The FAFSA Drama Continues - Part 14 (October, December, whenever)

For those following the FAFSA fiasco, see below from Inside Higher Ed. (Those who are not following it can type in "FAFSA" in the search option on this blog.)

A group of five higher education organizations sent a letter Tuesday to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona recommending the Department of Education push back the release date for next year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid to Dec. 1. “The launch date is only a piece of the puzzle. It’s also essential that the form be fully functional, reliable, and predictable for all students,” the letter reads. “As we quickly approach the traditional start of the 2025–26 FAFSA application year, October 1, we are wrestling with the trade-off between timeliness and functionality and have concluded that the consequences of releasing a product that does not come with full end-to-end functionality for students, families, state agencies and aid administrators would be too great.”

Two of the letter’s signatories—the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the National College Access Network—had previously urged the department to work toward an Oct. 1 release date in order to prevent a repeat of the issues caused by the last academic year’s extensive delays. But in the more recent letter, the groups say that concerns in the financial aid community about the department’s ability to launch on that date with a complete, reliable form prompted them to change course.

“We did not come to this decision lightly,” a NASFAA spokesperson wrote in a statement accompanying the letter. “It is our understanding there is no path to an October 1 FAFSA release that is user-tested, fully functional, and allows for processing within one to three days. Furthermore, releasing the form in advance of a working processing system would delay the ability to process FAFSAs correctly and in a timely manner, and introduce errors to the system that could be prevented with more time to identify and address issues.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/07/24/reversal-higher-ed-groups-push-delayed-fafsa-launch.

And it's always good - in following issues such as this - to keep the wisdom of Ruth Galanter in mind:

Westwood Movie Theaters Closing

From the LA Times: Westwood’s historic movie palaces, the Regency Village Theatre and the Bruin, are closing later this week. “The last day of operation for the Bruin & Village Theaters under Regency is Thursday, July 25,” Lyndon Golin, Regency Theatres president, confirmed in an email Sunday. Regency has managed the two theaters for 14 years, but its leases for the properties end later this month, Golin added.

A beloved landmark, the Village Theatre is expected to close only temporarily, thanks to a high-profile effort by director Jason Reitman and others to save the once stately 170-foot white Spanish Revival-Art Deco “wedding cake” tower that has beckoned Westside moviegoers since 1931. The group announced in late February that its acquisition of the theater had closed but it did not disclose a timetable for renovations or say when the Village might be ready for a grand re-opening.

The fate of the nearby Bruin, which opened in 1937, remains unclear; it was not purchased along with its more showy sibling. “The [Bruin’s] owners thank the Golin Family and Regency Theaters for our relationship with them for the last 14 years,” the family said in a statement, provided by a representative. The owners said they are “currently evaluating future opportunities for the Bruin.” ...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-07-21/historic-movie-theaters-westwood-village-and-bruin-to-close-this-week.

Another non-bricks-and-mortar donation

We like to take note of donations that don't involve bricks and mortar. Here is a recent one:

The Extension divisions of UCLA and UC Berkeley have received a $12 million gift from professor, author and entrepreneur Scott Galloway to fund the creation of a new program that gives non-traditional students access to the skills and resources they need to launch their careers. The gift, which will be split equally between the two universities, is one of the largest focused on University of California continuing and professional education, UCLA and UC Berkeley Extension leaders said.

“The accessibility and affordability of UCLA and UC Berkeley changed my life,” said Galloway, an alumnus of both universities. “I’m hoping this gift puts the educational resources of both universities within reach for more people and provides skills that lead to the growth of good jobs in the Main Street economy.”

The new UC Excelerator program, scheduled to begin this fall, is aimed primarily at community college graduates and those with limited college experience. The program will provide students with career-focused coursework, networking opportunities and access to industry leaders, all free of cost.

“Scott Galloway’s generous gift will help us continue to widen the doors of opportunity and provide our students with the tools and connections needed to thrive in today’s economy,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. “Scott has been outspoken about the immense impact that UCLA and UC Berkeley had on his life and career, and we are extraordinarily appreciative that he is helping to extend the promise of public higher education to so many others.” ...

Full news release at https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-berkeley-extension-12-million-gift-scott-galloway.

It could have been worse...

So, what exactly happened to the UC budget? We now have more detail from the Dept. of Finance. When you take the total UC budget and subtract out what came from the federal government and what UC generated (hospital revenues, management fees for the national labs, research grants, tuition, etc.), what remains is the total state contribution.

Last fiscal year, the total from the state (the basic appropriation and what comes from a host of other state funds) came to around $5 billion, roughly flat from the year before at a time when inflation was a four-ish number. This current year, we are up around $5.1 billion, an increase of a bit over 2% when inflation is maybe a three-ish number. So essentially, UC is experiencing real cuts.*

It is true that if the initial proposal of the governor had been enacted, there would have been a worse situation. But...

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*The budget numbers are at https://ebudget.ca.gov/2024-25/pdf/Enacted/GovernorsBudget/6000/6440RWA.pdf.

Watch the July 18th Meeting of the Regents

We are jumping ahead in our coverage of last week's Regents meeting here to the final meeting of Thursday, July 18th. (We have previously covered July 16th and the morning of July 17th.)

Public comments began with support for UC-San Diego's removal of an encampment and concerns about antisemitism, but much of the other comments favored divestment, complaints about use of police on campus, and opposition to J2 (limits on department political statements on UC websites). Although J2 was technically up before the whole board, the decision to support J2 was basically undertaken the day before in committee. Other comments dealt with UC jobs for undocumented students and People's Park.

Much of the formal business undertaken in open session dealt with approval of committee reports (including the above-mentioned J2 decision). Note was taken of the retirement of UCLA chancellor Block who was in attendance. The undergrad student rep spoke about need for more mental health services and consultation with students which she tied to problems at encampments. The grad student rep complained about militarization of campuses. The BOARS report on math requirements for UC admissions had been a discussion item, not an action item, the day before, so it was reported on, but no action was required.

As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meetings since the Regents have no policy on duration of retention. The link to this sessions is:

https://archive.org/details/001-board-8-30-am-7-18-2024.

Who has STEM?

We will elsewhere cover the Regents meeting that dealt with high school math requirements for admission to UC. However, that meeting included the chart above that showed the percent of undergraduate majors in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines. Berkeley and Merced are the most STEM-intensive campuses. UCLA is among the campuses with the lowest percentage of STEM majors. The same pattern holds if you just look at undergrads who are Pell grant recipients, i.e., lower-income.

Not saying this is a Good Thing or Bad Thing. And note that there are non-STEM fields such as economics that are math-oriented. But the chart may show results that differ from expectations.

Moreover, the chart shows the importance of math preparation in high school. Many UC students are opting for STEM careers or non-STEM fields that require math. In order for them to have that option, high school math is important.

You can see the chart at https://archive.org/details/01-compliance-and-audit-7-17-2024/03-Academic+and+Student+Affairs+7-17-2024.mp4 around minute 54.

Watch the July 17th Morning Meetings of the Regents

We continue to catch up with the Regents meetings last week. This post covers the morning sessions of July 17th. The meeting began with public comments dealing with police pay at UC-Merced, consultation with students (which seemed  connected with the Israel-Gaza War), current AFSCME negotiations with UC, math requirements for admission to UC, collegiate recovery programs, mentoring by graduate students, contracting procedures, wage theft, concerns about item J2 on department political statements, support for the UC-San Francisco's Children's Hospital project, concerns of Black students, and complaints that UC was not supporting AB 2586, a bill in the legislature which is intended to override the decision by the Regents not to contest a federal ban on hiring undocumented students.

In remarks after public comments, incoming Regents chair Reilly and UC president Drake both alluded to work over the summer for UC to develop new policies with regard to handling students protests and encampments of the type seen last spring. The retirement of UCLA chancellor Block - who was in attendance - was acknowledged. Faculty representative Steintrager said that in his opinion, the biggest long run challenge at UC was the evolution of its labor system which had over time become more dependent on instruction by grad students and non-ladder faculty.

The rest of the meeting consisted of various committee and joint committee meetings approving executive pay matters and the budget for the national labs. Item J2 limiting department political statements which had previously been deferred from meeting to meeting was approved with some abstentions and a dissenting vote. Such statements cannot henceforth appear on department website "landing" pages and must include information on the voting procedures by which such statements were approved. They must also be accompanied with disclaimers indicating the statements were not the official position of the university. Chancellors will ultimately be responsible for enforcement.

As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meetings since the Regents have no policy with regard to retention duration. The morning meetings of July 17th can be found at:

https://archive.org/details/board-joint-meetings-health-services-governance-academic-and-student-affairs-compliance-7-17-2024.