The UC Board of Regents approved the university’s $31
million operational budget for 2007-2008 following a discussion
Wednesday of whether the budget supports increasing diversity
throughout the University of California system.
The funding for academic preparation programs was the focus of
protestors outside the meeting at Covel Commons on Wednesday, as
students asked the regents to allocate more money to academic
outreach programs in order to increase the number of
underrepresented minority students at the UC.
Though the budget was approved without increased funding for
academic preparation programs, Regent Chairman Gerald Parsky said
the board will be more involved with setting priorities for the
budget in future years.
The UC Office of the President typically compiles the budget,
and the regents have little say as to specific priorities for money
allocation.
Parsky insisted the discussion Thursday should set an example
for more detailed reviews in the future and it is a “positive
step that (the regents) and the public understand expenditures in
the president’s office.”
Other regents expressed support for continued budget discussion
in future meetings of the entire board.
Regent Odessa Johnson said she is in favor of more discussion on
the budget because doing so helps make the budget more
“transparent, and show that we have nothing to
hide.”
While the board agreed to discuss fees during January’s
meeting, some warned against delaying the discussion of fee
increases.
“This is the beginning of the process. If we don’t
try to run (the budget) in an efficient way it will cause us to
raise student fees,” Regent Richard Blum said.
Earlier in the day, the regents focused on compensation, a topic
that has drawn much media attention since the UC came under fire a
year ago, when it was revealed that UC officials spent millions of
dollars on benefits packages not disclosed to the public.
Several items under review by the Committee on Compensation were
approved, including corrective action guidelines in response to
audit and management reviews, as well as merit and equity
compensation increases for certain officers and managers of the
university and the regents.
The committee provides oversight to the board on matters of
compensation and benefits for university employees.
Committee Chairwoman Monica Lozano emphasized the benefits of
corrective action guidelines because they will provide the
university with direction in case future problems with compensation
arise.
Parsky also expressed support for the guidelines and said such
an action was consistent with the board’s previous
decisions.
“Compliance with policy is very important to us,” he
said.