Education fair to highlight California academic options – Sacramento Bee

By Loretta Kalb

Thousands of parents and students are expected to attend a free education fair Saturday at California State University, Sacramento, to get information about California school programs and services as well as options for college attendance.

The event, “Feria de Educación: Es El Momento” (“Education Fair: It is the Time”), will begin at 9:30 a.m. with remarks by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, in the University Union ballroom.

via Education fair to highlight California academic options – Education – The Sacramento Bee.

Editorial: UC insults public with its process of picking leader – Sacramento Bee

The University of California Board of Regents did not have a good week demonstrating it is attuned to concerns over transparency and taxpayer accountability.

Just six days after announcing her nomination, the regents hired Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, to be the next UC president. Just minutes before approving her and with no opportunity for the public and university community to weigh in, the regents announced her base annual salary – $570,000 – a vast sum more than the $199,700 she earned yearly protecting the United States from terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

via Editorial: UC insults public with its process of picking leader – Editorials – The Sacramento Bee.

Napolitano named new UC president amid student protests | EdSource Today

By Kathryn Baron

Homeland security chief Janet Napolitano will become the first woman to head the University of California in its 145-year history after her selection was approved Thursday by UC regents in a meeting recessed twice due to student protests.

Student regent Cinthia Flores cast the only no vote against the appointment, citing concerns over treatment of undocumented students.

via Napolitano named new UC president amid student protests | EdSource Today.

Mark Yudof signs off as president of the University of California | EdSource Today

By Kathryn Baron

Mark Yudof bid a formal farewell Wednesday to the University of California. The outgoing UC president’s remarks at the Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco were part thank you, part reflection and, emblematic of his position as head of leading university system, part lecture.

He made his comments one day before the regents are set to vote on the nomination of U.S Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano as Yudof’s successor. Napolitano is scheduled to attend Thursday’s Board of Regents meeting.

via Mark Yudof signs off as president of the University of California | EdSource Today.

Opposition rises to Janet Napolitano as next UC president – The Sacramento Bee

By Laurel Rosenhall

Objection is mounting to the nomination of Janet Napolitano as the next University of California president, with students and immigration activists planning to protest against her at Thursday’s meeting of the governing Board of Regents in San Francisco.

Napolitano, a former governor and attorney general of Arizona, announced Friday she would step down as President Barack Obama’s U.S. Homeland Security secretary after her nomination to UC is confirmed. She is expected to attend the meeting, where regents are scheduled to vote on her nomination.

via Opposition rises to Janet Napolitano as next UC president – Education – The Sacramento Bee.

Will Napolitano perpetuate UC’s bloated pay? – Editorials – The Sacramento Bee

As the University of California Board of Regents votes Thursday on a new president, Californians should watch the compensation package.

This is one area where nominee Janet Napolitano, now secretary of U.S. Homeland Security, can make a big difference.

via Editorial: Will Napolitano perpetuate UC’s bloated pay? – Editorials – The Sacramento Bee.

Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano tapped to head University of California | EdSource Today

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will resign her post to become the next president of the 10-campus University of California system, officials announced Friday.

Napolitano was the unanimous choice of a UC presidential search committee, which considered more than 300 candidates for the top job, said UC regent and committee chair Sherry Lansing.

via Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano tapped to head University of California | EdSource Today.

The Educated Guess: UC faculty reject shared online course network

The University of California’s Academic Senate is dead set against a bill by State Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg that would open access to hard-to-get required courses through a statewide network of online courses, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle cites an open letter to UC faculty from Academic Senate Chair Robert Powell and Vice Chair Bill Jacob, saying they have “grave concerns” about Senate Bill 520, which Steinberg unveiled last week.

via UC faculty reject shared online course network – by Kathryn Baron.

EdSource Today: Questions surround bill proposing online course network at colleges

By 

California could lead the charge in developing a network of online public college courses open to all students enrolled in the University of California, California State University and the California Community College system.

Senate Bill 520, introduced by Senate president pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), would allow the thousands of students shut out of required classes due to budget cuts to enroll in an online version of the course in order to stay on track to graduate or transfer.

via Questions surround bill proposing online course network at colleges – by Kathryn Baron.

SacBee: California fiscal analyst calls for more efficiency in higher education

By Kevin Yamamura

As California receives more tax revenue, the state’s top fiscal analyst Tuesday questioned Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to send more money to public universities without demanding specific improvements.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office portrayed the state’s higher education systems – and particularly its elite University of California campuses – as inefficient programs that must do more to cut costs.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/13/5186018/california-fiscal-analyst-calls.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

via California fiscal analyst calls for more efficiency in higher education.

SacBee: Jerry Brown carries the day on online classes at UC, CSU

By David Siders

SAN FRANCISCO – Gov. Jerry Brown anticipated resistance when he announced his plan last week to pressure state colleges and universities to expand their online offerings and reduce costs.

Yet as he traveled to the Bay Area on Tuesday and Wednesday to promote online education, he could hardly have had it easier.

One after another, California State University and University of California officials leaned into their microphones to thank the Democratic governor for the relatively favorable state budget he proposed – and to express their desire to educate more students online.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/17/5120340/jerry-brown-carries-the-day-on.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

via Jerry Brown carries the day on online classes at UC, CSU.

NPR News: Berkeley Receives $1M For Undocumented Students

by

The University of California, Berkeley is taking the DREAM Act a step further. On Tuesday, the school announced a $1 million scholarship fund specifically for undocumented students.

The fund will help students like Jesus Chavez, 21, a slight, shy college senior who was brought to this country illegally at the age of 3. Chavez was raised in an agricultural town in California’s Central Valley where he earned the grades and test scores to enroll at the highly competitive university.

“I fell in love at the environment, the atmosphere. In my mind I just pretty much told myself this is where I’m going to come,” Chavez says.

via Berkeley Receives $1M For Undocumented Students.

SacBee: Jerry Brown tells UC regents they need ‘heroic’ moves to save money, such as online courses

By David Siders

Gov. Jerry Brown prodded University of California regents Wednesday to pursue online course offerings to reduce costs, saying they must “get more grounded” in their approach to education.

The Democratic governor’s remarks came at a meeting of the UC system’s governing board, which postponed a vote on fee increases at Brown’s request.

Brown had said in his campaign to raise taxes that his initiative, Proposition 30, would avert tuition increases this year. The measure’s passage, however, does not prevent universities from raising other fees.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/15/4987114/jerry-brown-tells-uc-regents-they.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

via Jerry Brown tells UC regents they need ‘heroic’ moves to save money, such as online courses.

SacBee: Jerry Brown asks to delay discussion of university fees hikes

By Laurel Rosenhall

For the second time this week, a California university system has postponed a vote on fee increases as Gov. Jerry Brown makes the rounds touting the success of his Proposition 30 tax measure.

University of California regents announced Tuesday that at Brown’s request, they yanked an item from today’s agenda that called for raising fees at several UC professional schools, including schools of nursing, business, law and medicine. Brown, who sits on UC’s governing board, plans to attend today’s regents meeting in San Francisco.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/14/4983919/jerry-brown-asks-to-delay-discussion.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

via Jerry Brown asks to delay discussion of university fees hikes.

Dan Walters: CSU plunges overboard into politics

The California State University system has traditionally been the steady workhorse of California higher education, generating the engineers, teachers, accountants and middle-managers that any society needs.

Meanwhile, the more prestigious University of California has been the racehorse, scooping up money from alumni, foundations and corporations, luring Nobel laureates to its faculty, awarding advanced degrees, fostering world-class scientific research and flaunting its constitutional independence from political control. While the state Legislature can mandate policy at CSU, UC answers only to its regents.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/30/4947554/dan-walters-csu-plunges-overboard.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy

via Dan Walters: CSU plunges overboard into politics.

SacBee: Jerry Brown seeks college students’ support for Proposition 30

By Laurel Rosenhall

It’s not often the youngest voters can weigh in on something that will have an immediate and concrete impact on their lives. But that’s the case with a tax measure on California’s Nov. 6 ballot known as Proposition 30.

If it passes, California State University plans to lower tuition in January and send $250 refund checks to students for the higher rate they paid this term. Tuition at the University of California would stay flat for the next semester.

If it fails, CSU plans to admit 20,000 fewer new students for the fall. Cal State tuition is set to go up 5 percent in January, the same month that UC officials have said they would raise tuition by about 20 percent, to around $15,800 a year.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/16/4914620/jerry-brown-seeks-college-students.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

via Jerry Brown seeks college students’ support for Proposition 30.

Dan Walters: Educators sullying state law to support Proposition 30

Education Code Section 7054 prohibits K-12 and community college officials from spending public funds “for the purpose of urging the support or defeat of any ballot measure or candidate … .”

The state Supreme Court cited that law three years ago in ruling that it was illegal for a teachers union to use school district facilities to distribute political literature.

Throughout California, however, school officials are sullying the intent of the law by using official communications to plug passage of Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown’s sales and income tax increase.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/19/4832914/dan-walters-educators-sullying.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy

via Dan Walters: Educators sullying state law to support Proposition 30.

KQED MindShift: Will Free Online Textbooks Become a Reality for California College Students?

By Ana Tintocalis

California is one step closer to bringing free online textbooks for state college students, a huge step for the open education movement. A historic bill on the desk of Governor Jerry Brown would give college professors, and thereby students, an option to use free online, customizable curriculum rather than print textbooks, for which students spend upwards of $1,000 per year. The measure establishes the first free digital library for the University of California, the California State University and California Community College systems.

If the bill passes, students of 50 most popular lower-division courses could access the content through an online portal at little or no cost. Faculty members would be able to remix and repurpose the digital content as they see fit, rather than having to rely on print textbooks.

via Will Free Online Textbooks Become a Reality for California College Students?.

Dan Walters: Bill adds a new factor for gaining California university tenure

It may seem self-evident, but it’s nevertheless a matter of state law that teaching is an “essential responsibility,” along with research, for members of the University of California’s faculty and “a primary responsibility” for those in the California State University system.

Those declarations are the legal criteria upon which faculty members are to be hired, promoted and given the much-coveted status of “tenure” in both institutions.

OK so far. After all, what’s more fundamentally important for any public institution of higher education, not to mention the taxpaying public, than teaching and research?

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/05/4787157/dan-walters-bill-adds-a-new-factor.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy

via Dan Walters: Bill adds a new factor for gaining California university tenure.

EdSource Today: State creating “time bomb” with cuts to higher ed

By Kathryn Baron

Give a dollar to California’s public colleges and universities and receive $4.50 back. Those are pretty good odds, and they’re not from one of those overseas scam emails humbly requesting your help in transferring funds. This more-than-400-percent yield is the net return on the state’s investment in higher education, according to California’s Economic Payoff, one of two reports released yesterday that make the case for a stronger state investment in higher education.

Multiply that by the hundreds of thousands of students enrolled in the University of California and California State University and the state stands to make about $10 billion from today’s college graduates when they turn 50 years old. That’s after the students have paid back the $4.5 billion the state spent to help them earn their degrees, according to the study published by the Campaign for College Opportunity.

via State creating “time bomb” with cuts to higher ed – by Kathryn Baron.