News about the UC Budget crisis, its causes and consequences, and what people are doing about it.
Page of Links and InformationPhotograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty, from The Guardian, Sept. 24, 2009.
November 18, 2009: UC Regents vote to raise student fees 32%. 11/19 Daily Nexus articles "Council Adopts Tuition Increase, and "Police Arrest Dissenters at Fee Summit."
The New York Times reported on Nov. 19 as well: "A Crown Jewel of Education Struggles With Cuts in California [reported from Berkeley, since the "paper of record" need not report on location, I guess].
At 4pm on 11/19 AP reported "Group blocks regents from leaving UCLA building.
November 17, 2009: Today's protests in Berkeley were featured on Amy Goodman's Democracy Now.
11/18/09: "Amidst California Fiscal Crisis and Political Gridlock, Scholar and Activist George Lakoff Proposes Ballot Measure to End 2/3 Rule in State Legislature."
11/20/09: "As UC Regents Approve Major Tuition Hike, Students, Faculty Decry Erosion of Public Education in CA and Nationwide" (includes interview with Bob Samuels).
Monday November 16, 2009; 12:00pm-12:30pm: Rally in front of Cheadle Hall, where Chancellor Yang has been invited to "read his public statement opposing the budget cuts and fee increases, and affirming his role as a public advocate for students and workers at the UC Regents meeting". 11/17 Daily Nexus article "Student Rally Rebukes Fees."
Nov.13+15, 2009: The UC Regents are meeting from Nov. 17 to 19 at UCLA. The meeting agenda and instructions on how to listen in can be found at:
www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/nov09.html.
On Nov. 17, KPCC's Patt Morrison will be broadcasting live at UCLA from 1-3pm. Listen live at the SoCal Public Radio listen-live page. The broadcast will probably be archived at Patt's KPCC page.
On Nov. 15 Bob Samuels posted two new must-read blog entries regarding the Regents mishandling of UC finances and the non-instructional uses of student fees:
Why We Must Resist Student Fee Increases, and
How the Regents Sold the University Down the River.
Nov. 4, 2009: LA Times op-ed by Jeff Bleich, chairman of the CSU Board of Trustees (equivalent to the UC Regents): California's higher-education debacle: Watching the decline of the California State University system from within its boardroom mirrors the erosion of the California dream.
This is a very powerful story. Don't miss the comments--they have some interesting stats, as well as the "don't take my hard-earned money" perspective.
Oct. 22, 2009: The so-called Gould Commission on the Future of UC conducted its first open forum at UCSB. A complete podcast of the event is available on the UCSB Chancellor's UCFuture website.
Additional links and the texts of many of the statements presented at the Oct. 22 forum are available at the Saving UCSB site run by concerned UCSB faculty.
On Oct. 27 the UCSB Daily Nexus published a student editorial about the problems presented at the Oct. 22 forum and the preceding teach-in: "UCs Governed by Well-Paid Gravedigger," by Jamie Silverstein.
The Santa Barbara Independent published articles/letters by UCSB faculty, including:
Richard Appelbaum, Sociology, "UCSB Avoids, Reinterprets Furlough Regulations" (Oct. 22)
Sharon Farmer, History, "Can the UC Be Saved?" (Oct. 29)
Oct. 4, 2009: The UK Manchester Guardian published an article putting the UC problems in a much larger, world-historical context:: "Will California become America's first failed state?." The article ends on a very hopeful note, with indications about what might be going right in the state.
While we're looking at the big picture, last June (2009)'s commencement speaker, UCSB History Ph.D. Elizabeth "Ellie" Shermer (homepage) , outlined the history of the "refounding" of the UC system in the 1950s and 1960s. Her speech is available in a May 2009 News announcement,on this site.
Oct. 1, 2009: UFT President Bob Samuels' blog about UC Financial Policy: "Telling the Truth about the UC Finances." This addresses the issue of the extent to which the state may or may not be responsible for the UC funding crisis, as opposed to decisions made by UCOP.
Samuel's Changing Universities blog has quite a few relevant analyses of the current situation and its causes.
News reports on the Sept. 24 "Day of Action" across the 10 UC campuses:
Sept. 24 New York Times Magazine interview with UC President Yudoff:
"Questions for Mark Yudof: Big Man on Campus."
This interview has provoked responses from UCSB faculty members and others:
Prof. Mary Furner, on Prof. Chris Newfield's blog
Prof. Janet Walker and Steve Nelson, Letter to the LA Times
Bob Samuels, on Changing Universities blog
A dean in the NE US, on his blog.
Pres. Yudof responded in an interview with journalists from the UC student newspapers. See the Oct. 5 UCSB Daily Nexus article "Yudof Reviews UC Financial Dilemma: University President Discusses Monetary Predicament."
10 UC Faculty Senate Presidents, in a letter published in the Oct .15, 2009 New York Times Magazine
What events happened on Sept. 24?: 11:30am rally at the Arbor.
The Sept. 24, 2009 Daily Nexus has an article: "Teachers Strike for Rights: Fee Hikes, Budget Cuts Prompt Walkout."
UCSB's Associated Students did not support the walkout. See their Sept. 16 Letter to Faculty and Staff (pdf) from the UCSB Senate budget page.
The college's deans also wrote a 9/21 Open letter to students.
The UCSB History Department did not take an official position on the walkout.
On Sept. 23, NPR's All Things Considered did a 4:48 segment "University Of Calif. Faculty, Students To Walk Out." A prof. at UC Davis lays out the rationale behind the walkout by faculty and students and strike by unionized staff and graduate student instructors.
The UCSB History Department has formulated guidelines for professors on how to manage the vastly increased instructional workload with fewer resources, while maintaining the UC mission of research and tradition of shared governance. In addition to those guidelines, the following articles, documents and editorials provide information as the situation evolves.
Sept. 24, the first day of instruction, has been declared a "day of action" with a walkout by faculty and students. For the latest information, see the Walkout organizers' blog. The organizers at UCSB itself run a site called I'm for Option 4.
The UC Office of the President plans to raise student fees by 30% over two years. See this Sept. 11 San Francisco Chronicle article: "UC president recommends huge tuition increases", and this LA Times article, "UC students face increased fees."
Student leaders are calling on students to walkout on 9/24 to protest these plans.
See this walkout facebook group.
On Sept. 13, UCSA, the governing body representing all 225,000 students in the UC system, unanimously passed a "Resolution in Support of the September 24th UC-Wide Walkout" (pdf).
Graduate Student Organizers are collecting signatures of support for the walkout, with an lOpen Letter to UC Graduate Students explaining why.
Sept. 19, 2009 LA Times editorial, "UC fee hikes: a two-edged sword." Note that the Times accepts the fee hike as inevitable, proposes to extend furloughs/pay cut for next year, to accept more students from out of state, and to charge extra money for those who stay in school more than four years.
UCSB's Chancellor Henry Yang reported at the Sept. 16, 2009 UC Regents' meeting, on the "Effects of the Furloughs and Budget Cut Impacts @ UC Regents’ Meeting." Listen to the 7:23 min.audio clip on KCSB. The picture is very, very dire.
See also UC President Yudof's remarks (11p pdf transcript, page with video links). He notes that while in the 1980s 17% of the state budget went to higher education and 3% to prisons, now only 7% goes to higher ed, and 9-10% to prisons.
UC Budget Crisis Teach-in at UC Berkeley 9/14 is available on Youtube: See this playlist of 5 presentions (they are each 12-19 mins. long total).
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 14, 2009: "The Economic Freeze on History". This report about a survey conducted by the American Historical Association shows that History departments across the country are also feeling the pain of the recession and budget cuts.
The Santa Barbara Independent quoted several UCSB History professors in its report about an August 14, 2009 Town Hall Forum about the UC budget cuts and Faculty & Staff furlough days: "UCSB Faculty Fumes at Furloughs Forum / Town Hall Meeting Indicates Staff Is Split on Course of Action"
What's the Matter with UCOP?
On the use of furlough days, all UCOP had to do was keep quiet. Why couldn't it?
by Chris Newfield, UCSB Prof. of English
blog Remaking the University, Aug. 26, 2009
(this blog contains links to many documents and breaking news across all UC campuses regarding the furlough plan implementation)
UCOP Mandate Morally and Politically Unacceptable
by Mary O. Furner, UCSB Prof. of History
blog Remaking the University, Aug. 24, 2009
The UCSB Academic Senate (Faculty Senate) is maintaining a page of links to documents about how the budget cuts and furloughs will be implemented.
On Aug. 31 UCB Professor Catherine Cole wrote this Open Letter to Students explaining the situation in detail.
The UCSB Human Resources Department maintains a page of links to information about how the budget cuts and furloughs will be implemented.
On August 27, the UC Office of the President released guidelines for faculty on the use of furlough days. These additional guidelines can be found at:
http://www.ucsb.edu/campus-topics/budget/faq-furlough-days.shtml.
Here are some additional commentaries and news items that may be of interest:
California's Crisis: Coming to a Neighborhood Near you
by Michael Meranze, History Professor at UCLA
Huffington Post, August 24, 2009
Stealing From California's Young People
by Joseph A. Palermo, Associate Professor of History, California State University, Sacramento
Huffington Post, August 24, 2009
And in spite of all that, UCSB remains a premier university, ranked nationally no. 11 among public universities, and 42 among all US universities, according to US News & World Report: "UCSB Ranked Among Best Universities."
This is underscored by a Nov. 5, 2009 article in the Santa Barbara Independent: "UC Campuses Dominate Rankings: UCSB Scores Well by Many Measures.
hm 8/20/09, 8/24, 8/26, 9/4, 9/11, 9/12, 9/14, 9/15, 9/20, 9/23; jwil 24.ix.09, hm 9/24, 9/25, 9/27, 9/29, 9/30, 10/2; jwil 04.x.09; hm 10/5, hm 10/18, 11/2, 11/6, 11/13, 11/15, 11/19, 11/20