As already noted

Blog readers will have noted yesterday our view that UCLA reaching a Columbia-type monetary settlement with the feds is hard to imagine.* Others agree. From the LA Times:

Mark Yudof, a former UC president who led the system from 2008 to 2013, said he felt the Trump administration was targeting a public university as a way to “make a statement” about the president’s higher education aims going beyond Ivy League institutions. “But this is not Columbia,” Yudof said, referring to the $221-million settlement the New York campus recently reached with the White House to resolve investigations over alleged antisemitism amid its response to pro-Palestinian protests...

“The University of California is much more complex,” said Yudof... “For one, an issue that may affect UCLA is not going to affect UC Merced or UC Riverside. But do you come to an agreement on all campuses? If there is a settlement payment, does it affect all campuses, depending on the cost?” 

George Blumenthal, a former chancellor of UC Santa Cruz, said he “just can’t see UC making the kind of deal that Columbia did or that Harvard contemplates. Committing public funds to Washington to the tune of tens or hundreds of million dollars strikes me as politically untenable in California.” ...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-02/ucla-doj-trump-settlement-or-lawsuit.

===

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/08/no-relief-from-this-court-what-are.html.

Transition

Adjustments can be difficult

The University of California system paid former president Mark Yudof $546,000 in 2014 – the year after he stepped down from his post, according to salary data released by the system this week.

Yudof was president of the system for five years before resigning in fall 2013 to become a law professor at UC Berkeley. He co-instructed one class at UC Berkeley for one semester in 2014, according to a faculty profile page on Berkeley’s web site. The class met once per week for three hours...

Yudof confirmed that account in an email, saying, “for 2013-14, I was receiving my UCOP compensation for a leave to prepare to re-enter teaching. This is the typical arrangement for presidents and chancellors who leave administration and prepare to begin teaching again.” Yudof said he also received pay for his teaching at Berkeley. He declined further comment...

Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/article29406190.html

Still, back in the day transitions were easier:

But nowadays, it's hard to find a phone booth.

Update: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article29969970.html

Is there Twitter after retirement?

Of course, the Big Question is usually is there life after death?  But we can't answer that one here.  The lesser question - Is there Twitter after retirement? - can be answered, at least in the case of former UC prez Mark Yudof.  YES!  Not surprisingly, Yudof stopped tweeting around the time he left the UC presidency.  But then, in late December, came another tweet.  It's actually a link to a Harvard Business Review piece, and says:

"Once you know your greater purpose, there are lots of roads that will take you there." http://s.hbr.org/18NiGul

[See https://twitter.com/mark_yudof]

I always thought the quote was "if you don't know where you're going, any road'll take you there," a paraphrase from Alice in Wonderland.  In short, I couldn't make much sense of what the link was all about.  But what do I know?

Anyway, we await future rockin' links and tweets:

Davis and Merced Get Drones, But We Have Snodgrass

The website California's Capitol reports that UC-Davis and UC-Merced have applied to the FAA to have drones. http://www.californiascapitol.com/2013/10/californias-drone-applicants/ and https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/faa_coa_list-2012.pdf. Obviously, the rest of us will be falling behind in this technology.  But at least we have Prof. Snodgrass who drones on and on, as former UC president Yudof once reminded us in his soliloquy on online higher ed:

Online Drones

Inside Higher Ed today is reporting on resistance to online courses at Rutgers.  Blog readers who have followed the online ed/MOOC debates won't see surprises except for one element:

The effort to offer more graduate degree programs online at Rutgers University at New Brunswick hit a snag on Wednesday, as faculty members in the Graduate School voted to block new programs from being approved...

Faculty members have to sign a separate contract with the university to create an online course, which Hughes said strips them of their intellectual property rights. A draft of the agreement states that “Due to the particular requirements of an online program, this license specifically includes the right to have the course taught by others.” 

“A lot of faculty see red when they read that,” said [Anthropology Professor David] Hughes, who pointed out the clause would allow the university to “unbundle” the role of an instructor. In a worst-case scenario, he said faculty members could in the future be replaced by an underpaid “drone army of course facilitators” hired to teach course material created by their predecessors...

Full article at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/11/rutgers-u-graduate-school-faculty-vote-block-pearson-partnership

The contract is at http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/University%27s%20draft%20online%20course%20agreement%20-%20full-time.pdf

Perhaps you will recall former UC president Yudof's statement at the Regents that we wouldn't have droning:

Note: Another article in Inside Higher Ed reports:

...AAUP says that colleges and universities have ramped up ownership claims to property subject to copyright, as well – including online course content...

Full article at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/11/new-aaup-report-urges-faculty-protect-intellectual-property-rights

Something Old or Something New? What Will Be the Aspirations Going Forward, Janet?

[Scroll down and decide.]

Old Normal Aspirations on Wall Street: 36,000

New Normal Aspirations on Wall Street: 20,000

Old Normal Aspirations at UC: Best University

New Normal Aspirations at UC: Best Public University

Underappreciated?

In an interview with the Daily Californian, former UC president Mark Yudof seems to feel underappreciated:

For the first time in five years, Mark Yudof will wake up Monday a free man. No longer will the outgoing UC president have to deal with angry accusations of screwing over students or unfairly bargaining with unions or ignoring the cries of protesters...

The son of an electrician, Yudof completed his undergraduate education in just three years at the University of Pennsylvania and worked part time to pay for school, something he said has helped him better relate to the average worker.  Many of his detractors, however, may not be aware of his humble past. During an hourlong interview with the Daily Californian, Yudof recalled meeting with a group of union representatives who accused him of not understanding the struggles of working a physically demanding job. “I looked at them and I said, ‘You know, I think I do understand, because when I went to undergraduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, I pushed gurneys for three years,’” Yudof said. “Otherwise, I would not have been able to afford to be there.”...

Full story at http://www.dailycal.org/2013/09/29/wading-grand-narrative-yudof-legacy/

In summary:


Of course, his successor may be underappreciated this evening after a day on the job if the UCLA Undergraduate Students Assn. votes in favor of the non-confidence resolution at:
http://usac.ucla.edu/documents/resolutions/Napolitano%20Resolution.pdf

The Arrival

Today, the news media seem to be focused on the first day of school.  No, not the students' first day.  Janet Napolitano's.

From the LA Times:

Janet Napolitano begins her new job as University of California president Monday, promising to "listen and learn" about the many issues facing the sprawling 10-campus university system...

During her first couple of weeks, she will review budgets and operations and meet with students, faculty, staff, campus chancellors, state elected officials and others, according to UC spokesman Steve Montiel. She will greet the headquarters staff at a reception Monday afternoon. Napolitano has stressed that "her first priority is to listen and learn so that she can get a firm grounding in issues, opportunities and challenges affecting the University of California's campuses, medical enterprise, affiliated national laboratories and agricultural and natural resources services," Montiel said...

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-napolitano-uc-20130929,0,6767529.story

And there is good bye and good luck from Mark Yudof, according to the Daily Bruin:

...Some of Napolitano’s biggest challenges will include managing tuition levels as costs increase along with rising pension contributions, expanding online education offerings and constructing more facilities to accommodate for growing enrollment, said former University President Mark Yudof...

Full story at http://dailybruin.com/2013/09/30/janet-napolitano-replaces-mark-yudof-as-uc-president/

It's hard to know what might be going through her mind on the first day.  But if you click on the link below and wait about a minute, you might find out.

Mansion Awaits

From the LA Times:

Blake House, the Northern California mansion that is intended to be the official residence of the UC system president, may be coming back to life.

Because of its rundown condition, UC executives in 2008 stopped living in the Mediterranean-style mansion in the unincorporated Contra Costa County neighborhood of Kensington. With a financial crisis for the university at the time, nothing much was done to fix up the 13,200-square-foot house, which is surrounded by 10 acres of gardens.

Next week, however, the UC regents are expected to consider a plan that could start the ball rolling for a major renovation and a return to the tradition of presidents living there. According to an agenda item for Tuesday’s meeting in San Francisco, the regents will decide whether to spend $620,000 from a privately funded endowment on seismic improvements, roof repairs, other maintenance and architectural and engineering reports.

If a full renovation of the 1920s structure is approved later on, the cost could range from $3.5 million to $6 million. Officials say that could turn out to be a wise investment since the price of rental housing for UC presidents and holding functions at other locations would exceed the renovation costs in 15 years. Incoming UC President Janet Napolitano is expected to follow the example of current President Mark G. Yudof in residing elsewhere in leased houses paid for by the university, at least for now...

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uc-mansion-20130913,0,2609932.story

Alternative Choices

Yesterday, we ran this photo from a recent Regents meeting with a kind of multiple-choice test for incoming UC President Napolitano on what song was (now former) President Yudof likely NOT thinking of in the scene shown above.  But it has been suggested that he might not have been thinking about songs at all.  It might have been movie scenes.  So we will repeat the basic question modified to be "What movie scene below was President Yudof most likely NOT thinking about?"

Selection A

Selection B

Or maybe he could have been thinking about some more recent films by an earlier governor:

Selection C

Selection D

At recent Regents meetings, Jerry left his Mark...

And now, Mark has left Jerry.  (The Yudof term concluded at the end of August.)  Today is September 1, so we are now in the era of Janet Napolitano.  And since she is coming from the Obama administration with its emphasis on objective performance standards for higher ed, it might be useful if she took a short multiple-choice quiz.  So below is a modest offering.

Question: When the photo above was taken, which song was most likely NOT running through President Yudof's mind?

a. You’re Mean to Me

b. You Can’t Always Get What You Want

c. Take This Job and Shove It

d. Teach Me Tonight

Listen to the Special Regents Meeting of Aug. 8, 2013

A special meeting of the UC-Regents was held by teleconference to approve the appointment and compensation of incoming Riverside chancellor Kim A. Wilcox, formerly provost at Michigan State U.  There were no public comments made by non-regents at this session, although time was available for such comments.  Governor Brown voted "no" on the compensation package which included an 8.9% raise in salary relative to the previous chancellor.  He cited concerns about growing income inequality in society, the fact that there were chancellors on other campuses who were paid less, and the labor dispute with AFSCME.  Lt. Gov. Newsom also voted no on the compensation package but made no comments.  Outgoing president Yudof made general remarks endorsing the appointment.  At the conclusion, the new chancellor - who officially starts Aug. 19 - made some remarks. 

We continue to provide audio recordings of the Regents meeting because of a regental policy to retain the file on the meetings for only one year.

You can hear the recording at the link below.  The governor's comments start at about minute 8:20:

No Comment

Readers of this blog will recall that at the last Regents meeting in July, there was a controversy over the appointment of a new student regent-delegate due to her support of a campaign to divest UC funds from Israel.  Several regents spoke on the issue.  One abstained from voting for her.

During the debate, outgoing President Yudof didn't have much to say about the issue.  That might not be surprising except for his remarks at a conference about a month before the meeting:

Pay for the New UC Prez: Mellowing Newsom Likes It

Gov. Brown is out of the country and missed yesterday's Regents meeting and won't be at the meeting today.  At the meeting scheduled for later today, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom might well attend.  In the past, he has been against high pay for UC executives.  But now he seems to have mellowed in the case of Janet Napolitano, the nominee for UC president.  The Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert blog indicates that Newsom thinks the pay in store for Napolitano is OK:

...UC has not yet revealed how much Napolitano will be paid. That information will be made public tomorrow after regents approve her nomination. Outgoing UC President Mark Yudof gets a salary of nearly $600,000 plus additional perks that brought his total compensation above $800,000 in 2008-09. Napolitano makes $199,700 a year as the head of Homeland Security. Newsom said he'd been briefed on her proposed UC compensation package and that it is "in the ballpark of what I think is reasonable."

Full story at http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/07/lt-gov-gavin-newsom-said.html

But maybe he has just decided to accept the inevitable:

P.S.: The Bee editorializes that the new prez should take a lot less in pay than the old one:
www.sacbee.com/2013/07/17/5571668/will-napolitano-perpetuate-ucs.html

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/07/lt-gov-gavin-newsom-said.html#storylink=cpy

Listen to the UC Regents Morning Meeting of 7-17-2013

University of California Regents: July 17, 2013 - morning session

Agenda: Wednesday, July 17

8:30 am Committee of the Whole (open session - includes public comment session)
9:30 am Board (open session)
9:40 am Committee on Finance (open session)
12:00 Lunch
(Note: Appointment of the student regent was moved from the 9:30 am session to after the Committee on Finance due to airplane delays that affected some regents.)

Highlights:

Outgoing UC President Yudof delivered observations that could be considered advice to the incoming president.  He included a skeptical off-hand remark on the MOOC industry, noted that UCOP bureaucracy will tend to grow unless checked, declared the UC funding model as “broken,” and – in what appeared to be directed at state politicos - urged gradual, not abrupt, adjustments for UC.

During the public comment period, as suggested in a prior blog, there were speakers for and against selecting Sadia Saifuddin as student regent due to her anti-Israel activities, requests by resident docs at UC-Irvine to recognize their union, opposition to tuition increases for certain nursing/medical professional programs, complaints by union representatives about increasing pension contributions and about staffing levels, and a proposal by a student group to divest from fossil fuel companies.

UC Academic Council chair Bob Powell made cautionary remarks about state demands for performance standards, the student/faculty ratio, online education, and the need for adequate total compensation for faculty.

A presentation from the UC Staff Assemblies focused particularly on benefits and benefit plan changes.

There was a review of the UC budget situation and an assertion that the legislature now recognizes its obligations for the UC pension.

Tuition was raised for certain nursing and medical professional programs and was set for certain new tech-oriented programs.

Funding for UCOP was approved.

Pension contributions were raised as of July 1, 2014.  Employer contributions were raised to 14% of payroll from 12%.  Employees in Tier 1 will have their contributions raised from 6.5% to 8%.  Employees in Tier 2 would remain at 7%.

Budget measures for the national labs were approved.

UC, whose credit rating is better than the state’s, assumed responsibility for certain general obligation bonds.  In effect, the interest rate is lower for UC because of its better rating which frees up $80 million for the UC budget in a deal with the state.

It was known that Gov. Brown would not attend and thus was not present for the vote on the selection of Sadia Saifuddin as student regent, the last item taken up in the morning session.  The discussion featured support for the appointment from all but one of the Regents who spoke.  However, Regent Blum indicated major reservations – although he officially abstained rather than opposed the appointment.

As we have noted in prior posts, we continue to provide an indefinite audio archive of the regents meetings since regental policy is to preserve the recordings for only one year.  You can hear the full morning meeting at the link below:

A short-cut to excerpts from President Yudof’s remarking on MOOCs, bureaucracy, and funding can be heard at:

A short-cut to the student regent appointment is at:

The Candidate

As readers of this blog will know, UC is looking for a new president to replace Mark Yudof who is resigning in August.  What you may not know is that there is talk in university circles that the next president should be someone atypical with political skills rather than an academic. Such thinking characterizes not only the UC search but similar searches at other public universities.  An example is columnist suggestion that UC should choose Gray Davis:

...(D)oesn’t this sound like a job for Gray Davis? Say what you want about California’s only recalled governor, but he knows politics and state government. He’s got the brains and academic credentials to raise universities. And he’s a former chief of staff to Brown. And you want to talk fundraising? Davis was so effective as a fundraiser that it became a political liability for him. He’s also the right personality for this moment. And that personality is prickly. He’ll yell at people who get in his way. That’s usually not an effective way to lead, but the UC badly needs someone who won’t be stepped on...

Full op ed at http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2013/04/gray-davis-for-uc-president/

Would the Regents agree? I think the general idea - not necessarily Davis - is circulating at that level.

Nobody here

The LA Times today carries an article about the search for a new UC president to replace Mark Yudof who is resigning in August. It's a slam on the current crop of UC campus chancellors and UCOP administrators since apparently the Regents think they have no feasible inside candidates.

...The search is secretive; officials say the selection process is a confidential personnel matter. Leading the effort is a committee of 10 UC regents, including Gov. Jerry Brown and student and alumni representatives. Its members declined to comment and so did the executive search firm—Isaacson, Miller. Matthew Haney, executive director of the UC Student Assn., said he expected the next UC president to come from outside the state, as did Yudof, who previously led state university systems in Texas and Minnesota. (Yudof is retiring in late August after five years in the UC job.) "It doesn't seem as if [the UC regents] have elevated internal administrators for systemwide leadership to prepare them for this role," Haney said. The campus chancellors "don't have a significant or noticeable systemwide leadership presence," he said, and other top administrators don't have the national prestige that the faculty seeks in a president...

Full article at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uc-president-20130415,0,7690756.story

So they will search beyond UC:

More on Yudof Private Thoughts

In an earlier post, we reproduced part of a Daily Bruin article that dealt with UC President Mark Yudof's comments on "privatizing" the UCLA Anderson School of Management at the March 7 IMED Seminar.  Below is a link to what he actually said (audio with a still picture).  Yudof's comments were more ambiguous than the news item suggested.  First, the interviewer, Prof. Lee Goodlick, used the word "privatize" without defining it.  (The P-word hasn't been used in actual proposals regarding the Anderson School; "self-sufficiency" is preferred.  In addition, the latest version of the proposal referred only to the MBA program and not the entire School.)  Yudof interpreted it to mean a stand-alone school which was affiliated with UCLA but more or less autonomous.  Using that definition, Yudof said it was incompatible with a public university, in part because a privatized school might disregard such public goals as access.  Second, he said he could imagine a situation in which Anderson paid more of its own bills and thereby freed up taxpayer monies for other departments.  Third, he noted the issue is before various levels of faculty review. The interviewer joked that the process might take a hundred years. Yudof said he hoped it would be faster. But, of course, after the end of August, it will be some other UC president's problem.

The actual Anderson portion of the interview can be heard below:

The earlier post is at:
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/03/mark-yudof.html

Mark Yudof's Not-So-Private Thoughts

"Yudof... said he opposes the privatization of parts of the UC, specifically mentioning the UCLA Anderson School of Management, which had been considering becoming financially independent from UC funds. He said he is concerned that privatization would shift priorities away from those of a public university."

Full story from yesterday's Daily Bruin at:
http://dailybruin.com/2013/03/08/mark-yudof-featured-speaker-at-institute-for-molecular-medicine-seminar/

Now he tells us!

Yeah, sure. We believe you, Mark.

From the LA Times:

...Governor Jerry Brown suddenly became active in UC policies and Mark Yudof resigns. Is there any connection?
There is really no connection because I've been pondering [resignation] for a long time. The governor is extraordinarily intelligent, he is extraordinarily passionate. It does require some energy to respond to his ideas, but I'm fine with that. That would not be a reason to move on. If anything, I have some confidence that out of this passion of the governor, some very positive things for the university can come...

Of course, we believe you, Mark...

...But there were the good old days:

You can read the full LA Times interview with Yudof at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-yudof-20130203,0,7317927.story