Results tagged “universityofcalifornia”

Today, for the most part, is much more peaceful than yesterday's protest about the move to increase tuition at University of California by 32%. Yesterday, when 14 were arrested (up from the 8 we reported) and one reportedly tasered, was a bit more out of control (see some photos)--here is one video showing that at the front lines (man, that one bicycle cop is sure angry).

This week both voting bodies in charge of the University of California and the California State University systems are voting on budget plans for the 2010-11 school year, and both include ambitious requests to the state of California for hundreds of millions of dollars apiece to restore crippling budget cuts and, in fact, increase funding.

A press release from the University of California today announced a new revolutionary program wherein tuition will be free. Pretty cool, right? Too bad it's a fake press release from a fake website mocking University President Mark G. Yudof and the Regents. Here's a fun little sample:

The University of California system is facing a $535 million budget gap and is looking for solutions. That could mean higher tuition next year for students, but more immediately, officials are looking to require furlough days that would amount to a 4% to 10% pay cut for support staff and technical workers. If unions don't accept those, layoffs are the next option.

Looking ahead already to the 2010-11, the University of California Board of Regents are preparing to face another fiscal year of budget shortfalls, according to a UC Newsroom release. The current budget gap of $535 million for the 2009-10 year "could grow to more than $600 million in the next fiscal year," and that has the UC looking for any and all ways to curb the shortfall.

Not all higher education news from the state is grim, thankfully. As a response to the new state budget's inclusion of hundreds of millions in cuts in our two university systems, the Cal Grant program announced late last week that they would adjust award monies to cover the student fee increases implemented at the California State University schools for the upcoming academic year. "The total State University Fee increase of $978 will be offset dollar-for-dollar for all 62,600 Cal Grant A and B recipients attending the CSU," a press release details.

The state budget has finally been passed, and as a result billions of dollars have been cut from the coffers that help support education at all levels. Included are cuts to the large University of California and California State University systems, necessitating the respective campus network leaders to push through their own budgets cuts that include layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts, fee hikes, enrollment caps, and decreased resources. Despite student and faculty protests, the UC and CSU passed the proposals on the table that aim to stave off the shortfall.

Unionized employees of the University of California will rally today at UCLA in Westwood in protest against proposed cost-cutting measures that will see the, losing work hours and funds for operating costs, according to the Daily News.

The upcoming school year at California's two major public University systems continues to look bleak for students, faculty, and staff alike, as budget shortfalls are forcing school officials to recommend fee increases, furlough days, and enrollment stoppages in order to save costs.

There's going to be 6.8% fewer freshmen figuring out post-secondary life on the nine University of California campuses come fall, and that's precisely what the schools were hoping for, according to the LA Times.

With the failure of Prop 1A in last month's statewide election comes the reality of painful cuts to higher education in California. On the books for the upcoming academic year are announced enrollment cuts at both the California State University and University of California systems, and the likely denial of admission to 250,000 prospective Community College students thanks to a combined $825 million in budget cuts and $115 million in deferrals.

Who knew? The University of California has a television station (UCTV) that began airing in Los Angeles earlier this month for Time Warner Cable subscribers (it was already available on the Dish Network on channel 9412). "The goal is for this local channel to become a home for content produced by Los Angeles' higher education institutions -- both public and private -- as well as from local arts and cultural organizations," a press release states. Making that point, it's about 1 p.m. and a program filmed at UC Santa Barbara called Getting Wize: Making Sense of Web 2.0 is just beginning. They also have logged over 3,200 of their shows on YouTube and stream the channel live on the internet. If your curious, the channel numbers by neighborhood are listed below:

University of California students waiting for their Cal Grants to come through will find their next payments are coming from another source--the UC schools. The UC announced today they "will provide funding to cover the value of UC students' Cal Grant awards for the spring term," using "resources from its short-term financial reserves," according to a UC news release. They're advancing the funds "with the expectation that the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) will disburse Cal Grant funds to campuses once the state adopts a final budget." Sadly, that budget remains in limbo; this month many programs and residents will be receiving IOU's instead of checks. The UC system also issued temporary funding to their students last fall when the budget caused delays in Cal Grant payments.

With the California state budget in peril, our university systems are struggling, which is why the University of California system is entertaining the idea of increasing how many out-of-state students they accept and decreasing how many in-state students, all in the name of profit. Since out-of-state students' tuition averages more than twice what a student with California residency pays, the UCs would be bringing in more money. According to a video report on MyFox Los Angeles, UC officials are mulling the possibility of upping their out-of-state enrollment to 15 to 20% from its current 6%, using schools in other states who take in more out-of-staters in general as inspiration. Some, however, see this as a bad move for the UC schools, that will come at the expense of California's students, including Lt. Governor John Garimendi, who calls this "bad public policy."

As part of a week-long push, students on University of California campuses have been working hard to register as many Californians as possible before Monday's deadline. The effort is part of the UC Students Vote! Project, which began on October 13th and will run until the 20th. The week earned the endorsement of UC System President Yudof last month, and the last tally of newly registered voters was at 8,095 state-wide since the week began. The project is the largest non-partisan youth voter engagement mobilization in the state, and is led and and comprised entirely of students.

As the University of California continues to reform how and why animals are used in research, even with full transparency to the public about their use, animal rights activists still feel the need to aggressively take action against the institution. It doesn’t really matter how strict the regulations are on animal use, or even the fact that countless breakthroughs have been made here through this avenue of research; the activists take issue with the...