Regents to mull fees, salaries in meeting
The UC Board of Regents will meet this week and decide on a number of topics, including possible increases to student fees and a push to bring the salaries of all UC employees into a competitive market range within a decade.
The two-day meeting, to be held at UC Berkeley, will begin Nov. 16 with discussion of possible fee increases for the university’s professional schools. The next day, the regents will consider action on the their 2005 financial report, among other things.
The board, at the behest of Regent Judith Hopkinson, decided to postpone a plan, considered earlier this year as a part of an overall salary-increase proposal, to seek private funding to increase the salary levels of 42 top UC executives.
“Based on the discussion at our September meeting and subsequent conversations, [the plan] requires further discussion and input, and a vote at the November meeting would be premature,” Hopkinson stated in a press release. “In addition, I would not want the debate on [the topic] to overshadow the more important part of the compensation proposal, which is the adoption of the regents’ objective of moving all university employees to market-competitive salaries within 10 years.”
UC will consolidate its office buildings
In an effort to streamline business practices, the UC Office of the President has announced a move to consolidate all its offices into one building in downtown Oakland.
Currently, UCOP has a main office and five satellite locations, which administer various operations, including human resources and benefits, and research and academic preparation programs. Consolidation of those offices into one area will not only be cost-effective, but will improve efficiency as well, according to a UC press release.
The UC Board of Regents will receive a recommendation from university management at its meeting this week to approve a lease for the new 11-story, 190,000 square-foot building. The move will hopefully save $2.5 million over 10 years in lease costs for the university, according to the press release.
Program to focus on earth-watching
Plans are underway for a new UCSD research center based at Scripps Institution of Oceanography that will study environmental growth on a global scale.
The Center for Earth Observations and Applications will build environmental initiatives through partnerships with government agencies and business and industry leaders, as well as UCSD researchers, according to a university press release.
Not only will SIO scientists contribute to the program, but also faculty and staff from other UCSD departments, including the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, San Diego Supercomputer Center and the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research.
CEOA will start officially Nov. 20 as part of a three-day inaugural symposium at the newly opened Cal-(IT)2 building on campus.
UC Davis FDA center cut from budget
Discussions between the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives ended with the funding being cut for a Food and Drug Administration research center that would have been based at UC Davis.
The Senate’s federal budget had allocated $1 million for the center, which would have partnered the FDA with UC Davis’ Western Institute for Food Safety and Security. The FDA center would also have been the first of its kind in western California to focus on food safety issues.
