As blog readers will know, the campus Academic Senate has been pushing for budget information from Murphy Hall, and recently passed a resolution to that effect. There seems to be a factual dispute between the Senate and the powers-that-be what providing budgetary information actually means. See the letter below:January 20, 2026
Julio Frenk
Chancellor, UCLA
Darnell Hunt
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (EVCP), UCLA
Re: Corrections of Fact on Your 12/18/2025 Letter on the Legislative Assembly Budget Planning Resolution
Dear Chancellor Frenk and EVCP Hunt,
On behalf of the Legislative Assembly, thank you for your timely response to its Resolution on Financial Transparency and the Restoration of Shared Governance in Budget Planning. To both keep Senate Faculty informed about this important issue that is of major concern to them given the potential impacts of the current campus budget deficit on the academic mission, and in the interest of transparency and “no surprises” that are essential principles for shared governance, we are providing these corrections of fact to your letter. Below we provide screenshots in boxes of sections of your letter followed by corrections of fact.
It is our intention that these corrections of fact will provide a common and shared understanding of the budget consultation process to date. It is our goal that a shared base of facts will foster a more transparent and substantive budget planning process that instills trust and protects the academic mission of our campus.
Item 1. Corrections of Fact:
The Council on Planning and Budget (CPB) has received mainly verbal presentations of limited data that have been insufficient for meaningful consultation on the campus budget:
2024-25
Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Agostini did not provide any written materials to CPB for review during AY 2024-25. Instead, he provided 20-35 minutes of verbal updates at the following meetings: October 7, 2024, October 21, 2024, December 2, 2024, February 10, 2025, February 24, 2025, March 10, 2025, and May 5, 2025. CFO Agostini attended CPB meetings, but did not provide information on November 18, 2024, and May 19, 2025. He presented one slide on May 5, 2025, titled: "Chancellor's central resources to reach ending balance deficit of -$650 by FY26 if deficit resolution plan is not enacted.”
2025-26
October 13, 2025: CFO Agostini presented three slides at the CPB meeting, which were neither shared in advance nor after the meeting: i) UCLA’s Budget Sources for 2023-24, ii) Chancellorial Revenue for FY24, iii) “Constrained ability to rely on future revenue increases to balance the budget.” [30 minutes]
October 27, 2025: CFO Agostini presented five slides at the CPB meeting, which were neither shared in advance nor after the meeting: i) 2023-24 Budget sources, ii) Chancellor Commitment Allocations FY21-27, iii) “Limited ability to rely on future revenue increases to balance budget” (with graph showing decline in per-student general fund support), iv) “Chancellor’s resources to reach ending balance deficit in FY 2026,” v) “FY25 action that closed central Chancellorial deficit.” [30 minutes]
November 10, 2025: EVCP Hunt visited the CPB meeting where CFO Agostini provided a verbal update. [40 minutes]
December 1, 2025: CFO Agostini joined the meeting after declining the invitation to attend; he did not provide data or updates, only verbal comments on a proposed consultation timeline developed by CPB and shared with CFO Agostini in October 2025. [30 minutes]
December 5, 2025: Academic Planning and Budget office (APB) provided i) a list of budget conference meetings for FY 2026-27 scheduled for February-March 2026, ii) 42 proposed unit budgets for FY 2025-26 in PowerPoint format, and iii) 39 updated unit budget slides for FY 2025-26 in PowerPoint format.
January 12, 2026: CFO Agostini presented one slide at the CPB meeting, which was neither shared in advance nor after the meeting: Chancellor’s resources to reach ending balance deficit in FY 2026 with sources, uses, and 2024-25 actual, 2025-26 forecast, and 2026-27 estimate.
Item 2. Corrections of Fact:
Academic Planning and Budget office (APB) provided i) a list of budget conference meetings for FY 2026-27 scheduled for February-March 2026, ii) 42 proposed unit budgets for FY 2025-26 in PowerPoint format and iii) 39 updated unit budget slides for FY 2025-26 in PowerPoint format.
Item 3. Corrections of Fact:
CPB and Senate leadership have not received budget documents beyond those described in the previous sections, so nothing has been provided that can be distributed. On multiple occasions Senate leadership has been told that Executive Budget Action Group (EBAG) budget discussions and materials are confidential and could not be shared broadly.
Item 4. Corrections of Fact:
Although CFO Agostini attends the majority of the two-hour CPB meetings for approximately 30 minutes, the time spent has not been productive because CPB does not receive documents for consideration. CFO Agostini has attended 15 of 19 CPB meetings between October 2024 through January 2026.
Item 5. Corrections of Fact:
The Academic Senate has not received any information (analysis, projections, data, etc.) for the FY 2026-27 budget cycle on December 5, 2025, or any point to date. The only information received was the PowerPoint slides provided by 42 units for FY 2025-26 as explained above. Again, the intention of this corrections of fact letter is to promote meaningful shared governance and transparent communication because there is significant evidence over 100 years that when Senate faculty provide substantive advice the campus makes better decisions that promote the excellence of research and teaching central to our academic mission. At a critical time in the university’s history, leaning into our collective strengths will protect what we most value.
Sincerely,
Megan McEvoy, Chair, UCLA Academic Senate
Cc: Kathy Bawn, Immediate Past Chair, UCLA Academic Senate
Richard Desjardins, CPB Chair, UCLA Academic Senate
April de Stefano, Executive Director, UCLA Academic Senate
Elizabeth Feller, Associate Director, UCLA Academic Senate
Tim Groeling, Vice Chair/Chair Elect, UCLA Academic Senate
Emily Rose, Assistant Provost and Chief of Staff to the EVCP, UCLA
Julie Sina, Chief of Staff to the Chancellor, UCLA
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