Straws in the Wind - Part 89

From AP: ...An Associated Press review of thousands of pages of emails from University of Colorado-Colorado Springs officials, as well as interviews with students and professors, reveals that school leaders, teachers and students soon found themselves in the Trump administration’s crosshairs, forcing them to navigate what they described as an unprecedented and haphazard degree of change. Here’s what the AP found:

Most students in the United States are educated at regional public universities or community colleges — not the kind of schools that have typically drawn attention from culture warriors. Conservatives have long sought to revamp higher education, particularly at elite universities, saying they are concerned about liberal indoctrination and raucous protests. Though students and faculty alike described UCCS, located in a conservative part of a blue state, as politically subdued, if not apolitical, the school has confronted many of the same challenges as its more prestigious counterparts across the nation.

UCCS lost three major federal grants and found itself under investigation by the Education Department. In the hopes of avoiding the Trump administration’s attention, the school renamed websites and job titles, all while navigating internal pressure from students, faculty and staff who wanted the school to take a more combative stance with the Trump administration. “Uncertainty is compounding,” the school’s chancellor, Jennifer Sobanet, told faculty at a February meeting, according to minutes of the session. “And the speed of which orders are coming has been a bit of a shock.”

...School officials were dismayed when the Trump administration terminated research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Defense Department and the National Science Foundation, emails show. The grants funded programs in civics, cultural preservation and boosting women in technology fields. Administrators scrambled to contact federal officials to learn if other grants were on the chopping block, but they struggled to find answers, the records show... “The sky is falling” at the National Institutes of Health, a university official reported in notes on a call in which the school’s lobbyists were providing reports of what was happening in Washington...

Full story at https://apnews.com/article/colorado-trump-higher-education-crackdown-transgender-b40a3f3dfe77d3cb969bcc8a5ab4a61e#.

Is today significant?

As blog readers will know, the US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) gave UCLA/UC until September 2nd to decide whether to "negotiate."* Otherwise, it said, it would file a lawsuit. We know there have been contacts and discussions. We don't know if the DOJ will define whatever has occurred as "negotiations." 

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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/08/double-d-day-deadline-decision.html.

When you're hot you're hot

There probably aren't a lot of folks on campus today. But it is unclear over what duration beyond today the notice below - sent by email yesterday - applies:

Campus Cooling Response Plan

We are in stage 3 of our cooling curtailment plan due to current weather conditions and a malfunction in one of our chilling systems.

To proactively prepare for anticipated heat waves in the L.A. region and the impact this has on our campus cooling systems, UCLA has developed a three-staged curtailment plan for cooling operations in non-critical campus facilities and spaces.

Cooling curtailment during high heat and humidity is crucial for allowing the campus to maintain adequate cooling in its most critical facility areas, including hospital and patient care settings, research space, vivariums, general assignment classrooms and data centers.

The campus will progress through several cooling demand response stages, depending on the severity of the weather. The cooling demand response stages, from least to most impactful, are as follows:

• Stage 1: Fan systems that serve areas of buildings on the curtailment list will be reset from the existing temperature to 74 degrees, requiring the immediate closure of all exterior windows and doors.
• Stage 2: Fan systems that serve areas of buildings on the curtailment list will be set to a temperature of 81 degrees.  
  • In the event of Stages 1 and 2, students, staff and faculty should be prepared for these adjusted conditions, use fans if available and dress lightly.

• Stage 3: All cooling to targeted building fan systems serving non-critical areas will be turned off, but normal ventilation will continue in these spaces. As a health precaution and in accordance with the California Code of Regulation for Indoor Heat Illness Prevention (PDF), community members in impacted building spaces will be directed to either temporarily relocate or shift to remote work or learning (as authorized by and in accordance with Academic Senate Guidelines for Remote Instruction) as interior temperatures would be expected to exceed 82 degrees.

  For those employees who cannot temporarily relocate or shift to remote work or learning, onsite work may continue even if indoor temperatures exceed 82°F, provided that departments implement appropriate heat safety measures. These include allowing additional rest breaks, ensuring ready access to drinking water, and designating a cool down area maintained below 82°F. The area must be clearly identified with signage and communicated to staff. A nearby cooled space may be designated if the entire building lacks cooling. For more information on heat illness guidance, prevention strategies and reporting heat risks, visit the EH&S Heat Illness webpage. 

Facilities Management will work with building coordinators to ensure building occupants are updated when the university initiates each stage of the cooling curtailment plan. Please note that in the event of a stage three occurrence, notifications will be sent via BruinPost and BruinAlert to notify the campus community. 

Buildings currently included in the demand response program include: 

Acosta (non-critical areas only)

Anderson School

Boelter Hall

Broad Art Center 

Bunche Hall

Campus Services Building I

CHS Dentistry

CHS Jules Stein Eye Institute 

CHS Semel Institute

CHS South Tower Offices (non-critical areas only)

Cogeneration Plant

Dodd 

East Melnitz Building

Engineering 5

Engineering 6

Franz Hall 

Geffen Hall

Gonda AH4 serving offices (non-critical areas only)

Haines Hall

Hershey Hall (non-critical areas only) 

Kaplan Hall 

Knudsen (non-critical areas only)

Law Building

Life Sciences (non-critical areas only) 

Macgowan Hall

Mathematical Sciences Building

Melnitz Hall

Morgan (non-critical areas only) 

Murphy Hall

Perloff Hall

Powell Library

Rolfe Hall 

Strathmore Building

Student Activities Center

Terasaki AH7 and AH8 (non-critical areas only)

West Alumni Center 

Wooden West

Young Lecture Halls (scheduled only when needed)

Young Research Library

Minor Maybe - But Maybe Not

California Senator Padilla, in an interview with Politico, says a UCLA deal with minor concessions to the feds might be acceptable.

Or direct to https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/27/sen-padilla-leaves-door-open-for-ucla-to-reach-deal-with-trump-over-research-cuts-00532143 or https://ia802901.us.archive.org/7/items/newsom-7-2-2025-arrests-of-immigrants/Sen%20Padilla%20on%20possible%20UCLA%20settlement%208-27-2025.mp4.

On the other hand, Gov. Newsom doubles down on no $1 billion deal with the feds:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDv3DsAFOdM.

Straws in the Wind - Part 88

From the Austin American-Statesman: Faculty senates — a long-standing advisory body of elected members that helps university leadership on curriculum, policy and programs — will no longer exist at University of Texas institutions starting Sept. 1, after the UT System Board of Regents on Thursday approved compliance with Senate Bill 37. Chairman Kevin Eltife said the board will "take their time" deciding if faculty senates compliant with the law will be reinstated to university campuses, and may not be needed at all 14 campuses. "The Legislature spoke very clear through the legislation that governing boards are responsible for deciding if and when faculty senates will be established on campuses," he told regents... "That is a responsibility that this board takes very seriously."

...Lawmakers had cast faculty senates as powerful voices that should be curbed last legislative session. Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, authored SB 37 to give regents more control following complaints from conservatives that the institution's faculty have become too liberal or "woke."

...Faculty advocates warned during the legislative session that shared governance is a hallmark of university operations, and weakening faculty senates jeopardizes that work...

Full story at https://www.statesman.com/news/education/article/university-texas-system-faculty-senate-abolish-20822502.php.

From Higher Ed Dive: ...With the passage of the new legislation, also known as SB 1, Ohio lawmakers made deep inroads into the academic operations of public colleges, asserting new state controls over decisions historically left to faculty and administrators. The law bans diversity, equity and inclusion training, requires post-tenure review, prohibits full-time faculty from striking and even requires certain questions in student evaluations of professors. SB 1 also created a policy that could wipe out dozens or even hundreds of academic programs if the experience of Ohio’s neighboring state is any gauge. 

In Indiana, a similar policy with programmatic graduation thresholds — inserted into the most recent state budget bill — has already put 75 degree programs on the chopping block. The state’s public colleges also moved to suspend another 101 programs and consolidate 232. As in Ohio, Indiana state colleges only had months to review their portfolios for cuts. That created uncertainty for many. “Even tenured faculty are wondering, am I going to have a job in two months?” one faculty governance leader in Indiana told local media, describing “chaos and confusion” on campus...

Full story at https://www.highereddive.com/news/ohio-university-program-cuts-comply-SB1/758788/.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 53

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard College will close the designated spaces that previously housed the Women’s Center and the Office for BGLTQ Student Life, following a July decision to shutter those offices — along with one for minority students — and fold their staff into a new center within the Office of Culture and Community. The new “Harvard Foundation” — where staff from the former offices were reassigned — will be based out of Grays Hall, a College spokesperson confirmed, where the Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations was previously located.

All three spaces will now be available for registered student organizations to book for events through the new center, according to a note on the OCC website...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/8/30/womens-center-quoffice-spaces-close/.

Lucky Me - Part 2

Wow! A tax refund I didn't expect!  

And who knew the California Franchise Tax Board operated out of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (.cc)? Are those islands near the Philippines (+63)?