Closed-Door Regents Meeting Today

TO THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA:

Because the membership of the Advisory Group on Research and Programs Funding Legal Issues (“Advisory Group”) includes five members of the Regents’ Governance Committee, there exists the potential for having present a quorum of a Regents’ Committee when the advisory committee meets.

This notice of meeting is served in order to comply fully with pertinent open meeting laws. On Tuesday, June 23, 2026, there will be a Closed Session, Special Meeting of the Regents’ Governance Committee concurrent with the Advisory Group to discuss Research and Programs Funding Legal Issues (Closed Session Statute Citation: Litigation [Education Code section 92032(b)(5)].)

The meeting will convene at 10:30 a.m. at 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland and adjourn at approximately 11:00 a.m.

(Advisory Group members: Regents Anguiano, Cohen, Hernandez, Matosantos, Milliken, Reilly, Robinson, Sarris, and Sures)

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Source: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/june26/meeting-notice_federal-june-23-2026.pdf.

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You're not invited.  

When is it over?

From Higher Ed Dive: Dozens of higher education institutions may have been hit by another attack from the cybercrime group behind the May hack against Canvas, according to the Google Threat Intelligence Group and cybersecurity firm Mandiant.

From May 27 and June 9, the group ShinyHunters potentially gained access to the systems of over 100 organizations by targeting the Oracle PeopleSoft software suite. A majority of them are based in the U.S., and 68% are within the higher education sector...

ShinyHunters twice gained unauthorized access to Instructure’s Canvas learning management system last month, disrupting final exam season at colleges nationwide...

Colleges are a prime target for cybercriminals, both because they hold vast troves of student and employee data and because their systems typically have a massive number of users that turn over regularly...

Full story at https://www.highereddive.com/news/colleges-hit-in-cyberattack-by-group-behind-canvas-breach-google-says/822831/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 380

From CNYhomepage.com: Syracuse University’s chancellor says the school is facing a budget deficit after falling short of its undergraduate enrollment target for the upcoming academic year. J. Michael Haynie, the university’s chancellor and president, said in an email to faculty and staff Thursday that the institution will not meet its undergraduate enrollment goal for fall 2026, citing several challenges impacting higher education institutions nationwide. “Since the start of this decade, enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities has meaningfully declined,” Haynie wrote in the message. He added that the number of 18-year-old high school graduates peaked last year and is expected to continue declining over the next 15 years.

University leaders say Syracuse is also facing increased competition for students as colleges across the country work to attract a shrinking pool of applicants. The university also reported a decline in international undergraduate and graduate applications, attributing the drop to visa difficulties, geopolitical pressures and disruptions in federal policies. With undergraduate tuition serving as Syracuse University’s primary source of revenue, officials say the enrollment shortfall will result in a budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year — something the university said it has not experienced in years...

Full story at https://www.cnyhomepage.com/news/syracuse-university-facing-budget-deficit-as-enrollment-numbers-fall-short/.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 172

From the Harvard Crimson: All Harvard College staff are expected to be required to be in the office five days a week beginning this fall as part of a sweeping staff restructuring in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, according to an FAS staff member familiar with the matter. The staff member said some employees were informally told of the change by managers, but that official communication about the policy has not yet been sent to staff.

The FAS currently employs more than 2,000 staff. It is unclear how many would be affected by the new policy, particularly since some offices support both the College and other FAS schools. College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo wrote in a statement that conversations around hybrid work are ongoing. The change comes as part of a broad staff reorganization that has been in the works for more than a year and that could result in up to a quarter of FAS staff being laid off. The change to College hybrid work is a signal that even staffers who keep their jobs will be affected by the restructuring...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/6/19/college-staff-office-requirement/.

405 Night Construction

From the Santa Monica Mirror: ...Caltrans crews will begin installing concrete K-rail barriers and conducting survey work along Interstate 405 starting Monday night, June 22. The nightly restrictions will run from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. through Friday morning, June 26.

To prevent gridlock during the World Cup matches, officials will suspend all construction activities between 5:00 a.m. Thursday and 5:00 a.m. Friday on the stretch of the 405 operating between Lakewood Boulevard and U.S. Route 101.

For safety during active paving operations, Caltrans will reduce the legal speed limit to 55 mph across designated sections of the southbound 405. Motorists navigating the construction zones will encounter intermittent closures on the following schedule:

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Northbound I-405 Closures

Wilshire Boulevard to Skirball Center/Mulholland Drive: Single-lane closures, along with a complete shutdown of the off-ramp to Getty Center Drive.

Skirball Center/Mulholland Drive to Sepulveda Boulevard: Single lane closures, alongside a complete shutdown of the Sepulveda Boulevard on-ramp.

Sepulveda Boulevard to Victory Boulevard: Single lane closures, including a complete shutdown of the Burbank Boulevard off-ramp.

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Southbound I-405 Closures

Skirball Center/Mulholland Drive to Wilshire Boulevard: Single lane closures.

Victory Boulevard to U.S. Route 101: Double lane closures.

U.S. Route 101 to Skirball Center/Mulholland Drive: Up to four lanes will close overnight, significantly restricting traffic flow through the heart of the pass.

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Source: https://smmirror.com/2026/06/overnight-405-freeway-lane-reductions-to-hit-sepulveda-pass-next-week/.

July Discussion?

As blog readers will know, the systemwide Academic Senate is embarking on a study of admissions practices - including the idea of reintroducing the SAT - known as the "roadmap." Although the announcement of the roadmap appeared after a petition by STEM (and later non-STEM) faculty to return to the SAT, the plan for the roadmap was developed before the petition made the news. So it was not responsive to that petition.

When the roadmap was announced, UC President Milliken issued a statement:

University of California President James B. Milliken today (June 11) issued the following statement on the UC Academic Senate plan to review admissions policies:

The Board of Regents and University leadership take very seriously the critical issue of college preparedness, and the UC Academic Senate has proposed a comprehensive, data-driven review to support its recommendations to strengthen student readiness and success at UC. There are few things more important on our agenda. The faculty review will focus on both preparation and admissions, including whether standardized testing should be required. It’s important that UC gets this right. The UC Board of Regents and I will receive an update on the Academic Assembly’s work in July, and we look forward to considering the recommendations that emerge from this important work.

Source: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-president-milliken-statement-academic-senate-plan-review-admissions-policies.

As blog readers will know, yours truly has suggested that an appropriate response to the faculty petition would be to do an accelerated study over the summer and have discussion with the Regents at their September meeting. That approach would have been truly responsive. Saying that the topic will be discussed in July sounds like a super-acceleration. But in fact, all that will be said in July is that there is a (non-responsive) roadmap in place that will require a full year of study. Realistically, what else could be said at a Regents meeting only a month away? Nothing will have happened other than the announcement of the (slow) roadmap.

Straws in the Wind - Part 379

From the Chronicle of Higher Education: A regional public college that faced declining enrollment tried to stem the bleeding two years ago by laying off over 100 people, including all of its faculty librarians. Now Western Illinois University has to hire the librarians back. An arbitrator ruled in late May that Western Illinois improperly laid off all of its faculty librarians and two additional faculty members, and ordered the university to rescind the layoffs, provide back pay, and reinstate those who wish to return.

Altogether, Western Illinois issued layoff notices to 124 faculty and staff members in 2024, including nine librarians, but the library was the only department to lose all of its faculty members. The university cited a decline in student enrollment of 20.6 percent since 2017. The decision to gut the library drew national attention and reignited a longstanding debate about the role of the librarian in academe today...

The university is reviewing the arbitrator’s decision “while working with [the union] to determine the details of implementation and next steps,” according to a written statement...

Full story at https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-regional-college-laid-off-all-its-librarians-in-2024-now-it-has-to-hire-them-back.