THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIAMEETING AS A COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
January 16, 2013
The Regents of the University of California met on the above date at UCSF–Mission Bay
Conference Center, San Francisco.
Members present:

Regents De La Peña, Gould, Island, Kieffer, Lansing, Lozano,
Makarechian, Mendelson, Pattiz, Reiss, Rubenstein, Ruiz, Schilling, Stein,Varner, Yudof, and Zettel

In attendance:

Regents-designate Feingold, Flores, and Schultz, Faculty Representatives
Jacob and Powell, Secretary and Chief of Staff Kelman, Associate
Secretary Shaw, General Counsel Robinson, Chief Investment Officer
Berggren, Chief Compliance and Audit Officer Vacca, Provost Dorr,
Executive Vice President Brostrom, Chief Financial Officer Taylor, SeniorVice Presidents Dooley and Stobo, Vice Presidents Allen-Diaz, Beckwith,Lenz, Mara, and Sakaki, Chancellors Block, Blumenthal, Katehi, Khosla,
Leland, and Yang, Acting Chancellor Conoley, and Recording SecretaryJohns

The meeting convened at 8:35 a.m. with Chairman Lansing presiding.
1.

REMARKS OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Chairman Lansing recalled that one of the most significant steps forward for California’s
educational institutions in the past year had been the passage of Proposition 30 inNovember. She thanked Governor Brown, students, and voters for their efforts inbringing about the passage of Proposition 30 and for demonstrating the strength ofCalifornia’s dedication to public higher education. She hailed the 2013-14 State budget
proposal introduced by Governor Brown the previous week, which included an increasein funding for UC and represented a significant reinvestment in higher education.
Chairman Lansing underscored the University’s commitment to keeping education
affordable for students. This increase in funding would not resolve all the University’sproblems, however. It was imperative for UC to continue to explore alternative sources ofrevenue.
Online education would be the subject of a comprehensive discussion by the Committeeon Educational Policy later that morning, to explore how UC’s existing online efforts
could be expanded to break new ground in this potential academic arena. This was one ofa number of in-depth discussions the Regents would have in the coming months on newor enhanced revenue streams. The University is exploring an overall relationship withFacebook to generate financial aid funding for students and is considering a transfer ofparking assets. Updates on these and other initiatives would be provided at futuremeetings. Chairman Lansing stressed the Regents’ commitment to work with students,

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faculty, staff, alumni, and elected officials to provide opportunity for all Californians andconcluded by drawing attention to the fact that this was the first meeting of the Regents tobe video streamed on the internet.
2.

REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY
President Yudof began his remarks by thanking Governor Brown for choosing to reinvest
in the University of California in his State budget proposal. The University was gratefulfor the proposed increase and the Governor’s attention to UC and its future. President
Yudof expressed confidence in the University’s ability to meet the Governor’s challenge
in keeping tuition at reasonable levels, in developing an outstanding online education
program for students, and in maintaining fiscal discipline through administrative
efficiencies and reexamination of instructional models.
President Yudof recalled that the University had been forced to absorb nearly $1 billion
in State funding cuts since 2008, and the task of rebalancing in the wake of those
reductions was still a work in progress. Only 38 percent of the $1 billion gap was coveredby tuition revenue. The remaining 62 percent was bridged by spending cutbacks, layoffs,
hiring freezes, salary freezes, broad administrative efficiencies, and alternative revenue
sources. The University’s financial plight was further complicated by the reinstatement ofemployer and employee contributions to the UC Retirement Plan (UCRP). The
combination of the decline in State funding and the restoration of UCRP contributions
has made the management of UC’s financial predicament more difficult. Nevertheless,President Yudof expressed optimism. He recalled the Biblical account of Moses seeing
the Promised Land from the summit of Mount Nebo and stated that the University wasmoving in the right direction.
President Yudof briefly reported on tremendous strides the campuses had made recently
under the auspices of Project You Can, a systemwide fundraising initiative, managed at
the campus level, with a goal of raising $1 billion in scholarships for undergraduate,graduate, and professional school students. UC launched Project You Can at SunnysideHigh School in Fresno in fall 2009. As of the previous month, the campuses had raised$671 million for student support, more than two-thirds of the $1 billion goal. Thisfundraising effort is particularly important for middle-income students who experiencefinancial hardship but who are not eligible for Cal Grants and Pell Grants.
President Yudof acknowledged Governor Brown for identifying $10 million in his Statebudget proposal for online education at UC. He emphasized that educating students is theUniversity’s foremost objective as it explores online learning. The University’s attention
is focused on enrolling more students through online courses and on cost savings. TheUniversity’s attention is not and has not been focused on non-matriculated students, or onmarketing to non-matriculated students. The University might consider this at a future
time.
President Yudof recalled that the Regents’ discussions had for the past four years almost
always focused on questions of the budget, tuition, layoffs, and furloughs. The discussion

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to take place that day about online learning, the delivery of high-quality educational
services to students, and possible reforms, was a refreshing turning point. He cautionedthat the evolution of online learning is not predictable and recalled that there have beenmarked failures in this process at Columbia University, the University of Illinois, andelsewhere. The process would produce unanticipated outcomes which could ultimatelytransform higher education. President Yudof observed that disruptive new technologies
tend to have less significance than anticipated in the short term and more significancethan anticipated in the long term. He expressed confidence that the University would
create an online learning program that serves UC students well and could eventually
serve as a model for other public higher education institutions. UC would continue as aleader in providing students an outstanding education.
3.

PUBLIC COMMENT
Chairman Lansing explained that the Board had been convened as a Committee of theWhole in order to permit members of the public an opportunity to address Universityrelated matters. The following persons addressed the Board concerning the items noted.
A.

Mr. Olivier Bouan, a representative of the UC Berkeley Committee on Student
Fees and Budget Review, praised the Regents for considering the development of
UC online education as a way of making education more affordable andaccessible. He encouraged the University to solicit feedback from experts in thefield and from students. He asked that the University articulate a clear vision for
its online education program and expressed student concerns about the impact of
replacing in-person education with online instruction and about the continued
availability of teaching assistant and instructor positions for graduate students.

B.

Mr. Jonathan Ly, a UC Merced student and UC Student Association (UCSA)
representative, expressed concern about faculty diversity. He stated his view thatfaculty diversity should reflect the diversity of the student body and thepopulation of California, and that the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship
Program was not adequately funded.

C.

Mr. Erik Green, a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz and UCSA representative,
expressed concern about possible increases in professional degree supplementaltuition. He stated that some academic programs have been created as or converted
to the status of professional programs for financial rather than academic reasons,and cautioned that this would lead to differential tuition by program or campus.
He expressed students’ wish that professional degree supplemental tuition be
included in the current tuition freeze.

D.

Mr. Robert Samuels, UCLA lecturer and president of University Council –American Federation of Teachers, expressed concern about UC’s online education
efforts, stating that online courses would not reduce costs, but might increase
them, due to the need for staffing, new equipment, and software. The existing UC
online pilot program had failed to meet projections. UC had already reduced

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the costs of undergraduate instruction through large classes and teaching by nontenured faculty; moving these courses online would not generate further savings.
Mr. Samuels urged the University to invest more in undergraduate instruction andto provide a transparent accounting of the real cost drivers in the UC system,
which he identified as administration, professional education, medical centers,athletics, sponsored research, and amenities.
E.

Mr. Todd Senigar stated that there had been instances of retaliation at UCSF
involving past and current employees and that campus administrators wereignoring a serious matter.

F.

Mr. Nick Morris thanked the Regents for placing online education on the agenda,
but asked them to be cautious about its possible budgetary impact on theUniversity.

G.

Ms. Mary Higgins of Teamsters Local 2010, representing UC clerical workers,
criticized UCSF for contracting out a child care center, charging very low annual
rent for a new UC building, and for its treatment of the child care center
employees, who would now be displaced and moved to clerical jobs.

Chairman Lansing thanked the speakers. She recalled that the Regents had endorsed
UC’s pursuit of online education about three years earlier but that budget constraints had
limited this effort. The current process was an exploration, and the online education
program would be subject to evaluation and reevaluation. She encouraged everyone tomaintain an open-minded outlook.
4.

REMARKS OF THE CHAIR OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE
Faculty Representative Powell expressed thanks to Governor Brown for making public
higher education a priority in the 2013-14 budget, and for engaging with the Academic
Senate leadership.
He observed that the University’s efforts in developing online education focus on themeans of delivering instruction using technology, and he discussed the implications thishas for course content and curricula. Mr. Powell elaborated on the relationship between
the University’s teaching and research missions. Research defines UC’s unique role inpublic higher education. There are frequent reports about the research successes of UC
faculty: awards, prizes, and extramural research funding. Some of these honors may
underlie but not always reflect the substantial contributions made by faculty in changing
the body of knowledge studied by undergraduates. This body of knowledge is built up byresearch, and changes in this knowledge bring about changes in how a discipline isconceptualized. Over time, course content changes, and even the selection andcombination of courses that define a curriculum changes. New theories do not justsupplement earlier teaching but have largely replaced them in UC classrooms. As one
example, introductory economics courses now use recent game theory research, much of

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it developed by UC faculty, which helps students understand the underlying causes ofmajor economic events.
As recently as 1970, history courses typically focused on the achievements of outstanding
men. Historians have not forgotten the achievements of outstanding men, but publications
and courses now present a more complex picture of the past. U.S. history courses include
content about slave owners and slaves, settlers moving West and Native Americans, elites
and non-elites. The result is a far richer, more inclusive and accurate portrait of theAmerican experience. In the past, courses on international politics dealt almost
exclusively with power relations among states. Internal political institutions were almost
completely ignored, but scholars have gradually recognized that these institutions matter
greatly in relations between nations. A striking empirical finding is that democratic stateswith established democratic institutions do not fight wars against each other. What has
become known as the “democratic peace” has had a profound effect on undergraduate
course content in political science. Introductory courses in sociology previously included
little or no discussion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Students today
reflect on recent and often unanticipated changes in social life. Newly acknowledged
family structures are a cutting-edge issue in law, and sociological research in this area
affects law school curricula. Innovations in the teaching of the Spanish language have led
to online introductory courses and a focus on vernacular Spanish. The curriculum inchemical engineering has changed dramatically as a result of research discoveries. Today
there are courses and topics which did not exist in the past.
Mr. Powell concluded that these examples illustrate how undergraduate courses andcurricula have changed as new research defines the frontier of knowledge. UC facultycollectively synthesize their new knowledge and determine what defines a well-educatedstudent and what a 21st century degree should comprise. This is a dynamic process that
underpins what is taught at a research university and influences undergraduates’ workand daily lives; hence these efforts shape the workplace and society.
The meeting adjourned at 9:15 a.m.
Attest:Secretary and Chief of Staff