The governing board of the University of California met for its July meeting at UC San Francisco from Wednesday to Thursday. The regents discussed the next fiscal year’s budget plan, next year’s student regent designate and student advisor, and the rollback of a student legal fee.
Board
- Davis residents asked the regents to not approve the 2018 Long Range Development Plan as it will not provide enough student housing and does not sufficiently take into account its environmental impact.
- UC nurses opposed the cut to their pensions and the five-year increase in the retirement age for nurses. They said that they already had agreed to pay more for their pensions last year in order to help the UC alleviate its financial situation.
- UC students asked the regents to divest from General Dynamics Information Technology, who the UC contracts for the Analytical Writing Placement Examination, due to their role in separating families at the border.
- UC President Janet Napolitano said that 117,000 immigrants were able to legally extend their stay under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as a result of the federal injunction to the UC’s lawsuit against the Trump administration. Napolitano said that Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Budget Act of 2018, which increased the UC’s budget. This will allow the University to recommend the board to keep student fees at their current level and rollback in-state tuition to account for a surcharge.
- Shane White, faculty representative and a professor at UCLA’s School of Dentistry, said that even though state expenditures increased in the 2018-2019 budget, the proportion of the higher education state budget spent on the UC decreased while the proportion increased for California State University schools and community colleges.
- Regent Gareth Elliott said that the committee recommends Hayley Weddle, a doctoral student at UC San Diego, to be appointed the 45th student regent.
Governance and Compensation Committee
- The regents approved security of employment for lecturers and senior lecturers concerning state and senate membership.
- Chancellor Gene Block said that UCLA’s current campus-wide communication model is outdated and does not meet the needs of UCLA.
- The regents approved Block’s request to create a position for a Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications at UCLA that will oversee five departments: media relations, marketing, executive communications, public outreach, and special events and protocol.
Public Engagement and Development Committee
- Chris Harrington, associate vice president of the UC Office of Federal Governmental Relations, said that House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan proposed a Republican compromise for the DACA bill which would have only provided citizenship for 1/3 of the country’s dreamers. He said it is unlikely there will be a DACA fix before the midterm elections.
- Harrington added that the PROSPER Act, the Republican plan for higher education reform, makes changes to federal student aid programs such as Pell Grants, federal work-study, and supplemental educational opportunity grants that will make it more difficult for students to afford college.
- Kieran Flaherty, associate vice president and director of state governmental relations, said that the UC requested around $200 million in ongoing funds but received only around $100 million in ongoing funds and around $250 million in one-time funds.
- Caroline Siegel-Singh, incoming vice president for external affairs at UC San Diego, talked about the social media campaign UC students launched called “#FundTheUC.”
- Judith Gutierrez, the outgoing president of the UC Student Association, said that the best way to continue students’ advocacy efforts is to institutionalize student leadership positions because students in the positions often have to stop their work when they reach their term limit.
- Regent Sherry Lansing said she thinks the UC can increase their advocacy by using social media to update people about the UC’s work.