Lest You Thought It Couldn't Happen at UCLA...

Unfortunately, problems of the type that happened at Penn State U apparently can happen at UCLA.  From the LA Times:

A longtime UCLA athletics official resigned amid allegations that he “engaged in inappropriate conduct,” the university said in a statement released Tuesday to The Times. UCLA Associate Athletic Director Michael Sondheimer resigned June 27 after being placed on administrative leave June 3, the statement said.

CBS 2 reported that Sondheimer “attempted to engage children in sexual chats” online.  Sondheimer graduated from UCLA in 1977 and spent at least 36 years as a UCLA athletic administrator, according to a biography posted on the UCLA Athletics website. For decades he was in charge of the department's compliance with NCAA rules and UCLA guidelines on academic admissions and on-campus recruiting, the biography said...

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ucla-athletic-official-resigns-20130702,0,815165.story

Vim and Vigor on UC Online Higher Ed

From the Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert blog:

Jerry Brown says UC, CSU leaders pledged to pursue online ed 'vigorously'

Gov. Jerry Brown said today that he vetoed his own budget proposal to earmark $20 million for online education at the University of California and California State University systems only after leaders of those institutions assured him they would pursue online course offerings on their own.
"I had an agreement from both the segments that they would carry out online vigorously," Brown told reporters at an event in Sacramento. "As the leader of both governing boards, I'm actively engaged with both the University of California and the Cal State."...

Full story at http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/07/jerry-brown-says-uc-csu-leaders-pledged-to-pursue-online-ed-vigorously.html

Wow!  All that vigor!

Listen to the Regents Meeting of Jan. 17, 2013

This post completes our archiving of the Regents meetings of January 15-17, 2013.  Check our posting of June 30 for an explanation as to why we are archiving these meetings (and why it should not be necessary).  Below is the agenda of the Jan. 17 meeting:

Agenda: Thursday, January 17, 2013

8:30 am Committee of the Whole - Public Comment (open session)

8:50 am Committee on Finance (open session)

11:00 am Committee on Governance (open session)

11:15 am Board (open session)

Click on the link below to hear the meeting:

Alternative Way to Read the Blog

At the end of each quarter, we have offered an alternative way of reading the blog (without audio and video).  A pdf version of the blog for April-May-June 2013 can be read at the link below:

More Scrutiny of University Enterprise Tax Exempt Status

Pay up!

We have from time to time noted the potential tax problems of the UCLA Grand Hotel project.  More generally, there is growing scrutiny of commercial-type activity conducted by universities that claim tax exemptions. 

Inside Higher Ed today points to a court decision that questions Princeton's tax exempt status.  It links to a local New Jersey newspaper:

A lawsuit that argues Princeton University violates the provisions of its tax-exempt status survived a university-led attempt to throw the case out Thursday. Plaintiffs in the case argue that, because Princeton is earning hundreds of millions of dollars in patent royalty income and is distributing some of that money to faculty, the school is deeply involved in commercial enterprise and isn’t entitled to its tax exemptions. The suit also takes aim at campus buildings that host extensive commercial activity, such as the Frist Campus Center and McCarter Theatre, which sells tickets to the general public for many events and performances...

Full story at http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2013/06/lawsuit_challenging_princeton_universitys_tax-exempt_status_wont_be_dismissed.html#incart_river_mercer

The Inside Higher Ed story is at http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/07/01/suit-challenges-princetons-tax-exempt-status 

The tax folks are thinking they are owed:

Changing Demographics

The Sacramento Bee today carries this demographic chart showing the Latino and white/non-Latino populations are roughly equal in California at present and the relative growth in the Latino population is projected to continue.  Due to citizenship and voting propensities, the white/non-Latino group still predominates in elections.  However, the times, they are a'changing - as the song goes - with implications for UC and higher ed in California more generally.

The article that accompanies the chart can be found at:
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/01/5536254/latinos-poised-to-catch-up-with.html

In a related article on the impact of Prop 209, the LA Times notes:

...Latinos' presence, after a temporary dip, has grown beyond its pre-1996 peak, partly because of enormous increases in Latino high school graduates. But the numbers have been stark at UCLA and Berkeley, which have the highest admissions standards of UC's nine undergraduate campuses. The Latino share of UCLA's freshmen was 21.5% in 1995, dropped to 10.4% by 1998 and has climbed to 18.1%, UC records show. Berkeley's Latino share of freshmen was 15.5%, dipped to 7.3% after the proposition went fully into effect and then climbed to 13% last fall...

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-affirm-action-colleges-20130701,0,141481.story

Listen to the Jan. 16, 2013 Afternoon Meeting of the Regents

Don't worry.  Gas mask not needed to listen to Regents..

We have been posting past (2013) meetings of the Regents because of their current archiving policy.  For more details on why this is necessary to preserve the record of these sessions, scroll down to our June 30, 2013 posts.

Much of the afternoon of Jan. 16 was taken up with closed sessions which are not available.  Included in the open discussions was a proposed medical building at UCLA (about which we have previously blogged) which is controversial because of the costs involved.

Below is the agenda:

• 1:15 pm Committee on Compensation (closed session)
• 1:30 pm Committee on Health Services (Regents only session)
• 2:00 pm Committee on Finance (Regents only session)
• 2:45 pm Board (Regents only session)
• 3:00 pm Committee on Grounds and Buildings(open session) – Includes discussion of proposed UCLA medical building (with controversy over costs)

Click on the link below to listen: