Westwood Relief?

I noted an article in the Daily Bruin that indicated that UCLA was "crowdsourcing" donations for folks who had their cars damaged in the recent water main flooding.  According to the spark.ucla.edu website, there is something called the Chancellor's Emergency Flood Relief Fund. The article says that the hope is to raise something in excess of $50,000 which apparently is intended to provide checks of a little more than $200 to each flood victim. [There is also a separate program of interest-free loans described in the article.]

Article at http://dailybruin.com/2014/08/15/ucla-to-offer-grants-loans-to-individuals-with-cars-damaged-in-flood/

Now yours truly is as charitable as the next guy - and actually donated a hundred bucks to the Fund.  But I did wonder whether somewhere in the UCLA budget there wasn't an extra $50,000 lurking that might have been used for this purpose.  

Of course, you could say that this was a smart move by the fundraising folks (although it may be that some of the $50,000 in small donations will ultimately be diverted from money that these folks would otherwise give to UCLA).  On the other hand, a flood is a terrible disaster to waste.  Nonetheless, yours truly - in thinking about this exercise in Westwood Relief - was reminded of the Pismo Beach Relief scene from the movie Clueless:

Wishful thinking?

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the jobs of college athletics directors at the state's public schools to be tied to athletes' academic performance.

In letters this week to the chief executive officers of the University of California and the California State University system, Newsom that AD's contracts "should stipulate aggressive benchmarks for improvement in graduation and academic progress rates" and make the AD's subject to dismissal if those benchmarks aren't met. An "athletic director's contract should stipulate aggressive benchmarks for improvement in graduation and academic progress rates or face termination, period," the letter said...

Full story at http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2014/08/14/california-lt-gov-gavin-newsom-targets-athletes-academic-performance/14065083/ 

A nice thought, anyway:

UCLA Not represented?

Seven months after the White House hosted a well-publicized summit on expanding college access, it announced on Wednesday plans for a second gathering, to be held December 4.

According to a White House statement, the aim of the second summit will be to “build on the work” of the first one, “while launching initiatives in new areas.” It continues: “This year’s summit will focus on building sustainable collaborations in communities with strong K-12 and higher education partnerships to encourage college going, and supporting colleges to work together to dramatically improve persistence and increase college completion, especially for first generation, low-income, and underrepresented students.”

To prepare for the previous summit, more than 100 institutions committed to new programs designed to enhance access for low-income students. At the event, 140 leaders of colleges, nonprofits, and businesses participated in small-group discussions, while also hearing from President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama... 

Full story at http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/white-house-announces-second-summit-on-college-access/83947

The list of 100 includes UC and some UC campuses (Berkeley, Davis, Merced, San Diego) but not UCLA.

The list is at http://chronicle.com/article/Details-of-College-Commitments/144073/

NY Times Endorses O'Bannon Ruling

There are two important consequences of a long-awaited ruling last week by a federal judge, Claudia Wilken, in the so-called [former UCLA athlete] O’Bannon case. College athletes will almost certainly be better off financially. And the notion that these athletes are pure amateurs — “students first, athletes second” — will be impossible to sustain.

In her 99-page decision, Judge Wilken issued an injunction against a ban on payments to players for the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses, which she said violated antitrust law. She also ruled that college sports’ governing body, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, may not prohibit universities from offering cost-of-living stipends in addition to scholarships...

Full editorial at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/opinion/the-obannon-ruling-college-athletes-win.html

UC Pay (Including Benefits) Below Comparison-8

A study by Mercer - a compensation consulting firm - shows that ladder faculty at UC are paid less than those at the comparison-8 universities.  The estimates include benefits such as health and pension.  The study is available at:

http://compensation.universityofcalifornia.edu/total-remuneration-ladder-rank-faculty-2014.pdf

If you have trouble at the link above, go first to the Academic Senate website http://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/ and then go to the study.

Investigation

Both the Daily Bruin and the LA Times are reporting that UCLA is under investigation by the U.S. Dept. of Education regarding issues of sexual harassment and assault.

However, the reports are sketchy in terms of what triggered the investigation.  Specific cases?  Complaints?

From the Bruin:

No information was immediately available as to why the investigation of UCLA began...

Full story at http://dailybruin.com/2014/08/13/ucla-under-investigation-for-possible-title-ix-violations/ 

LA Times story says:

U.S. Department of Education officials declined to say whether an individual complaint or the government's own initiative triggered the probe at the Westwood campus, one of 76 colleges and universities now under investigation for possible violations of the Title IX equal education law...  

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-ucla-probe-20140814-story.html

It's unclear why the matter is unclear.

Tarnished silver

Inside Higher Ed features a story on UC's online education ventures.  Turns out that grand plans had to be trimmed to something more modest, despite the governor's fascination with tech affairs.

The University of California System, after five years and millions of dollars spent, is asking for more time and money to get its systemwide online education initiative off the ground...

(UC president) Napolitano played down the importance of online learning.

“I think there’s a developing consensus that online learning is a tool for the toolbox where higher education is concerned,” Napolitano said. “That it’s not a silver bullet the way it was originally portrayed to be.” ...

Full article at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/08/13/changing-economy-changes-online-education-priorities-u-california

Gee.  There must be some silver bullets around here somewhere!