduce an internal ranking system, saying the policy would curb longstanding grade inflation at the College. But the proposal has also prompted concerns among some professors, who warned that the cap could impose an unrealistic standard for distinction, threaten faculty autonomy, and foster unhealthy competition.
A faculty committee released the proposal last week as part of a broader effort to rein in grade inflation. The recommendations, which will come to a full faculty vote later this spring, would limit A grades to 20 percent per course, with flexibility for up to four additional As per class, and introduce a percentile-based ranking system to determine internal honors and awards. In interviews and statements, more than a dozen faculty welcomed the attempt to impose a systematic check on grade inflation.
...“Grading is a collective action problem. When some instructors raise their grades, that puts pressure on other instructors to raise their grades too, and the pressure for higher grades snowballs over time, making it hard for any course to hold the line,” Economics professor David I. Laibson ’88 wrote in a statement.
...Other professors cautioned that the proposal could pose a danger to faculty autonomy. Government professor Steven Levitsky said he disliked what he described as the inflexibility of the recommendations, arguing that they infringed on faculty authority in the classroom. Still, he said, the proposal was preferable to the status quo. “I would characterize it a bit like the way that Winston Churchill characterized democracy, which is that it’s the worst possible arrangement — except for all the others,” he said...
Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/2/10/grade-report-reaction/.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Just the (Corrected) Facts - Part 4
We said in our last posting on this issue that there did not seem to be any opposition to the resolution. An email circulated yesterday afternoon confirmed that the resolution passed 107-0. That would seem to be a definitive expression of opinion.
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Resolution on Shared Governance, Senate Consultation, and Administrative Accountability
Legislative Assembly members voted via the Academic Senate Data Management System on the Resolution on Shared Governance, Senate Consultation, and Administrative Accountability. The Legislative Assembly received a total of 107 votes cast: 107 Approve, 0 Oppose. This Resolution required a majority of votes cast by present members to be approved. [AIPSC (2nd ed.) 5.1]. All eligible votes cast (100%) were to approve this resolution.
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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2026/02/just-corrected-facts-part-3.html.
Straws in the Wind - Part 249
From the Brown Daily Herald: President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20, emphasized the importance of maintaining the University’s core values while navigating security questions following the shooting on Dec. 13 at Tuesday’s faculty meeting. Paxson updated faculty members on a new community initiative called “Brown Loves Providence,” new security initiatives and the post-shooting reviews. The University expedited its process of adding blue light phones and panic buttons to classrooms, Paxson said, especially in places where staff handle cash, so that they “feel more secure.” ...
Paxson acknowledged ...concerns, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a sense of “openness” on campus. “When people go to an academic seminar, they shouldn’t feel like they’re going through TSA to board an international flight,” Paxson added.
This spring, the University will be conducting “trauma-informed active shooter training,” Paxson added...
Full story at https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2026/02/paxson-shares-hopes-to-keep-brown-both-open-and-secure-at-february-faculty-meeting.
Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 119
From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard students slammed a proposal to cap A grades and use raw percentage scores for internal awards, warning that the changes would intensify academic competition, misrepresent students’ mastery of course material, and harm postgraduate prospects. If approved by faculty, the 19-page plan — released Friday by the Office of Undergraduate Education — would limit the number of A grades to 20 percent of each course, with room for up to four extra As per course. The proposal also included a new “average percentile rank” system, which uses students’ raw numeric scores to determine internal awards rather than grade point averages...
But in more than two dozen interviews with The Crimson, students overwhelmingly urged faculty to reject the proposal. “You accept a bunch of top 3 percent students in the country and then get surprised that we’re getting all As,” Harlow W. Tong ’28 said. “I don’t understand the point of ranking against each other.” Tong added that lowering average GPAs would reduce the value of a Harvard education...
Ricardo A. Fernandes Garcia ’27 expressed concerns that the proposal would foster competitive incentives, damaging Harvard’s collaborative academic culture...
Bhargavi A. Limbachiya ’29 predicted that the proposal would unduly increase students’ stress and anxiety levels...
Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/2/7/students-slam-grading-proposal/.
Monday, February 9, 2026
Names
At the Feb. 12th systemwide Assembly of the UC Academic Senate, the following resolution is up for consideration after discussion at a prior meeting ended discussion when attendance fell below a quorum:
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ACTION REQUESTED: The Assembly is asked to vote on the amended resolution.
Whereas on December 18, 2024, the University of California offered to enter in an agreement with the Department of Education to provide the Office of Civil Rights with “an electronic sortable spreadsheet or other file of the responses by the University or the individual campus to all complaints and reports alleging discrimination, including harassment and disparate treatment, on the basis of actual or perceived national origin, including shared Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim, and/or Arab ancestry, or association with these national origins/ancestries, during the preceding academic year at UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, UCD, and UCSC.”
Whereas the University agreed to share with the Office of Civil Rights the names of faculty members, students, staff, and others who reported (‘the reporter’), the individual allegedly subjected to discrimination or harassment (“the complainant”), the individuals who (have been allegedly) engaged in discrimination/harassment (“the respondent(s)”), and any witnesses to the alleged incidents, regardless of the outcome of the cases.
Whereas on November 19, 2025, Deputy General Counsel Allison Woodall from UC Legal clarified that “UC complied with its reporting obligation under the agreement on September 30, 2025, by providing EDOCR with a spreadsheet of relevant civil rights complaints that redacted all personally identifiable information from the spreadsheet. Therefore, no names or other personally identifiable information were released.”
Whereas there have been credible allegations that the current U.S. Presidential Administration has attempted to deport noncitizens, including scholars and students, who have been lawfully admitted to the United States, based on First Amendment-protected speech and advocacy with which the Administration disagrees.
Whereas on October 27, 2025, the Academic Council of the Academic Senate issued a statement expressing strong concern over the University’s disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII) to federal authorities during an investigation of UC Berkeley by the Office of Civil Rights, warning of harm to academic freedom and trust, and urging the UC administration to strengthen privacy safeguards, ensure timely notifications, and consult faculty experts on future disclosure decisions.
Be it therefore resolved that the Assembly of the Academic Senate of the University of California endorses, affirms, and adopts the Statement issued by the Academic Senate Council.
Be it further resolved that the Assembly of the Academic Senate of the University of California urges the UC Office of the President and the UC Board of Regents to inform individuals in advance of the disclosure of their personally identifiable information upon the request for such information.
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Straws in the Wind - Part 248
From Inside Higher Ed: The College Board will prohibit students from wearing smart glasses—wearable, internet-connected computers that allow users to see a computer display in the lenses—while taking the SAT, starting in March 2026. The organization has long banned any wearable electronics, such as Apple AirPods and Apple Watches, said Priscilla Rodriguez, senior vice president of college readiness assessments at the College Board. Such devices, as well as students’ phones, are taken away by the test’s proctor before the test begins; the rule outlawing smart glasses is just an extension of that existing policy.
Although the first smart glasses emerged in the early 2010s, the technology has risen to prominence in recent years, especially as companies such as Meta and Google have debuted artificial intelligence–enabled versions of the product. As they’ve become more common, professors have also raised alarm bells about whether they will be used for cheating; they fear that students will use them to scan tests and get fed the answers by AI in real time without detection.
At least one documented example exists of a student using smart glasses to cheat; a student in Tokyo was caught using his spectacles to post questions from a college entrance exam on the social media site X and received answers from other social media users...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/academics/2026/02/02/college-board-prohibits-wearing-smart-glasses-during-sat.
Just the (Corrected) Facts - Part 3
As blog readers will know from previous posts,* the Legislative Assembly and Senate leaders have requested basic budget information - essentially revenues (broken down and itemized), spending (broken down and itemized), and reserves. The information should include at a minimum, the past fiscal year, the current fiscal year (estimate), and projections for next year. What has come back is either assertions that we gave you what we have (not so), or vague oral statements, or other excuses.
Using bits and pieces of information, a partial picture was assembled by the Senate, but it is missing important information. Athletics, for example, is shown with deficits of $80 million in the past, present, and future years as a net, i.e., no breakdown of revenue and spending. But we have spent lots of money buying ourselves a new football coach and an entourage to go with him. And we are now embroiled in what is likely to be very costly litigation with the Rose Bowl and Pasadena over breaking a long-term contract to play there.
And let's not even think about the wisdom of buying a defunct and inaccessible Catholic college campus in Palos Verdes for $80 million. (There's that $80 million number again!)
Apparently, in oral statements, the CFO has blamed "facilities" costs - which seem to be energy, the labor agreement with TAs and other student workers - which is up for renegotiation, and faculty salaries. Of course, you can take any segment of spending and say that if only it were cheaper, things would be better, budgetwise. And it has always been the case that if you cut out graduate programs, hired cheaper instructors, and increased courseloads, spending would be lower. More undergrads could be processed per budget dollar. But if you did those things, you wouldn't have UCLA. You would have Cal State-Westwood.
As blog readers will know, there was a resolution proposed with lots of "Whereas" clauses that repeated the Senate's demand for basic budget information.* When it was discussed, participants raised the possibility of Public Records requests,** lawsuits by outside entities (the Senate can't sue UCLA since it is part of UCLA), and future votes of no confidence. If I were the CFO or the chancellor, I would be concerned. Just saying...
Nobody spoke against the resolution, so it seems likely to have been passed with a strong vote. (Voting occurred after the meeting electronically and the results will be announced.)
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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2026/01/just-corrected-facts-part-2.html.
**At least one such request has since been filed.
Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 118
From X (Twitter): The @DeptWar is formally ending ALL Professional Military Education, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard University. Harvard is woke; The War Department is not. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth
Video below: (NOTE: If you are scrolling down this blog, you may get a notice that the video is unavailable. Clicking on the actual post will make it appear. Or you can go directly to the X{Twitter} link at the bottom.)
Or direct to https://x.com/secwar/status/2019918910502457536.
Sunday, February 8, 2026
Another Closed-Door Regents Meeting Coming Up
February 7, 2026
TO THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA:
Because the membership of the Advisory Group on Research and Programs Funding Legal Issues (“Advisory Group”) includes five members of the Regents’ Governance Committee, there exists the potential for having present a quorum of a Regents’ Committee when the advisory committee meets.
This notice of meeting is served in order to comply fully with pertinent open meeting laws.
On Tuesday, February 10, 2026, there will be a Closed Session, Special Meeting of the Regents’ Governance Committee concurrent with the Advisory Group to discuss Research and Programs Funding Legal Issues (Closed Session Statute Citation: Litigation [Education Code section 92032(b)(5)].)
The meeting will convene at 4:00 p.m. at 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland and adjourn at approximately 4:30 p.m.
(Advisory Group members: Regents Anguiano, Cohen, Hernandez, Leib, Matosantos, Milliken, Reilly, Robinson, Sarris, and Sures)
Source: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/feb26/meeting-notice_federal-february-10-2026.pdf.
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Aimée Dorr
From the UCLA Newsroom: Aimée Dorr, the former dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies and provost of the University of California system, died Jan. 25 at her home in South Pasadena, California. She was 83. A longtime professor of education and academic leader at UCLA, Dorr took the helm of the graduate school in 1999 and over the next 13 years helped transform it into a national leader in both education and information studies. Her vision, centered on the importance of making a difference through scholarship and professional practice, emphasized equity, access and bridge-building that brought the expertise of the school’s faculty and staff into Los Angeles communities.
“As dean, Aimée helped set the course for the newly formed UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, bringing together the departments of education and information studies to pursue research, scholarship and practice within and across their respective fields,” said Christina (Tina) Christie, the Wasserman Dean of the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies. “Her vision and leadership helped our school develop future generations of scholars, teachers, information professionals and institutional leaders and established a powerful commitment to the principles of responsibility and social justice, an ethic of caring, and deep partnership with communities that continue to guide our work today.” ...
In July 2012, just days after stepping down as dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies after 13 years — and after nearly 31 years at UCLA — Dorr assumed the role of provost and executive vice president for academic affairs of the University of California, serving as the system’s chief academic officer and leading efforts to ensure the academic excellence of all the UC’s campuses. “Aimée Dorr is an accomplished leader with superb management skills, strategic vision and a long-standing commitment to expanding educational opportunities for all segments of society,” then–UC President Mark Yudof said in announcing her appointment. “Her inclusive management style and understanding of the University of California at all levels will serve the entire system and each of our 10 campuses very well during these challenging times.”
Dorr would serve in the position until retiring in 2017...
Full release at https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/in-memoriam-aimee-dorr-school-education-information-studies.
Straws in the Wind - Part 247
From the Brown Daily Herald: Brown is working with global consulting firm Teneo for its two external security assessments following the Dec. 13 shooting... According to the announcement, the reviews are set to continue throughout the semester, after which “key outcomes” will be shared with the Brown community and the public. The first assessment is an after-action review, which will assess campus safety before, during and after the shooting. The second assessment is a comprehensive campus safety and security assessment, which will look into Brown’s security practices and infrastructure.
When University President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 first announced the security assessments Dec. 22, the external organization that would be carrying out the reviews had not yet been announced, but that the Brown Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, would be overseeing the reviews. The two co-leads of Teneo’s review team for their work with Brown are Courtney Adante and Bill Bratton.Adante is the president of Teneo’s security risk advisory team, and she has a master’s degree in cybersecurity risk and strategy from New York University, according to Teneo’s website. Bratton is the executive chairman of risk advisory at Teneo, and he formerly served as commissioner of the New York and Boston Police Departments and chief of the Los Angeles Police Department...
Full story at https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2026/01/consulting-firm-teneo-to-assist-with-post-shooting-security-reviews.
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From Inside Higher Ed: Faculty members in the University of Houston’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Science were asked to sign a three-page memo pledging not to “indoctrinate” their students, the Houston Chronicle reported. In a November email to faculty, Houston president Renu Khator wrote that the university’s responsibility is to “give [students] the ability to form their own opinions, not to force a particular one on them. Our guiding principle is to teach them, not to indoctrinate them.” The recent memo, sent by college dean Daniel O’Connor, asks faculty to “document compliance” with Khator’s note. It’s a way to ensure all faculty members are compliant with Texas’s Senate Bill 37, O’Conner told associate English professor MarÃa González in a meeting. The law mandates regular reviews of core undergraduate curriculum but does not address indoctrination or what material can or cannot be taught.
By Feb. 10, faculty must signal their agreement with the following five statements: “A primary purpose of higher education is to enhance critical thinking;” “Our responsibility is to give students the ability to form their own opinions, not to indoctrinate them;” “I understand the definition and attributes of critical thinking;” “I design my courses and course materials to be consistent with the definition and attributes of critical thinking;” and “I use methods of instruction that are intended to enhance students’ critical thinking.” ...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/02/06/houston-faculty-must-pledge-not-indoctrinate-students.
Naming
Amendments to Academic Senate Bylaw 140
Background and Justification: At its January 28, 2026 meeting, following a systemwide Senate review, the Academic Council approved revisions to Senate Bylaw 140 to update the name of the University Committee on Affirmative Action, Diversity, and Equity (UCAADE). The revised name—University Committee on Diversity and Equity (UCODE)— and committee charge remove references to “affirmative action” while retaining the committee’s existing core responsibilities.
During the systemwide review of an earlier, more extensive proposal, comments from Senate divisions and committees indicated broad support for removing “affirmative action” from the committee’s name.
However, reviewers raised significant concerns about other proposed revisions, noting that they would weaken UCAADE by eliminating explicit references to diversity, removing language naming historically marginalized groups, and diluting core functions related to data collection, evaluation, coordination, and reporting. Several divisions expressed concern that the proposed revisions reduced clarity and accountability and could be perceived as politically motivated or overly reactive to external pressures.
Reviewers emphasized the importance of maintaining clear authority, scope, and accountability mechanisms, including the committee’s role in tracking inequities, coordinating divisional Senate committees, maintaining institutional memory, and producing regular reports.
In response to this feedback, UCAADE returned to the Academic Council with a significantly narrowed proposal limited to removing the term “affirmative action” from its name and corresponding references in its charge. No other substantive changes to the committee’s responsibilities were proposed.
UCAADE was established during a period when the University of California, like many institutions nationwide, sought to address longstanding structures of inequity affecting students, faculty, and staff. In the current environment, increased sensitivity to the term “affirmative action” and its potential misinterpretation, particularly in relation to Proposition 209, prompted the committee to reconsider the continued references to this term. Although “affirmative action” does not refer to activities prohibited by Proposition 209, UCAADE determined that retaining the term may cause public confusion. UC does not practice affirmative action and remains in full compliance with state law; however, the committee’s work to promote equity, diversity, and the elimination of discrimination remains essential. Removing the term from the committee’s name clarifies this distinction and reduces the risk of misinterpretation, while preserving the committee’s mission and functions.
The University Committee on Rules and Jurisdiction (UCRJ) found that the proposed amendments are consistent with the Code of the Academic Senate.
Per Senate Bylaw 116.E, modification of a Senate bylaw requires the approval of two-thirds of all voting Assembly members present.
ACTION REQUESTED: The Assembly is asked to approve the proposed revisions to Senate Bylaw 140.
Source: https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/assembly/assembly-agenda-2-12-26.pdf (p. 16)
Saturday, February 7, 2026
No Hastings - Part 2
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| Hastings |
The case wended its way through the courts and last week, the California Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from lower court decisions that had approved the change in name.
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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/02/no-hastings.html for Part 1. Type "Hastings" into the search engine for this blog for various earlier postings about this issue.
Straws in the Wind - Part 246
From Inside Higher Ed: In 2024, the chair of the statewide University of North Carolina Faculty Assembly and the UNC state system embarked on a fraught mission at a fraught time: writing “a consensus definition” of academic freedom for the entire university system. Academic freedom scholars have themselves long disagreed over what academic freedom does and doesn’t protect... Now... the UNC Board of Governors is set to vote on a lengthy definition. It promises many of the protections contained in other descriptions of academic freedom, but it’s drawn opposition from the state’s American Association of University Professors arm over both the express limits it places on that freedom and what the AAUP calls vague language that could be used to further restrict classroom teaching.
“Academic freedom is not absolute,” the proposed new definition says. “Academic freedom is the foundational principle that protects the rights of all faculty to engage in teaching, research/creative activities, service, and scholarly inquiry without undue influence,” the definition says. It goes on to say academic freedom includes the right to teach and research “controversial or unpopular ideas related to the discipline or subject matter.” It also includes parameters saying what academic freedom isn’t.
...But there isn’t full consensus. The state chapter of the national AAUP, which wrote the landmark 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, is objecting... “The impulse to fence in academic freedom should be disregarded and eschewed,” lawyers for the AAUP wrote this week to system officials. “The convenience of defining an academic freedom ‘box’ is antithetical to case law, our constitutions, and historical approaches.”
...Under the proposed definition, the “parameters of academic freedom” won’t include teaching “clearly unrelated to the course description,” “using university resources for political or ideological advocacy in violation of university policy,” or “refusing to comply with institutional policies or accreditation standards.” ...Further, it says, “Management is responsible for resource allocation and program viability,” including approving and eliminating programs and setting “broad curricular frameworks.” And the section on student academic freedom says, among other things, “Students are free to take reasoned exception to concepts and theories presented in their classes … even as they continue to be responsible for learning assigned course content.” ...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2026/01/29/unc-plans-define-what-academic-freedom-and-isnt.
Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 117
From the NY Times: Harvard undergraduates would compete for a limited number of A grades in their courses under a faculty committee proposal released Friday meant to tame grade inflation at the Ivy League school. During the last school year, about two-thirds of all undergraduate letter grades were A’s. Under the new proposal, grades of A would be limited to 20 percent of grades in a course, with an allowance of four additional A’s. So, for example, a professor teaching a class of 100 students would be able to award up to 24 grades of A under the proposal, which could come to a vote by faculty this spring. There would be no limits on A-minus and lower grades.
Grades of A at Harvard are supposed to be reserved for work of “extraordinary distinction,” but they have exploded to become the majority of grades awarded. In developing the proposal, the committee decided to propose returning the A to a lofty designation, as it had originally been intended, said Alisha Holland, a professor in the Department of Government at Harvard and a member of the committee that issued the proposal. “We thought, ‘What if we try to give meaning to the shared standards we already have around grading?’” ...
Harvard’s grade inflation report in October floated the notion of recognizing the very best students by allowing a limited number of A+’s, a grade not used at Harvard, but that idea is not in the new proposal...
Full story at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/us/harvard-grade-inflation.html.
Friday, February 6, 2026
Reminder
And another weekend-long closure is planned for March.
The freeway will be reduced to three lanes in each direction in the area of the Getty Center from 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6 through 5 a.m. Monday, Feb. 9. Additionally, one off-ramp will be closed...
Construction has been underway on the 405 Freeway in and near the Sepulveda Pass since June as part of the I-405 Pavement Rehabilitation Project, a $143.7 million project to improve safety and mobility along the freeway and extend the life of its pavement, according to Caltrans...
Full story at https://patch.com/california/los-angeles/weekend-long-closure-405-freeway-begins-friday.
Falling Feeder
Santa Monica College is the top community college feeder to transfer students to UCLA. However, it, like other community colleges is having fiscal problems due to falling enrollment and other factors. The impact could be felt at UCLA due to legislative mandates concerning transfers.
From the Santa Monica Daily Press: Santa Monica College will eliminate approximately 70 positions as the institution confronts a projected $16.7 million deficit that could deplete its financial reserves by the 2026-27 school year, Superintendent/President Kathryn E. Jeffery announced in a letter to the college community. The layoffs, which affect classified staff and management positions, represent the latest effort to address a structural budget deficit that has steadily eroded the college's fund balance from $43.9 million in 2021-22 to a projected $13.1 million by the end of the current fiscal year and a loss of $3 million by next fiscal year...
The college has already notified affected employees and is working with the California School Employees Association to support those impacted by the reductions. The layoffs come after the college implemented $8.6 million in budget cuts for the 2025-26 fiscal year, including a 5% reduction in class schedules, attrition-based position eliminations and discretionary budget reductions... The financial crisis stems from multiple factors that have converged over the past several years. The college's enrollment has declined approximately 13% since 2018-19, dropping from 19,501 full-time equivalent students to 17,089 in the current year. More significantly, changes to funding at the state level have been chipping away at SMC’s finances for years.
Under the funding formula implemented in 2018-19, California community colleges receive allocations based on three components: base enrollment (70%), supplemental support for low-income students (20%), and student success metrics (10%). When the formula was introduced, 27 districts — including Santa Monica — saw funding decreases and were placed in "hold harmless" status, receiving their previous year's allocation plus cost-of-living adjustments. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the state extended those protections through 2024-25. However, starting in 2025-26, colleges in hold harmless status no longer receive annual cost-of-living increases, effectively freezing their state funding even as expenses continue to rise.
...The college is... pursuing enrollment growth strategies to eventually increase state funding, though such efforts face headwinds from declining high school graduation rates. According to Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education projections, California high school graduates are projected to decline 29% by 2041, with key feeder districts for Santa Monica College seeing even steeper drops in the coming years...
Full story at: https://www.smdp.com/layoffs-coming-to-santa-monica-college-as-the-school-runs-out-of-money-next-year/.
Note that similar trends are likely to affect other big feeder community colleges to UCLA such as Pasadena. Santa Monica College has undertaken considerable capital investments over the years. Voters tend to be friendly with regard to approving bonds for educational purposes. But ultimately, the fixed costs of paying off those bonds have to be paid, even if falling enrollment leads to excess capacity. The same trends are affecting K-12 districts.
Straws in the Wind - Part 245
From Inside Higher Ed: Beginning next month, a new test will join the SAT and ACT as an admissions option for prospective students applying to the United States’ elite service academies: the Classic Learning Test, an up-and-coming exam that focuses on passages from the Western canon... For years, it was relatively niche, serving primarily as an academic progress exam for private classical schools, an educational movement that promotes the study of classic Western literature and other liberal arts. Some colleges and universities allowed it as an entrance exam, though many were test optional, meaning a student could submit their CLT score if they felt it bolstered their application... That changed in 2023, when the State University System of Florida’s Board of Governors began accepting the CLT—in addition to the better-known SAT and ACT—as an admissions exam for its public universities, which all require test scores for admission, as well as for its flagship Bright Futures scholarship program.
Now, more than two years later, Arkansas and Oklahoma have followed suit, allowing submission of the CLT for admission to their public institutions, and students in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Wyoming can submit CLT scores for state merit scholarships. In addition, the University of North Carolina System recently began accepting CLT scores for students who meet a GPA threshold. The test has also become a darling of the conservative right, whose members argue that it is more rigorous than its competitors and can “restore merit” in higher education...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2026/01/29/clt-test-beloved-conservatives-continues-growing.
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From Inside Higher Ed: A collection of public school districts and university faculty members are challenging Department of Homeland Security policies that allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to conduct detainment activities on or near public education campuses. The complaint, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, comes in the wake of a surge of ICE presence in Minneapolis and Saint Paul and the killing of two American protesters, Alex Pretti and Renee Good. As the threat of immigration enforcement grows, the plaintiffs argue that ICE action at public K-12 schools and on college campuses is not only a violation of the rights of immigrants but also a disruption to the lives of U.S. citizens.
Historically, federal regulations deemed public education institutions, churches and other religiously affiliated spaces as “sensitive locations” and therefore they were off limits to immigration enforcement teams, except in rare pre-approved circumstances. But on Jan. 21, 2025, President Trump revoked that policy, opening the flood gates to increased ICE activity in all spaces...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/02/05/ice-sued-over-policy-allowing-immigration-actions-campus.
I never promised you a Rose Bowl? - Part 12
From Pasadena Now: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has denied a request by the University of California Regents, on behalf of UCLA, to force arbitration in an ongoing lawsuit with the City and the Rose Bowl Operating Company over the Bruins’ long-term stadium agreement. In a ruling issued on Tuesday, Judge Joseph Lipner rejected motions by UCLA to compel arbitration and stay the case, allowing the breach-of-contract lawsuit to proceed in court.
“The court DENIES the motions to compel arbitration. The Court DENIES the motions to stay proceedings,” according to the minute order. “UCLA also filed a motion to quash deposition subpoenas and enter a protective order. The Court DENIES UCLA’s motion to quash.” ...
Full story at https://pasadenanow.com/main/judge-rejects-ucla-bid-to-force-rose-bowl-dispute-into-arbitration.
It wasn't clear why UCLA thought it would get a better deal from an arbitrator than from a trial. Either way, breaking a long-term contract was going to cost big bucks. But whatever the thinking, it lost.
Note that this affair is occurring at a time when its athletics program is running in the red, and while the university is feeling budget pressures across the campus.
Thursday, February 5, 2026
Epstein in Academialand
The Epstein files that have been released involve millions of items, and the US Dept. of Justice has a searchable database:
https://www.justice.gov/epstein
Put in a name and out will come references. I typed in "Smith" and over 10,000 documents popped up. Lots of the contacts - although some very peripheral - are academics. They are often at prominent institutions. Their names aren't for the most part well known in general, but they are often significant figures in their fields. Student newspapers are having a field day searching for Epstein references to individuals at their schools. For that matter, so are professional journalists.
Remember the Steve Bannon idea of "flooding the zone," the concept that if you just keep throwing out stuff into the public arena, journalists and the general public will lose sight of what's important and what's not? So let's take a deep breath and recall what is - or was - supposed to be important.
Why was there pressure to release the files? Democrats assumed that there would be derogatory material on Trump, beyond what was already known. Republicans assumed there would be derogatory material on the Clintons. Conspiracy theorists within MAGA thought the files would expose who-knows-what: The identity of Q? The "deep state"? The fact that Epstein is an obviously Jewish name has only added to the conspiracy view in the current climate. (Nobody has made this self-evident point, so I will.)
Note that as more and more files have been dumped into public view, you don't hear much about Trump. Now, even if someone finds something more than has been in public view for some time about the Trump-Epstein connection, it will just seem to be one of thousands of such connections. The zone has been flooded. There is mud everywhere. In the confusion, what was assumed initially to be THE story has been lost in the confusion and muck.
What has emerged about Epstein is that he was very good at ingratiating himself with prominent people. And, like other con artists, he wasn't especially concerned with the truth, although he was obviously bright. He started teaching math (with falsified credentials) at a prestigious, high-end private school, got noticed by someone with connections in finance, and progressively exploited the resulting contacts in the world of finance to make himself wealthy. Part of his MO was to link up with academics and higher ed institutions, dangling the potential of research and other funding. Providing research funding gave him an aura of legitimacy in academia and beyond. Thus, his story includes prominent faculty, some of whom circled around him like bees to a flower. The New York Times has a lengthy piece on how Epstein made his money and developed his contacts if you want more detail.*
The problem is that we are moving into witch hunt territory, with individuals who were found in the file dump now apologizing, or saying they didn't know about the sex stuff, and, in any case, hoping they won't be canceled. You'll be shocked, shocked to know that there are academics who are attracted to money, who like to be flattered, and who even say off-putting things in private. Moreover, it is often difficult from the documents to know whether someone who was named in some email had any real connection.
The bottom line: It's hard to keep your eye on the ball when the juggler has so many of them.
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*https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/magazine/jeffrey-epstein-money-scams-investigation.html.
Clips
The UCLA Alumni Association has put together clips from movies & TV filmed at UCLA:
Vol. 1:
Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke_392sjUUU.
Vol. 2:
Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO9tVbe3TVk.Vol. 3:
Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiOMxuhnw6o.
Straws in the Wind - Part 244
From Inside Higher Ed: Sociology faculty at Florida International University are outraged that their department is requiring them to use a state-approved textbook to teach an introductory course as part of the university’s general education curriculum. They say the state’s process for developing the textbook and new course framework was opaque, rushed and designed to pressure universities into adopting censored learning materials without a legal directive to do so.
Furthermore, the textbook—a heavily edited version of an open-source sociology textbook titled Introduction to Sociology 3e—now makes only cursory mentions of important sociological concepts regarding race, gender, sexuality and other topics that have drawn Republican ire. Faculty say it whitewashes the field’s key principles, diminishes the quality of education for students and intensifies the state’s attacks on academic freedom. ...Compared to the original 669-page textbook, the new version is just 267 pages. Unlike the original, the state-approved version doesn’t include chapters on media and technology, global inequality, race and ethnicity, social stratification, or gender, sex and sexuality...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2026/01/29/florida-introduces-sanitized-sociology-textbook.
Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 116
From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard pushed to increase the course load of non-tenure-track faculty at a bargaining session last Friday, escalating tensions with the union’s thousands of members as the negotiations drag into their second year. The proposal would permit the University to require lecturers and preceptors, who typically teach a maximum of four and five classes, to take on up to five or six class sections per year, respectively. The move marks Harvard’s third attempt at upping the workload of non-tenure-track faculty.
...The union rejected Harvard’s offer all three times. Harvard Academic Workers-United Auto Workers, which represented more than 2,600 non-ladder faculty as of Wednesday, has been negotiating since September 2024 for their first contract... Friday’s bargaining session marked the second time the union had resumed negotiating with the University since nearly 1,300 members demanded Harvard agree to a contract last November... Though a new maximum course load would not necessarily create more courses for non-tenure-track faculty, the union raised concerns that current financial constraints could give the University a “strong incentive” to up the status quo to five or six courses per year...
...Harvard offered to eliminate time caps on the condition that all current non-ladder faculty must reapply at the end of their current appointment for an uncapped position in a May counterproposal to the union. But the union refused to agree, citing a list of other restrictions the University sought to impose...
Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/1/28/time-caps-teaching-load/.
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Still Waiting for that New Master Plan
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| UC President Clark Kerr hands the Master Plan to Gov. Pat Brown |
From CalMatters: In the past two years, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed three bills that would have allowed community colleges to award students more bachelor’s degrees. Unfazed, lawmakers are now backing a fourth bill that does much of the same. The measure, Assembly Bill 664, cleared its first legislative tests by passing the Assembly Jan. 26, potentially setting up another collision course between state lawmakers and the governor.
While Newsom supports more bachelor’s degrees for students, he’s repeatedly stated his opposition to adding more community college baccalaureate programs that go outside an agreed-upon process in a law that he and lawmakers approved in 2021. That law said community colleges can develop up to 30 bachelor’s degrees per academic year, as long as the degrees do not duplicate the baccalaureate programs of the University of California and California State University.
But since then, community colleges and Cal State have disagreed on what counts as duplication, resulting in more than a dozen stalled community college bachelor’s programs because Cal State opposed them. Both public university systems oppose the latest bill. They fear more community colleges will seek their own degrees that duplicate what the universities offer, unraveling the 2021 law. The universities see themselves as the traditional generators of bachelor’s degrees. Community colleges say the state is too big and spread out to limit public four-year degrees to just the Cal State and UC...
Full story at https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/01/community-colleges-california-2/.
Straws in the Wind - Part 243
From Inside Higher Ed: The Department of Education is taking its next major step toward overhauling the college accreditation system, inviting higher ed policy experts to suggest nominees for an upcoming negotiating committee. But while the... announcement sheds more light on the Trump administration’s priorities, it provides no concrete plan on how they intend to make those goals a reality. President Trump has long declared accreditation reform his “secret weapon,” and the department had already signaled its desire for change.
Now, the department turns its attention to rewriting the rules that govern accreditors—a process that will involve convening an advisory committee to provide input on the changes. That committee will discuss up to 10 topics outlined in the Federal Register notice, though much of the attention is expected to focus on making it easier for new accreditors to join the market, increasing the agencies’ focus on data-driven student performance benchmarks, and scrubbing any existing diversity, equity and inclusion standards.
...Colleges have to be approved by a federally recognized accreditor in order to access federal student aid, and that gatekeeping role has led to more scrutiny on the agencies in recent years. So, while policy experts on both sides of the political aisle have long agreed that the accreditation system needs to improve, their views on how to make that happen differ.
...But accreditation policy experts, even those who support the idea in theory, say it’s unclear how ED can rework the process given several bright lines outlined in statute about what it takes to become a government-approved accreditor. For example, accreditors must have operated for at least two years before gaining recognition. And while Kyle Beltramini, a senior research fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, fully supports the idea of making it easier for new accreditors to enter the market, he said the time requirement is something that cannot be changed without Congressional approval...
...Along with allowing new accreditors to enter the ecosystem, the Trump administration has also aimed to shut down the so-called “woke” standards of existing ones—particularly when it comes to the consideration of demographics like race, gender and sexuality. (Many of which have already been rolled back or made more flexible in response to the administration’s political pressure.) But now... experts say the administration may also be looking to accomplish broader goals like boosting intellectual diversity and conservative representation among faculty. As is the case with introducing new accreditors, higher ed policy experts remain uncertain how the Trump administration intends to do so without violating the law...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/accreditation/2026/01/27/education-dept-eyes-rewrite-accreditation-rules.
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 115 (New Development Undone)
Yesterday, in our Will Harvard...? post, we noted a NY Times story saying Trump was no longer asking for $500 million from Harvard. Whether there was something to it then is unclear. But it seems to have been quickly undone:
Heaps Returns
James Heaps – a UCLA gynecologist and a faculty member in the David Geffen School of Medicine from 1989 to 2018 – was convicted on three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual exploitation of an unconscious victim in 2022. He was originally sentenced to 11 years in state prison in 2023 but will now face a retrial. The university agreed to pay nearly $700 million in settlements to Heaps’ patients after he faced more than 500 sexual misconduct lawsuits.
The appeals court cited a note from the foreperson – the juror charged with overseeing deliberations – which said one juror experienced a significant language barrier and was unable to deliberate as reasoning for the retrial...
Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/02/02/court-reverses-former-ucla-gynecologist-sexual-battery-conviction-orders-retrial.
Global Penn
The chart is from https://www.thedp.com/article/2026/01/penn-professors-undergraduate-institution-degree-data.
Straws in the Wind - Part 242
From Inside Higher Ed: Texas governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, ordered all state colleges and universities to freeze their applications for new H-1B visas... The pause... will last until May 31, 2027, though some institutions may be able to proceed if granted written permission by the Texas Workforce Commission... Texas’s halt on hiring visa holders comes on the heels of a proposed pause in Florida. Colleges and other industries use the visa program to attract skilled workers. To qualify for one, a worker must be employed in a “specialty occupation” that requires “highly specialized knowledge,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
In an effort to restrict access to the visas, the Trump administration added a $100,000 fee for new applicants in September, which colleges have said would be detrimental to the recruitment and retention of international faculty, researchers and staff members. The decision in Texas came less than 24 hours after Abbott first announced publicly that he was considering such a move and had requested records on all H-1B visa–holding employees at the state’s public universities and K–12 schools.
...On [a] radio show, Abbott suggested that some visa holders may have overstayed their legal welcome, adding that those are “the type of people that the Trump administration is trying to remove.” ...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/01/28/texas-pauses-use-h-1b-visas-state-universities.
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From the NY Times: Texas A&M University said [last] Friday that it would end its women’s and gender studies program, and that the syllabuses for hundreds of courses had been altered under new policies limiting how race and gender ideology may be discussed in classrooms. The university said that six courses had been canceled entirely because of the new rules, out of the roughly 5,400 that were planned for this semester at one of the nation’s largest public universities.
The A&M system’s regents — all of them appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican — approved the restrictive policies late last year, and officials have been scrambling since then to interpret and enforce them. Supporters contend that the rules are appropriate measures to prevent political ideologies, especially those often associated with the left, from entering classrooms. Opponents say the approach encourages self-censorship and is itself ideological. A top-down demand to scrutinize a university’s entire course catalog in so short a time is extraordinarily rare in the United States, where professors have long had sweeping control over their syllabuses...
...Tommy Williams, the university’s interim president, said in a statement that he had directed the closure because of low enrollment and “the difficulty of bringing the program in compliance with the new system policies.” He said that students who were already pursuing degrees or certificates in the program would be able to complete them. In 2024, the regents ordered A&M to drop its minor in L.G.B.T.Q. studies. But ending a full bachelor’s degree program represents a sharp escalation in the debate over what should be taught at public universities in Texas, the nation’s most populous conservative state...
Full story at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/us/texas-am-gender-ethnic-womens-studies-academic-freedom.html.
Pension Payments at Risk - Part 3
More cases of such diversion are being reported. If you get a UC pension, your February payment should have been sent to your chosen bank over the past weekend. You should verify that the transfer occurred.
If you did not get your payment, notify RASC. See our prior post on this matter for contact information.* We have been told that UC will reimburse diverted payments - but how long that process might take is unclear.
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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2026/01/pension-payments-at-risk-part-2.html.
Monday, February 2, 2026
Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 114 (New Development Reported)
From the NY Times: President Trump has backtracked on a major point in negotiations with Harvard, dropping his administration’s demand for a $200 million payment to the government in hopes of finally resolving the administration’s conflicts with the university, according to four people briefed on the matter. Harvard has been the top target in Mr. Trump’s sweeping campaign to exert more control over higher education. Hard-liners in his administration had wanted Harvard to write a check to the U.S. Treasury as part of a deal to address claims that university officials mishandled antisemitism, The New York Times previously reported. But Harvard, wary of backlash from liberal students and faculty, has rejected the idea.
Trump administration officials have indicated in recent days that the president no longer expects such a payment, according to the Harvard and Trump officials briefed on the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. The White House’s concession comes amid sagging approval ratings for Mr. Trump, and as he faces outrage over immigration enforcement tactics and the shooting deaths of two Americans by federal agents in Minnesota. A deal with Harvard would hand the president a victory at a difficult time in his presidency. But those same factors could also torpedo a deal, as some Harvard leaders now consider the risk of backlash even higher if they are seen as having any hand in easing the pressure on Mr. Trump, according to one person familiar with their thinking.
Some connected to the university, however, think Harvard has no option but to eventually cut a deal. The administration has repeatedly attempted to cut off research grants, which would be an untenable crisis. Like many major research universities, Harvard relies on federal funding for its financial model. Harvard’s top governing board was scheduled to meet Monday [today] and was expected to discuss Mr. Trump’s concession on money, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. A Harvard spokesman declined to comment about the latest shift in the talks...
Full story at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/us/politics/trump-harvard-payment.html.
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Note: Dropping the money at Harvard could affect the situation with regard to UC - with the $1 billion+ demand currently on the table. Harvard had in the past reportedly been willing to spend $500 million for "workforce development," whatever that means, but not willing to pay money directly to the feds. UC/UCLA doesn't have a handy $500 million to divert to some non-UC use, even if its not paid to the feds. Still, it's likely that the news above has caught the attention of the UC Regents.
I Never Promised You a Rose Bowl? - Part 11
From Pasadena Now: A Los Angeles Superior Court judge questioned Thursday whether the [Pasadena] City’s advance breach claim that UCLA signaled it would abandon the Rose Bowl years before its stadium agreement expires fits within the contract’s narrow arbitration clause. Judge Joseph Lipner took the matter under submission after oral arguments last week. City officials are now awaiting a ruling on the motion, which could ultimately open the door for UCLA to move its football games from the Rose Bowl to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood... City attorneys argue that mechanism applies only to routine, curable performance issues, not to efforts to terminate the agreement...
UCLA currently pays no rent to play at the Rose Bowl and does not receive revenue from the stadium’s luxury suites... Even if the judge orders arbitration, UCLA could still face substantial financial penalties if it ultimately leaves the Rose Bowl.
Full story at https://pasadenanow.com/main/judge-questions-whether-pasadena-ucla-dispute-belongs-in-arbitration.
Straws in the Wind - Part 241
From the Yale Daily News: This academic year, some English professors have increased their preference for physical copies of readings, citing concerns related to artificial intelligence. Many English professors have identified the use of chatbots as harmful to critical thinking and writing. Now, professors who had previously allowed screens in class are tightening technology restrictions. Professor Kim Shirkhani, who teaches “Reading and Writing the Modern Essay,” explained that for about a decade prior to this semester, she did not require printed readings. This semester, she is requiring all students to have printed options. “Over the years I’ve found that when students read on paper they're more likely to read carefully, and less likely in a pinch to read on their phones or rely on chatbot summaries,” Shirkhani wrote to the News. “This improves the quality of class time by orders of magnitude.”
...Last semester, professor Pamela Newton, who also teaches the course, allowed students to bring readings either on tablets or in printed form. While laptops felt like a “wall” in class, Newton said, students could use iPads to annotate readings and lie them flat on the table during discussions. However, Newton said she felt “paranoid” that students could be texting during class. This semester, Newton has removed the option to bring iPads to class, except for accessibility needs, as a part of the general movement in the “Reading and Writing the Modern Essay” seminars to “swim against the tide of AI use,” reduce “the infiltration of tech,” and “go back to pen and paper,” she said...
Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/articles/english-professors-double-down-on-requiring-printed-copies-of-readings.
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From the Yale Daily News: University presidents from around the country gathered at Yale [last] Tuesday for an annual summit that included a presentation of awards to Harvard President Alan Garber and former University of Virginia President James Ryan ’88 — both of whom received national attention last year for their public clashes with President Donald Trump amid his crackdown on elite higher education.
Last year, as the federal government tried to pressure Garber and Ryan into reforming their respective universities’ policies, Yale comparatively flew under Trump’s radar. Amid Trump’s pervasive criticism of higher education, [Yale] University President Maurie McInnis — one of the presenters of Tuesday’s awards — prioritized behind-the-scenes advocacy in Washington, D.C., over issuing public statements, in accordance with the guidance she adopted in October 2024 that recommends administrators largely refrain from making public statements on current events...
Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/articles/university-leaders-convene-at-yale-honoring-two-who-clashed-with-trump.
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