VOTE! UC faces catastrophic cuts if prop 30 fails. October 29, 2012
Posted by Julie Sze in Uncategorized.add a comment
Letter from President Yudof
October 25, 2012
Dear Colleague:
With the November election looming, I am writing to encourage all members of the University of California community – students, faculty, staff and alumni – to exercise your right to vote. The decisions made on Tuesday, November 6, will be of great importance for all America, with the presidency and control of Congress on the line. But here in California, the election also could prove pivotal to the University of California and its immediate future.
I refer to Proposition 30, one of 11 statewide initiatives on the California ballot. This initiative, advanced by Governor Brown, would increase income and sales taxes on a temporary basis and thus avoid an assortment of prospective “trigger cuts” that were written into the current State budget, pending the election outcome.
As you probably recall, The Regents last summer took the extraordinary step of endorsing Proposition 30, noting that should it fail our budget will be reduced by $250 million. In addition, $125 million currently in the budget to ensure no increases in tuition through fiscal year 2012-13 will be forfeited.
Sadly, it’s not news that public higher education in California has been battered by declining State support. With an additional blow of this magnitude, The Regents’ resolution stated, “the ability of the University of California to ensure the high-quality education that Californians have come to expect will be jeopardized….”
Let me be clear that it is neither my official place, nor my personal predilection, to suggest how others should vote. You need to look at the facts and make your own informed decisions. In that vein, please allow me to point you to a good starting place:
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/28244
The above link will take you to a variety of Proposition 30 informational and campaign materials from sources on all sides of the ballot issue. This includes material from those who oppose the measure, arguing that it will increase taxes unnecessarily and burden small businesses.
I also want to take this opportunity to invite all UC faculty and staff to a “web-chat” on Friday, November 2, from noon to 1 p.m. During that hour, I’ll be happy to take any questions on matters that concern the University, including those that relate to the coming election. The following link provides details about how to join in:
http://link.ucop.edu/2012/10/23/dont-miss-live-web-chat-with-president-yudof-nov-2/
Thank you for your time and consideration.
With best wishes, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Mark G. Yudof
President
University of California
Sobering Report on KQED June 12, 2012
Posted by davidmwittman in access to education, students, university.add a comment
I heard this driving home Friday night: a radio report about how some good California high school seniors are reluctant to consider UC because they know cuts will continue and quality will continue to decline. This was truly disheartening to hear. We need to restore education as a public good. California Sales and Income Tax Increase Initiative which will probably be on the ballot this November is a good place to start. It funds K12, and to a lesser extent community colleges, rather than UC, but it represents a step in the right direction.
University of California or University in California- guest repost June 4, 2012
Posted by Julie Sze in Uncategorized.add a comment
today’s (re) post comes David Meyer, a Professor of Sociology and Political Science at UC Irvine.
The future of the University of California is even more daunting for organizers than the troubled present.
The problem: Students, faculty, and the citizens of California have interests in both access to the University system and maintaining some degree of excellence in the system. It’s extremely hard to focus on both issues simultaneously, and it’s hard to know who to work with and who to trust.
Over the past five years, the University has been fighting losing battles on both fronts. As the state of California has consistently cut funding, the University has cut spending and programs while raising tuition. Most of the ten campuses are working hard to increase the percentage of out-of-state and international students, who pay much higher tuition. It’s a viable revenue strategy, but it’s understandable why California taxpayers are incensed that their University has less room for the young people of California.
Meanwhile, ongoing cuts to programs are affecting the quality of education UC students receive. Saturday’s New York Times reports that students face fewer classes, larger classes, tougher admissions standards, less attention, higher tuition, and even a less demanding education. According to the Times, every student may still have access to an academic adviser, but each adviser is now responsible for 500 students (rather than 300 in years past). Is that access? Many professors facing larger classes with fewer teaching assistants now require less writing, shorter and fewer papers. (When I came to UCI, about a dozen years ago, each of my TAs was typically responsible for 80-90 students; 120-140 is now more typical. If this doesn’t seem like much of a difference to you, try to imagine reading and commenting on 40 ten page papers.) Students are unlikely to complain about such reforms, but they’re certainly not being helped.
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Davis Dozen update June 3, 2012
Posted by Julie Sze in protests, students.add a comment
the end of the quarter is coming fast, and then the summer lull will likely take its toll in terms of media and broad interest in campus politics. But, the Davis Dozen case certainly continues. Read this on yesterday’s court appearance
UCOP’s Latest Threat to Faculty Freedom May 22, 2012
Posted by Julie Sze in university.add a comment
UCOP has proposed changes to the Academic Personnel Manual concerning faculty rights and discipline of faculty conduct. They are posted for comment athttp://www.ucop.edu/acadpersonnel/apm/review.html, and they need attention. A close reading of the proposed changes suggests that they enlarge in an unlimited manner the zone in which faculty are exposed to “administrative actions” without the due process specified by the Faculty Code of Conduct. Recently, three UC faculty have been charged with criminal offenses related to protesting UC policies: Celeste Langan of UC Berkeley, whose charges have since been dropped; Ken Ehrlich of UC Riverside; and Joshua Clover of UC Davis. None of them have yet been subjected to university discipline under the Faculty Code of Conduct. Could these events be related? Yes, indeed. By the logic of one of the changes proposed, in the future the university could discipline faculty in their position outside the guidelines of the Faculty Code of Conduct and without any peer review whatsoever.
UCOP here proposes changes to three sections of the APM: APM-010 on Academic Freedom; APM-015, Part I of the Faculty Code of Conduct, on Professional Rights of Faculty; and APM-016, University Policy on Faculty Conduct and Administration of Discipline. The proposed changes begin promisingly. To a sentence in APM-010 naming the freedoms that faculty currently enjoy–“freedom of inquiry and research, freedom of teaching, and freedom of expression and publication”—is added a new “freedom,” “freedom to address any matter of institutional policy or action when acting as a member of the faculty whether or not as a member of an agency of institutional governance.” It’s true that APM-015 already states that professors “maintain their right to criticize and seek revision” of University regulations” (APM-015, Part II C). But this statement has turned out not to be enough to protect faculty in all cases. In a recent federal lawsuit (Hong v. Grant), the Regents zealously and successfully defended UC Irvine for denying a merit increase to a Professor on the grounds that he publicly criticized his department for relying on adjuncts to teach required courses. The Ninth Circuit upheld UC’s position on the narrow grounds that “[i]t is far from clearly established …that university professors have a First Amendment right to comment on faculty administrative matters without retaliation.” Thus, in the new 015 UC seems to back down on its claimed right to retaliate against faculty who criticize it. The next proposed change, to APM-015, adds the new “freedom” a second time, in exactly the same language, to the list of Professional Rights in the Code of Conduct (“the right to present controversial material relevant to a course of instruction” and so forth). This “freedom” protects UC professors from being formally disciplined under the Faculty Code of Conduct for mere criticism of UC policy.
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CUCFA response to Gov. Brown and UCOP Yudof May 16, 2012
Posted by Julie Sze in university.add a comment
Although they will both praise the deal by saying that it “stabilizes” funding while granting greater “flexibility,” its essence is that each will let the other off the hook: UC will mute complaints that it does not get enough money from the state and the state will stop holding UC accountable for the money it still gets.
The likely result is that UC will dump a larger number of eligible Californians onto the CSU and Community Colleges, which will in turn pass on their overflow to for-profit schools, where students take on inordinate amounts of debt with a very high likelihood of default.
Here are some key elements of the deal: (more…)
UC Security culture May 15, 2012
Posted by Julie Sze in Guest blog, university.add a comment
Davis Dozen update May 14, 2012
Posted by Julie Sze in protests, students, university.add a comment
update: new court date in June (As someone who studies social movements, the delay tactics here are fairly familiar. constant delays make it hard for everyone, even passive supporters, to keep track of what is happening, especially as the end of the quarter approaches).
here’s the update on the UCD countersuit against US Bank for Breach of Contract
A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College May 14, 2012
Posted by davidmwittman in Uncategorized.add a comment
Read the New York Times article with the above headline here. The total amount of student debt is now over $1 trillion according to this article. It’s touching that people will pay so much to get an education, and sad that they have to. Declining state support is not a law of nature—it’s a choice, and we have to make the case that education is a public good.
Analysis of UC May 14, 2012
Posted by jessedrew in Uncategorized.add a comment
Mark LeVine analysis of UC situation:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/05/201251195339240940.html
