SAN FRANCISCO — The University of California Board of Regents met for the first day of its bimonthly board meeting Wednesday at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus to discuss University campus climate, finances and projects.
The board oversees the UC and decides how to spend its money, handles lawsuits for the University, sets compensation for high-level employees, sets tuition and performs other tasks.
The UC Regents heard from public commenters, including several from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 union representing patient care workers, which plans to go on strike next week to protest what they call unfair labor practices by the UC. The regents also discussed the recently released results of a UC–wide campus climate survey, among other issues.
Below are the other primary topics the UC Regents discussed or approved.
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The board approved the UC’s participation in the Thirty-Meter Telescope project in partnership with Caltech, Canada, Japan, China and India. Under the approval, the University will contribute up to $175 million toward construction of the telescope, as well as ongoing costs in the future. The observatory is expected to open in 2022 in Hawaii.
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The board also approved an amendment to a fundraising policy that eliminates the requirement for individual campaigns to seek the board’s approval for fundraising to purchase real property. The policy will now require that a fundraising campaign reach $250 million before the board endorses a public phase, up from the current $50 million. The UC Regents expressed at the meeting that the change signals more autonomy for the campuses in relation to fundraising efforts.
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Board members briefly discussed the implementation of recommendations from the Robinson-Edley report. The report suggested guidelines for minimized use of force and increased communication between administrators, police and protesters following the UC Davis pepper spray incident in 2011. On Wednesday, UC Executive Vice President for Business Operations Nathan Brostrom said UC entities involved are making progress with the recommendations. Campuses have been taking efforts like holding office hours for students and changing policy language to reflect freedom of speech and incorporate the important history of civil disobedience.
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The UC Regents also approved the project budget, standby financing and interim financing for an engineering building at UCLA. They greenlighted $72.7 million in gift funding for the construction of a Engineering IV – Phase 2 building, which will be built next to the Phase 1 building currently under construction in Westwood Plaza. The Phase 2 building will be a 94,000 square-foot laboratory facility, for which the board approved $3 million in preliminary funding in September.
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The regents discussed updates to the UC’s 2014-2015 budget after the release of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget, which did not grant the UC as much in additional funding as officials had hoped. Brostrom and Patrick Lenz, vice president of budget and capital resources at the UC, presented recommendations the Legislative Analyst’s Office suggested for the University, including a budget with performance measures tied to additional state funding. Lenz and Brostrom also clarified that most of any additional state funding the UC plans to receive will go toward paying existing debts and not operating costs. The discussion stimulated concerns from some regents like Student Regent Cinthia Flores and Regent Eddie Island, who emphasized that the UC needs to start thinking about examining cost structure, or else tuition increases will become increasingly imminent.
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In her opening remarks, UC President Janet Napolitano announced the formation of a President’s Business Executive Council, which will include about 20 business leaders from California. Napolitano said she thinks it is “imperative” that the UC build relationships with the private sector, and plans to meet with the council semiannually once it is established.
The board will meet again Thursday to wrap up its meeting and is slated to discuss the UC medical centers and Department of Energy laboratories and approve the compensations for several administrative positions.