UC Regents to discuss May Revision, transfers to the UC

The University of California Board of Regents will meet on Wednesday and Thursday for its bimonthly meeting in Sacramento. The board oversees the UC and decides how to spend its money, sets tuition levels, handles lawsuits for the University, sets compensation for high-level employees and performs other tasks.

This week, the board’s agenda will focus on the governor’s May Revision budget, transfer student access to the UC and other issues. While in Sacramento, the regents will also lobby legislators for more funding to the UC.

Regents meetings are open to the public.

On Wednesday, the regents will discuss UC President Janet Napolitano’s initiative to increase transfers from community colleges to the UC. According to a UC Regents document, about three-quarters of the UC’s transfer students come from about a third of the state’s community colleges. A report will be released on Wednesday detailing findings from a UC presidential task force about transfers and how to increase the diversity of transfers to the University.

On Thursday, the board will discuss the UC’s budget in light of Gov. Jerry Brown’s May Revision, a revised version of his budget proposal for the state he released in January. Brown is expected to release his revised version on Wednesday. In his original proposal, Brown allocated about $2.99 billion to the UC, or about a $142 million increase from last year. The increase, however, fell short of the UC Regents’ request by about $121 million.

The board will also approve its budget for the UC Office of the President, or the headquarters of the UC. According to the UC Regents’ agenda, expenditures are expected to increase by $31 million, or about 5 percent, to $618.6 million. The budget document attributes the increase to the inclusion of the UC’s study abroad program budget, which was inadvertently not included in last year’s budget.

The board is expected to approve the design for a new Engineering VI – Phase 2 building at UCLA, which will cost about $72.7 million.

The regents will also discuss an audit report of its financial statements.

Compiled by Kristen Taketa, Bruin contributor.

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