The governing board of the University of California met for the second day of its March meeting at UCLA on Wednesday. The Board of Regents discussed a nonresident tuition increase, housing projects and efforts to advocate for more state funding.
Board of Regents
- During the public comment session, students from various UC campuses, including UCLA, called on the regents to vote against raising out-of-state tuition.
- Union leaders opposed the laying off of UCLA Extension staff and called for fair treatment and fair wages for all employees. UCLA Extension announced in January it will have to lay off about 25 percent of its staff because of decreases in revenue.
- UC President Janet Napolitano asked the board to increase out-of-state tuition by 3.5 percent and approve a multiyear plan for Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition, which is paid by students in professional schools.
- She added the UC is creating a task force to review university police departments’ practices. The task force will convene next month and will submit a report by the end of the calendar year.
- Shane White, a faculty representative, said the mission of the UC is to serve society, and the way to do that is to recruit more students – both undergraduate and graduate – to academia.
Academic and Student Affairs Committee
- The committee first approved Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition for 14 of 24 graduate professional degrees. After some discussion, the committee also voted to approve PDST for nine other programs, including for a new Master of Science in Serious Games, at UC Santa Cruz.
- Graduate students from across the UC exhibited their research for the regents, including some of the experiments laboratories in the UC are currently researching.
- Michael Brown, UC provost and executive vice president of academic affairs , called for an increase in graduate student diversity by providing more opportunities for minority students to become graduate students.
Financial and Capital Strategies Committee
- The committee approved funding for housing projects at UC Davis and UC San Diego.
- The committee approved reducing employer contributions to the University of California Retirement Plan from 15 percent to 14 percent, replacing that funding with money from the University’s short-term investments.
- The committee voted to approve raising nonresident tuition by 3.5 percent. Students began protesting in the room after the committee approved the tuition hike. They chanted “UC Regents, can’t you see? We don’t want your tuition fees!”
- The committee moved to approve funding for an expansion to the Northern Regional Library Facility at UC Berkeley.
Public Engagement and Development Committee
- Chris Harrington, interim associate vice president of the UC Office of Federal Governmental Relations, said that National Institutes of Health funding to the University has risen by over $2 billion, and the University should redirect it to underfunded priorities like student financial aid and scientific research.
- Kieran Flaherty, associate vice president and director of state government relations, said the UC should listen to students’ complaints about tuition hikes. He added continuing enrollment growth has had a negative impact on the experience of current students.
- Regent Sherry Lansing said she thinks campuses should make clear and specific fact sheets to explain their policies. She added state funding of $70 million would be enough to prevent a tuition hike.
- Meredith Turner, associate director of legislative advocacy and institutional relations, said her office is working with legislators to increase state funding for the UC. She added the University is requesting $35 million for maintenance and classroom upgrades.
Governance and Compensation Committee
- The committee approved amendments to the system through which senior management compensation is determined to make it more competitive.
- Dennis Larsen, executive director of compensation programs and strategy, said the UC Office of the President collected details on staff and executive pay and used compensation data to understand how competitive their wages are.