Fast vs. Slow: Maybe That's Not the Question

There seems to be confusion in news accounts - as blog readers will know from past postings - over whether the decision regarding the SAT is moving faster or slower than before. The chair of the systemwide Senate issued two statements regarding the SAT issue. 

What seems to be the bottom line is that a more detailed timeline will be released after the Academic Council meets on July 22nd. How long after the 22nd there will be a release is unclear.

Statement #1:

Statement from UC Academic Senate on admissions review

UC Office of the President, July 13, 2026

After published reports emerged today (July 13) that the University of California’s Academic Senate voted on July 10 to rescind its review of standardized testing admissions, Ahmet Palazoglu, the University of California’s Academic Senate Chair, issued the following statement:

“The Academic Senate is not rescinding its commitment to a comprehensive review of standardized testing in admissions. Recognizing the significance of this issue, the Academic Senate is revising its timeline while ensuring the forthcoming review is thorough, evidence-based and informed by faculty expertise.”

Source: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/statement-uc-academic-senate-admissions-review.

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Statement #2:

Statement from UC Academic Senate Chair Ahmet Palazoglu on review of UC admissions

UC Office of the President, July 14, 2026

“The Academic Senate’s comprehensive review of the University’s undergraduate admissions policies will align with the Board of Regents’ timeline to deliver a policy recommendation on the use of standardized tests in admissions by the end of the 2026–27 academic year (June 2027 for our campuses based on the quarter system). The separate review of UC’s A-G framework is not tied to the same timeline. A new plan from the Academic Senate will be available after the Academic Council meeting on July 22, 2026. The goal of this A-G policy review is to consider how UC defines and evaluates college readiness in a rapidly changing educational environment.”

Source: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/statement-ahmet-palazoglu-chair-ucs-academic-senate-review-uc-admissions.

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Perhaps more significant than the statements above is the statement of the new Regents Chair, Maria Anguiano. She essentially declared the old Master Plan dead. And then she proposed, without explicitly saying so, that the Regents spend the next year coming up with a substitute, although she did not mention the other two components of higher ed in California: CSU and the community colleges. Nor did she mention the state legislature which has been doing ad hoc tinkering with the old Master Plan, as blog readers will know. The SAT decision is to be but one element in the year-long review she announced.

Although her statement was a personal one, it's hard to imagine she didn't discuss what she was going to say with President Milliken and other Regents. An excerpt from her statement is below:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vXplgoFlCc or https://ia600703.us.archive.org/14/items/regents-7-14-2026/Anguiano%20on%20Master%20Plan%2C%20SAT%2C%20%26%20Priorities%207-14-2026.mp4.