The UC Board of Regents met yesterday at UC Riverside for their second day of meetings intended to furnish a comprehensive method to cope with the university system’s chronic budget crisis.

Although the Regents did not approve any significant action items, the event elicited a large reaction from student protesters, who disrupted the board’s proceedings with a mic check for the second time in a row. Falling in line with the decision reached at their Nov. 28 meeting, the board moved its open meetings to a secluded meeting space after less than five minutes of demonstrating.

During the open mic, third-year UCSB political science major Sophia Armen said the students did not receive due representation.

“We have respected your process and you have not respected our space here,” Armen said.

However, Chairman of the Board Sherry Lansing said it was imperative the board commence its regular session.

“Your voices have been heard and we’d like to begin,” Lansing said. “I’m sorry you’re not letting us do our business. We will now clear the room.”

Students left peacefully but continued their demonstrations outside.

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The UC Board of Regents convened at UC Riverside yesterday for its two-day meeting tackling strategies to compensate for the system’s budget shortfalls.

Chair of the Board Sherry Lansing started the assembly with an announcement that the board’s May 16 and 17 meeting is scheduled to move from UC San Francisco to Sacramento where a rally encouraging higher state funding for higher education will occur at the State Capitol. Today the board will shift from yesterday’s focus on educational policy and discuss the impact Gov. Jerry Brown’s Jan. 5 budget will have on the system’s operations.

UC Office of the President Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Larry Pitts, who presented a report on diversity within the university system during yesterday’s meeting, said the results depicted limited advancements toward its outlined goals.

“I share your disappointment,” Pitts said. “Glaciers actually move faster than progress in this department.”

However, Pitts said the analysis noted an increase in gender diversity among faculty over the past five years as well as significant gains in undergraduate Hispanic enrollment. UC Riverside and UC Merced are now identified as Hispanic serving institutions.

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Although most University proceedings were suspended over the course of Winter Break, the UC Board of Regents continued their deliberation concerning the future of the University system in the current fiscal climate in a teleconference held across four campuses at the end of Fall Quarter.

Although the day remained peaceful and no arrests were made, student protesters at the Los Angeles, Merced, Davis and San Francisco Mission Bay campuses successfully derailed the regents’ agenda with defiant interjections as the board opened discussion on its first action item, the UC’s 2012-13 expenditure budget. The new budget plan, which constitutes the UC’s budget request to the state, calls for increased enrollment — although 17 percent of the state’s allocation was requested for existing over-enrollment deficits — and an increase in UC and employee contribution rates to the UC Retirement Plan.

With no public deliberation, the board swiftly passed nine action items and salary increases for 16 administrators and lawyers.

UC President Mark G. Yudof said the board will operate under the expectation that the state will acquire the resources to sufficiently fund the University system and allow for growth.

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Amid growing demonstrations against fee hikes across UC campuses, the Board of Regents announced that it will hold its postponed meeting, originally scheduled for last week, via teleconference on Nov. 28.

Although the board was originally slated to assemble at UC San Francisco last Wednesday and Thursday, the meeting was indefinitely delayed due to “rogue elements” the board feared would arise from non-violent student protests. Items slated for discussion include hiring one top administrator and increasing compensation for another 13, changing contribution rates to the UC retirement plan for 2013-2014 and exempting UCSB from acquiring a California Coastal Commission permit before restoring the campus Lagoon.

The regents will convene on four campuses — UC San Francisco-Mission Bay, UCLA, UC Davis and UC Merced — with at least one member phoning in from Florida. While the board altered the previous agenda to shorten the meeting’s length, all action items remain. The public comment session will begin at 9 a.m. and be extended to one hour from its usual 20 minutes.

To voice concerns about the upcoming meeting or reserve a spot during the open comment session, contact the board’s Secretary and Chief of Staff Marsha Kelman at (510) 987-9220 or marsha.kelman@ucop.edu.

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The UC Board of Regents released an announcement yesterday indefinitely postponing a meeting originally scheduled for this Wednesday and Thursday, citing the UC San Francisco Police Department’s concern for public safety.

According to a statement released yesterday by Regents Chair Sherry Lansing, Vice-chairman Bruce Varner and President Mark G. Yudof, UC police gathered “credible intelligence” regarding community members’ plans to disturb the typically peaceful student presence with “rogue elements.”

The decision follows a heated confrontation between protesters and UC Berkeley police at the Nov. 9 “Occupy Cal” day of action, which ended in 39 arrests and a lawsuit by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary against the UCSB Police Dept. The coalition alleges that officers beat numerous nonviolent demonstrators with batons.

According to the Regents’ statement, the board acted to protect the well-being of those in attendance.

“By rescheduling, it is our intent to allow the business of the University of California to go forward, but in a manner that will allow the public, including students, to express their views on issues related to the university without putting their personal safety in peril,” the statement said.

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UC Berkeley graduate student Jonathan Stein was nominated as the UC Student Regent for 2012-13 yesterday and will begin his term in July 2012 if approved by the board.

Stein, who would serve as a non-voting Student Regent-Designate until July, is a law student and master’s candidate in public policy at UC Berkeley. Stein was nominated from an applicant pool of 56 UC students to succeed current Student Regent Alfredo Mireles, Jr., a UC San Francisco graduate student who began his 2011-12 term last week following UC Irvine student Jesse Cheng’s resignation from the position as a result of sexual battery charges.

In a statement responding to his candidacy, Stein emphasized his obligation to stand up for underrepresented students, such as communities of color and the LGBT community, and said he seeks to minimize the effects of continuing budget cuts and tuition hikes on educational quality.

“The University of California has reached a crisis point,” Stein said in the press release. “We have been cut as much as we can be. Another cut means driving a final stake through the Master Plan’s commitment to quality, access and affordability — a commitment that has made the UC such an incredible, unique institution.”

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The UC Board of Regents convened at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay Community Center yesterday to debate various budget scenarios for the 2011-12 through 2015-16 fiscal years in light of increasingly impacted budgets.

The board spent the majority of the meeting discussing proposals to account for an expected $500 million cut in state funding that would drop California’s General Fund support for the UC to 1998-1999 fiscal year levels, when the university system had nearly 73,000 fewer students and one less campus. The regents also appointed former Georgia College & State University President Dorothy Leland as UC Merced’s newest chancellor and assigned new board leadership.

According to a UCOP press release, the University faces a projected $900 million budget gap for 2011-12 that will balloon to $2.5 billion by 2015-16 if new revenue streams and cost-cutting initiatives are not implemented.

UCOP Executive Vice President for Business Operations Nathan Brostrom said California’s boom and bust cycles have created a necessity for stable revenue sources, placing much of the burden on students.

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California Gov. Jerry Brown released his revised 2011-12 state budget yesterday, maintaining a proposed $500 million in cuts to state funding for the UC system.

The budget will rely on tax extensions, spending reductions and $6.6 billion in unanticipated revenue to account for the state’s $15.4 billion deficit and to spare higher education from further financial shortfalls. However, slashes to UC state funding could double to $1 billion — possibly requiring further tuition hikes — if predicted spending and tax measurements prove to be unsuccessful.

UC President Mark G. Yudof said additional cutbacks would place an overwhelming burden on the already financially constrained school system.

“A cut of this magnitude would be unconscionable — to the university, its students and families, and to the state that it has served for nearly a century and a half,” Yudof said in a statement released in response to the revised budget.

According to Yudof, students would likely shoulder the costs of closing the budget gap.

“We have been engaged in a three-year exercise in coping with wholesale cutbacks, and by now the magic bullets all have been spent,” Yudof said. “What this reduction most likely would mean, as the governor noted, is the need to yet again raise tuition.”

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A petition started by a UC Berkeley activist group last spring is demanding that California’s Attorney General address allegations that certain UC Regents have unethical, vested interests in UC investments.

While UC administrators staunchly refute the claims, the petition has 257 signatures as of press time and accuses state officials including former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and UC Regents Richard Blum and Paul Wachter of promoting UC decisions for personal financial gain. Circulated by the UC Berkeley Solidarity Alliance, the petition is based off of conclusions from investigative journalist Peter Byrne’s work, specifically an eight-article series he published through pubicly-funded community reporting site spot.us.

“We feel that criminal conflicts of interest may have occurred and that it is the duty of the California Attorney General, Kamala Harris, to investigate these circumstances,” petition organizer Ricardo Gomez, a fourth-year UC Berkeley interdisciplinary studies field major, said. “Not only are these potential conflicts of interest ethically wrong, the UC has lost billons of dollars from the investment fund, meaning less resources for students, faculty and workers.”

UC Vice President and General Counsel for Legal Affairs Charles Robinson said the University denies any accusations and has rigid infrastructure in place to safeguard against conflicts of interest. Additionally, Robinson said Byrne’s findings largely ignore the University’s explanations.

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The University of California Board of Regents met at UC San Francisco Mission Bay from March 15 to 17 to conduct bimonthly business meetings and discuss how to offset a larger state funding deficit.

Expecting a $500 million slash in state funding for the UC once Governor Jerry Brown’s budget clears the state senate, the UC Office of the President presented system-wide options to combat budget shortfall, including another possible tuition increase. Additionally, although the board devoted its session on the 16th to a public workshop about university finances, protesters gathered outside the meeting and demanded the removal of Student Regent Jesse Cheng from the board.

Cheng, who was deemed responsible for committing sexual battery earlier this month by the UCI Office of Student Conduct, did not attend the meeting. For further coverage on allegations against Cheng, visit www.dailynexus.com.

With Gov. Brown’s cuts to education, student contributions to the UC core budget would surpass state funding. According to a video letter from UC President Mark Yudof to the UC community, rising utility and insurance costs as well as other unfunded obligations combined with state cuts could create a nearly $1 billion dollar budget gap for the university by the 2011-12 fiscal year.

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The University of California system has received a failing report card in a statewide public records transparency audit.

Californians Aware, a nonprofit public-access advocacy group, began the audit in November and recently released the results. In its report, the non-profit issued an ‘F’ to the UC, but awarded a ‘B’ grade to the California State University system. Of the UC’s 10 campuses, seven received an ‘F’, two received Ds and UC Berkeley led the pack with a ‘C’.

For the audit, Californians Aware requested each university president or chancellor’s employment contract, agenda for the meeting in which that person’s contract was approved, university credit card account, reimbursement forms, statement of the university’s economic interests and its guidelines for handling such requests.

Four CSU campuses — Cal State East Bay, San Francisco State, San Jose State and Sonoma State — earned an ‘A+’ due to the accessibility of their records and timely responses. Pat Lopes Harris, director of media relations for San Jose State University, said the college makes a concerted effort to remain transparent.

“We really try to use the law as a guideline,” Lopes Harris said. “We have a requestor follow through. It’s challenging, especially given budget shortfalls and a reduction in staffing. Some [requests are] lengthy and complicated, but we make it a priority.”

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The UC Board of Regents will accept applications for the 2012-13 Student Regent until Feb. 17.

The Student Regent serves on the Board as a voting member for a one-year term. Once selected, the student will fulfill the non-voting role of Regent-Designate until the end of 2012, when he or she will become a voting member.

Jesse Cheng, an undergraduate Asian American studies major from UC Irvine currently serves as the 2010-11 Student Regent. The Regent-Designate for 2011-12, Alfredo Mireles Jr., is a first-generation college graduate and master’s candidate in Health Policy at UC San Francisco. His term as a voting member begins on July 1, 2011.

Together, Cheng and Mireles will travel to all 10 UC campuses before the application deadline to urge students to apply for next year’s position.

The chosen applicant — to be the 38th student regent since the position’s establishment in 1975 — will receive free tuition, waived university fees and reimbursement for travel expenses during the years spent as a Regent-Designate and Regent Board Member.

Regent-Designate Mireles Jr. said he anxiously awaits his time as a legitimate board member.

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The University of California Board of Regents unanimously voted to amend the UC application process during yesterday’s meeting.

The newly implemented holistic application review procedure will include an individualized reading of each application and consideration of applicants’ personal challenges. Additionally, the board increased the wages paid to several UC Office of the President employees.

A new in-depth application assessment will replace the traditional “comprehensive review” system in which students are judged on a 14-point rubric that includes grades, test scores, extracurricular activities and personal essays.

UC officials said the new holistic approach will compare applicants to their peers, consider the location of their high schools and evaluate their work experience.
Some board members said the new approach is more characteristic of private universities and susceptible to subjectivity.

Additionally, the board approved pay hikes for three UCOP financial managers. The executives received 10 percent increases to their base salaries. Chief Risk Officer Grace Crickette, Assistant Vice President of Financial Services & Controls Dan Sampson and Executive Director of Capital Markets Finance Sandra Kim will now obtain $216,370, $234,520 and $247,500, respectively.

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The UC Board of Regents discussed the proposed state budget and the undergraduate application review process during yesterday’s meeting at UC San Diego.

UC Vice President for Budget Patrick Lenz proposed methods for coping with the potential $500 million cut in state funding to the university while the Committee on Educational Policy suggested implementing a holistic undergraduate application review process. Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom — who vocally opposed the governor’s proposed cuts — and state schools’ Superintendent Tom Torlakson were among those in attendance yesterday.

Among Lenz’s suggestions were reducing the UC’s financial aid budget by 12 percent, increasing student fees, laying off 1,000 employees and admitting 4,400 non-resident students in place of California residents.

However, Lenz said no final decisions have been made.

“I’m not prepared to offer you options, I’m prepared to familiarize you with the choices you have to make,” Lenz said. “I don’t want any of my friends in here going out of here tweeting that there are solutions from the Office of the Budget.”

According to Regent Rex Hime, the UC needs to investigate alternative methods of generating revenue to maintain its quality of education.

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The University of California Board of Regents voted 15-5 to raise student tuition by eight percent during yesterday’s final day of meetings.

Their approval of an $822 tuition increase will take effect in the 2011-12 academic year, marking the tenth time in the last eight years that the board has increased educational costs. The average cost of in-state tuition will be boosted to $12,150 per year. Regents Odessa Johnson, Darek DeFreece and Charlene Zettel, along with California Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado and Student Regent Jesse Cheng were the only board members who voted against the fee increase.

The Regents also amended the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan — a UC financial aid plan that fully covers the tuition fees of California residents whose families earn less than $70,000 — to now exempt students whose annual household incomes reach up to $80,000. The board also decided to grant a one-year fee waiver for in-state students whose families earn less than $120,000.

Regents Chairman Russell Gould said the fee hike was unavoidable considering the University’s $1 billion budget deficit and the state’s projected $25.4 billion shortfall.

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