New Alumni Officers & Board Members

From the UCLA Newsroom: The UCLA Alumni Association board of directors has elected three new members and four officers whose terms began July 1. The volunteer-led board is made up of alumni who partner with alumni affairs staff to advance the association’s mission of enriching the lives of alumni worldwide and engaging them in UCLA’s future.

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The board’s new president, Cinthia Flores (image shown), serves as a quasi-judicial officer adjudicating state labor law matters on the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, having been appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020...

Devon Dickau will serve as the board’s new vice president. He is the head of future of work at Google DeepMind, where he collaborates with business leaders to address people and culture challenges in support of responsible AI development and business performance...

The board’s new secretary, Sonia Das, is principal attorney at the law offices of Sonia Das, where she focuses on nonprofit organizations and estate planning... 

The new treasurer, Chris MacLaughlin, is executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Kestra Holdings, where she leads integrated marketing strategy for a network of financial firms serving wealth management professionals... 

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One incumbent director was reelected for another term, and three directors were elected to new terms. The reelected and newly elected directors of the UCLA Alumni Association board are:

Austin Berke is a founding engineer at Harmonic AI, where he builds and supports a data platform used by leading venture capital firms and enterprises. He previously worked as a software engineer at Microsoft...

Sonya Brooks is a scholar, public servant, community builder and higher education leader whose work is rooted in educational access, student well-being and institutional transformation. She is also the CEO and founder of Beautiful Girls Garden and We Are Our Mothers’ Gardens, where she develops STEM, well-being and leadership programming for girls and young women...

Ron Yee is a partner at Wooden’s Wisdom, where he coaches individuals and teams to apply the Pyramid of Success and build stronger performance through values-based leadership and team spirit... 

Diana Zschaschel is the owner of LA Dental Day Spa and an Army Reserve colonel supporting 15,000 soldiers under the 79th Theater Support Command as the command surgeon. As a dentist, she is leading efforts to expand access to care for individuals with disabilities... She has served on the Alumni Association board of directors since 2021.

Full announcement at https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-alumni-association-board-2026. The complete list of board members with their bios is at https://alumni.ucla.edu/board-of-directors/. 

The Enacted State Budget

As blog readers will know, yours truly is the guy who notes that the glass is half empty. Now that the enacted state budget is posted, he will point to the following sentence regarding UC:

Compact Funding Deferral—Maintains a $240.8 million one-time General Fund deferral of the 2025-26 Compact payment, representing a 5-percent base increase in the fourth year of the Compact, to 2027-28.*

And he will point out that nobody can compel a future legislature to do anything. In particular, the current governor will have been termed out in January 2027. The budget for 2027-28 will be enacted six months later.

What about the overall state budget? The table below summarizes the basics:

The Good News is that last year's budget finished in the black, with a small surplus of about $5 billion thanks to the inflow of tax revenue related to AI capital gains. Some of that money went automatically to K-14, thanks to Prop 98. The Bad News is that this year's budget is in deficit to the tune of around $21 billion. Of course, news reports repeated the idea that the budget was "balanced." But although more funding was placed in the "rainy day" fund, it basically came out of the General Fund (GF) reserve. So it went from one reserve into another, and when we look at the sum of all reserves, the total declines. Now, maybe AI will again provide a surprise dose of revenue. Or maybe not. Or maybe we might discover that the AI thing was a bubble that burst. Or maybe... 

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*Source: https://ebudget.ca.gov/2026-27/pdf/Enacted/BudgetSummary/HigherEducation.pdf.

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Note: The table is from https://ebudget.ca.gov/2026-27/pdf/Enacted/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf. To estimate the changes in the various reserves last year, I used data from the governor's January 2026 proposal: https://ebudget.ca.gov/2026-27/pdf/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf.

Straws in the Wind - Part 419

From iHeartRadio: Stanford University football players are taking a significant step toward collective bargaining in college sports. They have established the first campus chapter of the College Football Players Association (CFBPA), aiming to lay the groundwork for eventual unionization. The initiative, announced on Monday (July 27), does not seek to form a union or classify players as school employees. Instead, it hopes to inspire similar movements at other schools...

The CFBPA's executive director, Jason Stahl, views this player-led chapter as a precursor to a collective bargaining agreement at the conference level. The association is actively engaging with players from other schools to form additional chapters, with the goal of eventually negotiating with conference leadership. ESPN reports that this initiative comes amid ongoing debates about how to regulate college sports. Some stakeholders advocate for federal legislation, while others see collective bargaining as a viable solution. The Protect College Sports Act of 2026, currently under consideration in Congress, is one such legislative effort...

Full story at https://1340wraw.iheart.com/content/2026-07-27-stanford-football-players-push-for-collective-bargaining/.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 185

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard disclosed more than $36 million in gifts from sources attributed to China and Hong Kong that carried financial aid preferences tied to students’ countries, nationalities, geographic regions, or international status, according to a Crimson analysis of federal foreign-funding records. But only about $4 million explicitly preferred Chinese or Hong Kong students. Most of the remaining gifts used generic language — such as “preference given to students from a particular country” — without naming the country, and records elsewhere in the database show that the preferred country often differed from the source of the gift.

The China-linked funding is part of a much broader pattern. Harvard disclosed roughly $210 million in foreign gifts carrying geographic or nationality-based financial aid preferences, more than any other university in the federal database. About $127 million — 61 percent of the total — did not publicly identify the preferred country. These gifts are at the center of a Department of Justice investigation into whether Harvard violated federal civil rights law by accepting foreign funding that carried preferences for students from particular countries...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/7/27/doj-harvard-china-financial-aid-data/.

Sharing is Caring

The systemwide Senate wants a greater role in UC's online education program:

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July 23, 2026

Yvette Gullatt

Vice President for Graduate and Undergraduate Affairs Vice Provost for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Re: Recommendations for UC Online

Dear VP Gullatt:

At the June 24, 2026 meeting, the Academic Council endorsed recommendations developed by the University Committee on Educational Policy (UCEP) regarding the governance and oversight of UC Online. Background Council’s endorsement follows several discussions this year regarding UC Online’s evolving role, services, and governance. In March, Council met with UC Online’s associate vice provost to discuss the unit’s strategic direction and the broader context for its work, including persistent challenges related to cross-campus enrollment, course articulation, funding models, data, and operations. In April and June, Council considered UCEP’s analysis of deep concerns about UC Online’s transparency, the availability of data detailed enough to allow meaningful assessment of its services and outcomes, the lack of independent advisory oversight, and the need for greater Senate consultation and involvement in UC Online initiatives at both the systemwide and campus levels. These discussions informed the recommendations in this letter.

Council recognizes that UC Online can play an important role in supporting faculty, students, and cross-campus educational opportunities. However, as online and hybrid instruction becomes more widespread at UC, the Council is extremely troubled that longstanding issues identified by UCEP and in prior external reviews have not yet been resolved. These include unanswered questions about UC Online’s costs and deliverables, and especially its relationship to the Senate in terms of the faculty’s authority over academic programs and courses. Council views these as structural and governance problems, not simply matters of communication. They call for a much stronger and more structured partnership between UC Online and the Senate to clarify responsibilities, address recurring problems, and better align UC Online with UC’s educational mission.

Request for Comprehensive Assessment of UC Online

Council recommends that the Office of Graduate, Undergraduate and Equity Affairs (GUEA) initiate a comprehensive assessment of UC Online or conduct a formal external audit. It should examine the unit’s organizational structure, budget and expenditures, services to faculty and students, and active course offerings. It should also analyze data sufficient to understand how UC Online is being used, including the number and types of active courses; the academic credit students receive and requirements those courses satisfy; course-level patterns of cross-campus enrollment, including the factors driving growth and areas that may warrant review; and the distribution of UC Online’s services across campuses and student populations.

The assessment should do more than restate issues identified in numerous previous reviews. It should identify the corrective actions needed to address ongoing problems, including those related to course articulation, data reporting, funding flows, and evaluation of educational outcomes, and the offices responsible for carrying them out, and a timeline for doing so. Advisory Oversight and Reporting Council also recommends restructuring the UC Online Advisory Council to ensure it has sufficiently independent leadership and a defined responsibility for more objective review and oversight. The Advisory Council should serve as a forum for regular, two-way communication between UC Online and Senate representatives, with an established process for considering Senate concerns and priorities.

An independent advisory structure would help ensure that the council can provide meaningful advice regarding UC Online’s strategic direction, performance, and relationship to broader UC educational initiatives. In addition, Council recommends that UC Online address the inadequacy of its current documentation by committing to providing significantly more complete and accessible information about its activities on a regular basis. This should include substantive annual reports with relevant data, analysis, and evaluation; an up-to-date catalog of active course offerings; a detailed organizational chart with specific roles and areas of management; and a user-friendly navigation dashboard with clear descriptions of both the services available to faculty and students and how to access them. These resources should be made available to enable campuses, faculty, and students to understand what UC Online offers, how to access its services, and how its activities contribute to the University’s educational mission.

Shared Governance

Council recommends that GUEA establish clearer processes for partnering with the Senate on educational initiatives that involve UC Online, particularly as UC Online is increasingly asked to support initiatives beyond its original role in online course development and cross-campus enrollment. Some recent initiatives, including the Global Language Network, the National Education Opportunity Network dual enrollment pilot, and cross-segment online course development efforts, lacked the necessary Senate consultation. These examples illustrate the need for clearer roles, timelines, and collaborative processes.

While the initiatives may advance legitimate educational goals and provide opportunities for UC Online to offer valuable operational support, they also raise questions about course development, instructional standards, credit and articulation, and faculty participation in the development and delivery of courses and programs, all of which require early and sustained engagement with the Senate. While Council does not aim to direct UC Online’s administrative operations or limit its capacity to support systemwide initiatives, it does seek to ensure that initiatives affecting academic programs, course development, instructional standards, credit, articulation, or related educational policy are initiated only after timely and substantive faculty engagement.

Early consultation would allow UC Online to contribute its operational expertise while ensuring that initiatives appropriately reflect Senate authority, campus processes, and faculty perspectives.

Ongoing Assessment of UC Online

Finally, Council recommends that UC Online, with guidance from GUEA, develops a more systematic approach to assessing outcomes. Relevant measures should include student and faculty experiences with UC Online, course completion and subsequent academic performance, the effectiveness of instructional and technical support, and the costs and educational benefits associated with cross-campus course offerings. These assessments should inform strategic planning efforts and provide a sound basis for future decisions about UC Online’s role and resource needs.

Council also recognizes that the Senate has work to do. Council will ask UCEP, in consultation with Senate leadership and Senate divisions as appropriate, to identify relevant Senate policy questions, gather campus-level information about the use and impact of UC Online, and recommend any Senate processes needed to support more effective oversight, and online and cross-campus instruction. The Academic Council appreciates the work of GUEA and UC Online in advancing educational access and innovation.

We share these recommendations to foster a productive conversation and subsequent action so that UC Online can better serve faculty and students while operating within a transparent and effective shared governance framework. Council requests that GUEA and UC Online develop a concrete plan for resolving these issues and report back to Council within the next academic year. Council expects the plan to be developed in consultation with appropriate Senate bodies. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these recommendations with you in more detail and identify immediate next steps.

Sincerely,

Ahmet Palazoglu

Chair, Academic Council

cc: Academic Council Provost & Executive Vice President Newman, Associate Vice Provost Moe, Senate Division Executive Directors, Senate Executive Director Lin

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Source: https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/reports/council-chair-to-guea-uc-online-recommendations.pdf.

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Curious about the image above? Today's online education had a predecessor: College education for credit on TV in the 1950s:

https://dn601209.us.archive.org/0/items/labor-classes/Online%20education%20predecessor%20Sunrise%20Semester%201950s%20TV.mp4.

Watch the Regents Meeting of July 15, 2026

The second day of the Regents meetings of July 14-15 began with public comments. Public comments dealt with the SAT issue, the Hawaiian telescope, funding for professional students, public transportation, a "boarding" crisis in ERs, UC hiring of undocumented students, a project labor agreement for UC, and remote work at UC. There was a brief demonstration thereafter but a warning seemed to bring it to a halt without a full halt of the meeting. (It was unclear who was demonstrating.) 

There were then presentations by representatives of student government, grad and undergrad. There is a certain kabuki element in these presentations. Students denounce the Regents and/or their policies, and then they are thanked for their service. It's a bit like the budget kabuki in which the governor is always thanked for whatever allocation he proposes, and then UC lobbies for more. (Maybe yours truly has grown a bit jaundiced about these traditions!) 

Various student awards were presented including one to a UCLA student who has assisted in advocacy in the face of federal grant cuts.

A report on retention and graduation rates was presented. Among UC's goal is a 90% 6-year graduation rate. The current rate is 86%. One Regent indicated that there was a conflict between the advocacy for returning to the SAT and the fact that graduation rates were generally rising. Another Regents asked, however, whether it is getting easier to graduate.

At Academic and Student Affairs, there was a review of high school A-G courses needed to qualify for admission to UC.  A = History and Social Science, B = English, C = Math, D = Science, E = Language, F = Visual and Performing Arts, G = College Prep Electives. These standards go back the late 19th century and have evolved over time. Most high schools offer A-G. Those that don't can take advantage of online versions. There is a teacher shortage problem with regard to some topics. Also, there are dual enrollment options with community colleges. A concern now is incorporating AI into the curriculum.

As the agenda suggested, there was not a discussion of the SAT, although a student observer opposed going back to the SAT requirement.

The Committee also heard discussion of international education including study abroad programs and exchange students from abroad who come to UC. 

Finally, there was discussion of the return on investment in a UC degree. It was acknowledged that graduating students are facing a low-turnover labor market and that AI is being used to screen job applicants.

At Finance and Capital Strategies, Regent Makarechian - who is often critical of UC construction cost estimates - praised a UC-Irvine project for its low cost and high quality. The state budget allocation for UC was praised despite the "deferral" of certain compact payments. (See the kabuki comments above.) It was noted the although UC has been successful in getting existing grants restored, federal approval of renewals and new grants is sluggish. 

The Regents endorsed the housing bond on the November ballot which contains funding for student housing. National Lab fee income was budgeted. New Regents were excluded from access to classified information. And committee reports were approved.

As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meetings since the Regents have no policy on retention duration. You can see the July 15th meeting at the link below:

https://archive.org/details/regents-7-15-2026.

Straws in the Wind - Part 418 (The Role of Madagascar in the Industrial Revolution)

From TechSpot: ...Modern problems require modern solutions – according to the meme. In this case, the issue is students using AI to cheat on assignments. The solution, used to great effect by one professor, was to hide a white-colored font in the assignment prompt telling the AI to talk nonsense about an unrelated subject. In an online discussion post, Alcorn State University history professor Dr. Jason Gibson posed a question that represented part of his students' midterm. It was about the Industrial Revolution, but knowing how many students now rely solely on artificial intelligence for their answers, he secretly embedded instructions telling the AI to include information about Madagascar in a way that makes no sense.

Being written in white text meant the instructions were invisible. Sure enough, 32 out of the 35 students across two classes simply copied the question, pasted it into a chatbot, then copy and pasted its output into the answer window. Had any of these cheaters even bothered to check what the AI had generated, they'd likely have noticed the strange references to the island country constantly appearing in an essay about the Industrial Revolution...

Full story at https://www.techspot.com/news/113243-professor-invisible-prompt-trap-catches-32-students-cheating.html.

See it to believe it:

https://dn800307.us.archive.org/0/items/sacramento-city-at-risk/AI%20Cheating%20-The%20Role%20of%20Madagascar%20in%20the%20Industrial%20Revolution.mp4.