UC-Riverside Wants $$$s for New Med School

Olds urges UCR lobbying group to help gain accreditation (excerpt)

LORA HINES, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 6/22/11

The dean of UC Riverside's proposed medical school on Wednesday appeared before university supporters and urged them to contact Sacramento lawmakers to secure ongoing state funding needed to accredit the school.

Dr. G. Richard Olds asked members of the Citizens University Committee, a UCR lobbying group, for assistance in securing state money. Earlier this month, university officials were informed by an accreditation panel that the medical school would not be accredited because the state had not committed to ongoing funding.

The medical school needs a promise of about $15 million a year from the state, university officials have said…

The UC regents have not been willing to redirect money to UCR's medical school from their existing budget. In their original proposed 2011-12 budget, the regents included $10 million for the medical school. That funding was removed by Gov. Jerry Brown and has not been restored.

"I have not been able to talk to Gov. Brown," Olds said. "We have a lot of support on both sides of the Legislature. The governor's a mystery."

…The eventual cost of the medical school is projected to be $500 million, which Olds said is an overestimate…

Full article at http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_medschool23.3939a2f.html

Hey, it's just money, right?

No One Actually Reads or Listens: More on the State Budget

At the moment, Controller John Chiang is being praised for blocking legislators from being paid because they did not produce a "balanced" budget by the June 15th constitutional deadline. But actually what he said is that the legislature made some mistakes in drafting up their budget so that the assumed "revenues" do not add up to assumed "expenditures." (The fact that the governor vetoed the budget was not relevant to his decision.)

The controller has been heralded on Fox News on the right (see http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1013691636001/california-withholds-legislatures-pay/) and just about everywhere else along the political spectrum. If you actually watch the Fox News interview, you will see that he says that he is acting under Prop 25 which requires "balance" only in the sense that there be internal consistency. The budget doesn't have to be "honest," he notes. It only has to be consistent so that it adds up on paper.

You can find the same info in the document accompanying his press release: http://www.sco.ca.gov/Files-EO/Budget_Analysis_Sheet.pdf But no one seems to read or listen carefully. LA Times columnist George Skelton today devotes his column to lamenting that when voters gave the controller the authority to deny pay, it was bad public policy. But he concludes (sadly) that in this instance, it might be beneficial. "(Voters) are sick of Sacramento politicians mucking around in a perpetual budget hole. Perhaps the paycheck prod will pry them out." (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap-controller-20110623,0,7214890,full.column) But prod them out to do what, exactly?

Basically, by the controller's calculation, the legislature was off by around $2 billion. If legislators had assumed a rosier economic scenario, one generating enough extra cash from taxes already on the books, the budget would have passed muster. That view opens the door to a budget deal, albeit one that wasn't slapped together at the last moment as the clock ticked towards the June 15 deadline.

The problem for UC is that a deal of that sort is likely to start from where the vetoed budget left off, i.e., with more cuts to UC than in the May revise. Legislators know that UC has a revenue source apart from the state, i.e., tuition, that other programs such as prisons do not.

UCLA to Charge Credit Card Fee to Students

An earlier blog noted that budget pressures are pushing the University to add fees for things that were not previously charged. From California Watch yesterday comes:

UCLA students who use credit cards to pay their university bills better brace themselves: The university will start charging a 2.75 percent credit card processing fee this fall. It's an example of how universities are passing certain costs along to students amid a statewide budget crunch.

Administrators say the move allows the university to stop absorbing the cost of processing credit card transactions – fees that credit card companies charge. Transferring that cost to the credit card-swiping students will save UCLA more than $6.5 million a year, they say...

Full story at http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/ucla-start-charging-fee-credit-card-payments-11005

Maybe not nickels and dimes but a penny here; a penny there. It all adds up:

No Way San Jose

There has been a concern at UC that some future ballot proposition might sweep UC into a statewide public pension change that would affect current employees, contrary to the Regents’ action on pensions last December. The state attorney general, Kamala Harris, recently raised possible objections concerning a San Jose city plan that would affect current employees there. Whether she would challenge a ballot proposition that had similar effects at the state level is unknown.

From the San Jose Mercury-News of 6/21/11:

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed's proposal to declare a fiscal state of emergency and seek a ballot measure to trim employee pensions raises "serious" legal concerns, the office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris says. The attorney general's assessment was in a preliminary response to a joint letter last month questioning Reed's proposal by state Assemblymen Paul Fong, D-Mountain View; Luis Alejo, D-Salinas; Richard Gordon, D-Los Altos; and Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont…

The mayor has acknowledged the legal risks in trying to reduce current employee pension benefits, but argues that the alternative is municipal bankruptcy or a greatly reduced workforce. And he believes the law allows room for what he's proposed…

Reed has argued that the city's pension problem is too large to fix simply by lowering benefits for future hires. He has called for phasing in changes such as raising retirement ages and reducing benefit accruals for existing employees… Harris' letter said that the Attorney General's Office has taken a dim view of such ideas in the past and that Reed's proposal would be "an extraordinary maneuver." An attorney general's review doesn't carry the weight of a court opinion, though it can provide guidance to government leaders. Harris' office would not speculate what action she might take if San Jose pursues Reed's proposal…

Full story at http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_18327096

Meanwhile, San Jose may have to find a different way:

No Pay Today: State Budget Update

As noted in an update to one of yesterday’s blog entries, state controller John Chiang has ruled that the budget passed by the legislature (but vetoed by the governor), was not “balanced.” However, he took a relatively narrow view of what the imbalance was, which would open the door to some other budget deal that might have funny elements in it. Chiang's ruling means legislators don't get paid. So far, no one has filed a legal challenge to his ruling.

There is a report that the governor has a plan for passing a budget by majority vote, i.e., without Republican support, which presumably then would not have tax extensions. (However, there was some talk months ago about a possible legal work-around the 2/3 vote requirement that would involve tying the taxes to an ostensible modification of a past ballot initiative.) Getting a vote on the extensions on the ballot would require a 2/3 vote or doing it by petition.

To do it by petition, someone would need to come up with $1-$2 million for signature-gathering firms. Unions could in principle pay for it but they have expressed a lack of enthusiasm for doing so, particularly since the voters might well reject the extensions.

The truth may be that there really is no Plan B at this point. And if someone comes up with a Plan B, it may not have good news for UC. The legislature’s vetoed budget would have added another $150 million in UC cuts.

Meanwhile, Democrats (and some Republicans more quietly) have been unhappy with Chiang’s decision:

Faculty Center Election Results

The Faculty Center just emailed the results of its recent election. If you did not receive the email, the results are listed below, along with the campaign statements of the winning candidates.

These are the individuals that will have to deal with the UCLA administration with regard to the hotel/conference center issue.

The Election Committee has completed the task of counting the ballots and the following candidates have been elected to served on the 2011-12 Faculty Center Board of Governors

President-elect: Joseph Nagy
Treasurer: Lawrence Kruger

Members-at-large: Charles Berst, Laura Lake, R. Michael Rich

Candidate Statements:

President-elect
Joseph Nagy, Professor of English

I've been at UCLA since 1978 and a member of the Faculty Center Association ever since. This is a pivotal time for the Association and the Faculty Center, both of which have proven to be essential strands in the fabric of the UCLA community's identity, in good times and bad. Preserving the independence and character of the Faculty Center, building up membership, making sure that the University administration appreciates how much the FC means to so many of us, and leaving the FC in sound physical and financial condition for future UCLA generations to utilize and enjoy--these will be my priorities, if I have the honor to be elected as President-elect of the FCA Board of Governors.

Treasurer
Lawrence Kruger, Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology (Emeritus)

I was first appointed to the UCLA faculty in 1957 and have been a continuous member of the UCLA Faculty Center Association from ~1959 to the present. I have previously served a term as Treasurer many years ago (when Mary Erickson was Manager) and have recently pursued active interest in the finances and future of the "Faculty Club" consequent to discovery, (while serving on the Faculty Welfare Committee of the Academic Senate), that the future of our physical plant and financial future was under administrative siege. In recent years, I have continued to serve on Senate committees, including two terms on Library and Emeriti (UEPRRC) Committees, also serving each as Chair. In recent years I have served on the Finance Committee of the Society for Neuroscience and if elected to the Board of the Faculty Center I am likely to pursue an aggressive, rather than conciliatory style. I currently serve UCLA recalled as "Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology (Emeritus)" with minimal teaching responsibility, while writing a new scholarly book and serving UCLA in whatever manner I might be useful.

Member-at-Large (3 open seats)
Charles Berst, Professor of English (Emeritus)

Since Faculty Center members voted 815 to 269-75%-against replacing the Center's building with a residential conference center/faculty club, its Board should now contribute Center perspectives to the even stronger reservations of three Academic Senate committees and many others. Perfunctory notification and careless "done-deal" planning by Capital Programs have dodged transparent, truly broad-based consultation. Particularly underappreciated, moreover, have been the intellectual, interdisciplinary, and social ties and occasions that make our current Center a very special hub and oasis for faculty and emeriti-a facility arguably more important for faculty retention and recruitment in these tough budgetary times than another conference center.
Forthrightly detailed answers to such questions as the following could now lead to productive consultations: 1. Who and what schools and departments are seeking a conference center? What are their time, space and use needs? 2. Detail annual time, space, and use statistics of existing and prospective campus meeting facilities. 3. Why have alternative sites been dismissed? 4. What are the costs of commercial L.A. facilities? 5. Have flexible, debt-free alternatives such as a Luskin Conference Endowment been considered? 6. Might 20% of such an endowment subsidize refurbishment and overhead of the Faculty Center-to facilitate faculty, emeriti, and conference use?

Laura Lake, Adjunct Asst. Professor (Retired)
Political Science and Environmental Science and Engineering

I am a member of the Ad Hoc Committee to Save the Faculty Center and am committed to saving and improving the Center. My husband, Jim Lake, and I were recruited to UCLA in 1976 and feel privileged to call so many members of the Faculty Center friends. We know that lunch on the Center's patio is often the final factor that persuades the very best job candidates to choose UCLA. Also, we have celebrated countless family events there. That is why ever since last summer I have been working with faculty members, neighbors, Westwood hotels and our City Councilmember to stop demolition of our beloved Center and urge the Administration to build a conference center without a hotel, near Westwood Village. The Faculty Center must increase its membership and refurbish antiquated conference facilities. As a former UCLA faculty member, environmental leader, and former President of the National Council of Jewish Women/LA, I have the experience and contacts to raise funds and recruit members. My vision for the Board of Governors is to be effective advocates for this beloved and vital institution and wise stewards of a campus treasure. To save the Faculty Center I need your vote.

R. Michael Rich, Research Astronomer - Department of Physics and Astronomy

I am a member of the ad hoc Committee to Save the Faculty Center, and if elected, I will support the 75% of members who voted against demolition of the Faculty Center. I am a Research Astronomer and have been at UCLA, and a member, since 1998; my family has deep UCLA connections. In addition to my qualifications as a scientist (over 300 refereed publications, h-index 64) I have 30 years of involvement in a family real estate business. I can interpret a balance sheet, assess a business plan, and evaluate a stock portfolio. To survive, we must grow. I will work to expand the member base, to advertise our event facilities, and to raise funds for needed renovations. We can restore the Faculty Center to mid-century elegance and make it an attractive and functional site for conferences and events without changing its fundamental character. Every one of our conference spaces has access to a private outdoor patio. All rooms can be updated with the most modern AV equipment, including high-lumen projectors that will allow meetings in our daylit, garden-view rooms, far better than the dreary black boxes with dropped ceilings that are the staple of the typical "modern" conference center.

Will there be changes coming along?

State Budget (Whenever There Is One) to Ban Funding UC Athletics

The story below somehow got away yours truly on Sunday. But Inside Higher Ed alerted me so here it is belatedly:

Budget plan bans taxpayer funds for UC athletics (Excerpt)

Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle, June 19, 2011

With a few words in the new state budget, lawmakers will ban spending taxpayer money on intercollegiate athletics - and end a controversy that started when a sharp-eyed UC Berkeley professor found that university officials had changed details of the law. University of California officials acknowledge asking the state to remove athletics from the list of programs required to be "self-supporting and not subsidized by the state," but say the reason was bookkeeping and not an attempt to pirate taxpayer money meant for academics.

…UC officials insist that no campus has spent state money on athletics in at least 30 years, and that doing so would violate UC policy.

…UC athletics are also in financial trouble. While a number of Cal's teams - including the baseball team playing today in the College World Series - have been saved from elimination by private donations, four of the 27 intercollegiate teams at UC Davis were not so lucky. Patrick Lenz, UC's budget chief, called the issue of diverting state money to athletics "nonsensical." …

Full story at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/19/BAS71JTBS6.DTL