The Nexus compiled highlights of the University of California Board of Regents meeting from Nov. 12-14. The Regents discussed University of California Health community benefits, an increase in out-of-state tuition, a senior management diversity report, debt-free UC, campus climate and systemwide COVID-19 response.
UC regents met from Nov. 12-14. Courtesy of UC Regents Livestream
UC Health gives report on community benefits and UC Systemwide Anchor Institution Mission
Executive Vice President of UC Health David Rubin presented a community benefit report discussing the ways UC Health is expanding its efforts to provide resources to the communities surrounding UC Health facilities.
UC Health is a government institution comprised of system of medical and research facilities, including six academic health centers across California. Because of its government entity status, UC Health is not required to submit a community benefit report, unlike separate non-profit hospitals who are required. However, according to Rubin, UC Health voluntarily reported on community benefits “as a matter of mission.”
The report showed UC Health’s investments in different fields including research, subsidized health services and patient financial aid, comparing their contributions to all other California non-profit hospitals. These comparisons highlighted the outsized impact of the six UC Health facilities compared to the 202 other California nonprofit hospitals.
In community health improvement, the six UC Health facilities invested a reported $69 million compared to a total of $330 million invested by the 202 other non-profit hospitals, or 21% of the money invested by all of the other nonprofits, according to the community benefit report.
Rubin also reported specific examples of UC Health community benefit programs, such as a daily meal service provided at UC Davis and the UC Los Angeles Homeless Healthcare Collaborative, among others.
UC Health Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Hendry Ton and UC San Francisco Assistant Vice Chancellor for the Center for Community Engagement and Anchor Institution Mission (A.I.M.) Wylie Liu reported on A.I.M.
According to the presentation, UC Health Anchor Institutions employ 200,000 people, support 500,000 jobs and generate $82 billion in revenue. An Anchor Institution is a facility such as a hospital or university that uses economic power as well as human and intellectual resources to benefit the communities they exist within by generating income for community members and creating/supporting jobs. Ton said their goal now is to use the institutions’ economic capabilities to benefit California communities.
Liu reported that the priorities of communities surrounding A.I.M. institutions are economic opportunity, food security and housing security. Barriers to success for UC A.I.M. programs included developing local workforces, diverse procurement and community investment. These issues require a “collective effort and approach across the UCs,” Liu said.
UC Regents approve 9.9% increase in tuition for out-of-state students in response to budget deficit
The Finance and Capital Strategies Committee voted to increase out-of-state tuition by 9.9% during their Nov. 13 meeting. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, out-of-state students must pay $52,536 in tuition, as compared to $48,636 in 2024-25.
The tuition increase follows a California state budget cut to UC and California State University (CSU) operational funding of 5% beginning in 2025. Out-of-state students currently enrolled will not be affected by the tuition increase.
In defense of the increase, UC Associate Vice President of Budget Analysis and Planning Caín Díaz compared the tuition cost of out-of-state students at UC schools to those of comparable universities, specifically the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia, highlighting the relatively low levels of student debt carried by UC graduates compared to those of other universities.
He said the share of out-of-state UC students graduating with debt decreased from 32.5% in 2o10 to 13% in 2023.
UC Regent John Pérez said such comparisons were “misleading” because a possible reason for the decrease was that UC schools have become less accessible to out-of-state demographics with greater financial need.
“It’s not that we’ve done a ton of aid programs to help them graduate debt free … I’m wondering if what we’re seeing here is a dynamic where even though we’re more affordable than Michigan or Virginia, that we’re out of reach for students who need financial aid,” Pérez said.
The tuition increase is part of a new budget plan presented by the committee as a response to the state budget cut, which will exacerbate existing cost pressures, according to Regents’ documents.
In addition to the tuition price change, the committee discussed the 2025-26 UC operations budget plan. The budget will be affected by an estimated $28.4 billion deficit according to the UC Regents’ item document.
Students and workers voice concerns over healthcare costs, tuition, salaries
The UC Regents public comment session had over 80 speakers, including students, healthcare and information technology workers and UC Student Association members and professors. They discussed the UC’s handling of healthcare costs, tuition hikes for non-resident students, support for undocumented students, higher salaries for staff and more.
Dan Russell, an information technology (I.T.) worker at UC Berkeley, criticized UC’s bargaining team for poor recruitment and retention efforts which are “harming students, research and patients,” and they’re unwillingness to engage in serious discussion or proposals over service worker contracts.
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) 3299 is currently on a system-wide Unfair Labor Practice Strike, due to UC’s “bad-faith bargaining” regarding service worker’s contracts. He also said UC is holding onto $20 billion in liquid capital while failing to address staff shortages and increasing costs.
“We had to strike five times before your negotiators started bargaining in good faith in our last contract fight, and we’re prepared to do that again,” Russell said.
Matthew Jones, a nurse representative with the California Nurses Association, said healthcare costs are too high and that there is a lack of transparency toward healthcare workers regarding raised costs.
“We demand transparency on the part of UC administrators who hold our healthcare in their hands, rather than secret closed-door meetings that force workers who are trying to provide for themselves and their families to make impossible decisions,” Jones said.
Juliette Suarez, a licensed clinical social worker at UC San Francisco, said behavioral health workers are facing under-resourcing and healthcare inequities, as they make “32% less than [their] colleagues.” Suarez added that UC’s threats to impose co-pay increases would disproportionately affect those who rely on “cutting-edge drugs for quality of life if not survival” altogether.
Adam Tfayli, third-year human biology and society major and UCLA student body president from Lebanon, criticized UC’s investments in weapons manufacturing, urging Regents to stop hesitating toward divesting.
“Whenever you take a sip of water, I want you to think of the thousands of children walking miles for a sip of water because of our investments. Every time you have a bite of food, I want you to think of the people dying from starvation because of our investments. Every time you take a step or breathe a breath, I want you to think about how lucky you are that you don’t have to worry that it will be your last because of our investments,” Tfayli said.
Vanessa Cruz, a fourth-year psychology major at UC Irvine, voiced concerns regarding undocumented students. As an undocumented student herself, she said the UC is failing to support undocumented students and called for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act to be implemented in January.
Other public comments included opposition to the 9.9% tuition increase for out-of-state students, low salaries for UC staff members, enforcing policies regarding political speech and retirement plans for UC workers, among others.
UC Regents discuss potential delays regarding debt-free pathway for undergraduates by 2030
The UC Regents Academic and Student Affairs Committee discussed the reasons behind possible delays to UC’s goal of a debt-free pathway for all students by 2030 at its Nov. 13 meeting including Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) delays and decreases to the Middle Class Scholarship.
In his 2022 Presidential Priorities Plan, President Michael V. Drake outlined his goal of a debt-free pathway for UC undergraduates. According to the plan, the UC aims to expand financial aid and work opportunities as well as lower costs so students can graduate without loan debt through various initiatives.
The new report stated that Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) delays due to its recent revisions, a decrease in the Middle Class Scholarship budget and changes in the FAFSA Federal Need Analysis that decreased estimated family contribution are contributing to causing the setback. The modified Federal Need Analysis, which determines a student’s Student Aid Index (SAI), or a student’s financial aid need, will create more need for financial aid according to the report.
“I have worked in the financial aid [office] for more than two decades and this is indeed the most challenging year that we have experienced,” Director of Financial Aid at UC Santa Cruz Lorena Lara Chavez Rodriguez said.
FAFSA was revised for the first time in 40 years for the 2024-25 academic year, replacing the Expected Family Contribution with the SAI, determining family size on applicants’ tax returns, expanding access to federal Pell Grants and using data received from the Internal Revenue Service to calculate federal Pell Grant eligibility and the SAI to streamline the process.
The application opened on Dec. 31. instead of its usual date of Oct. 1, delaying student award letters. Shawn Brick, executive director of student financial support, said that usually universities receive student FAFSA applications three days after they are submitted, but they instead received applications “months late” around March and April.
“That debut upended many of the processes that we rely on to provide quality service and robust financial aid packages to our students,” Katherine Newman, executive vice president of academic affairs, said.
Several academic processes across the UC system such as admission and summer programs work around the FAFSA schedule, effectively delaying them as well. UC and CSU extended their admission acceptance deadline from May 1 to June 30 in response.
This year, the FAFSA application is set to open on schedule, on Dec. 1.
“I think [it is important to be] aware that the problems with this application have not been fully resolved, and there are people in the space, experts like this, who understand that there are going to be issues in this next year,” UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said.
Regents discuss state, federal priorities; UCSA, UCGPC request larger budget
UC Regents discussed updates on state and federal legislative priorities regarding advocacy, UC Student Association (UCSA) and UC Graduate and Professional Council (UGPC) requests for larger budgets and collaboration with federal and state teams at their Public Engagement and Development Committee meeting on Nov. 13.
UC External Relations and Communications Interim Senior Vice President Meredith Vivian Turner gave a brief update on Sacramento legislative activities, specifically the high percentage of new legislators and the need to discuss priorities regarding UC with them. While the budget for this year was not cut, there is a proposed budget cut of 7.95% for the 2025-2026 school year.
Turner also discussed the past two-year legislative cycle, where 6,000 bills were tracked, with roughly 600 impacting the UC. Thirty of them were sponsored by UC, and half of them were signed into law, including a bill that covered medically necessary donor milk for babies.
“Much of the legislature is going to be new. It’s about 30% [new] this year, and if you look back over two years, it’s about 50% of the legislature is brand new to Sacramento. So what does that mean for us? It just means we have to meet with a lot of folks and have a lot of discussions about UC priorities, about what UC means to the state of California and to listen to what members new priorities are,” Turner said.
Associate Vice President of the UC Office of Federal Government Relations Christopher Harrington provided an update on UC’s significant federal support, as well as the election results impact the UC. He stated that UC will be “steadfast” in advocating for issues such as doubling the Pell Grant, funding research and protecting undocumented students.
“With President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, we expect his administration to prioritize issues such as deregulation and tax cuts, as well as significant policy changes to immigration and border security, signaling a major shift from President Biden’s policies,” Harrington said.
UCSB fourth-year political science and history of public policy and law double major Esther Mejia spoke about the legislative priorities regarding UCSA, who she is legislative director of. Her concerns were regarding expansion of the basic needs programs, implementing the Cal Grant equity framework and strengthening the relationships between Indigenous councils and chancellors at UC campuses.
In regards to UCSA’s budget, the Association asked Regents for $3 million for UC Students with Disability Services and $1 million to finance infrastructure for intersegmental course articulations and pathways of development for transfer reform. Mejia also said one of UCSA’s priorities is to ensure students aren’t barred from obtaining their diploma due to institutional debt, which was neglected due to the bill AB-1160 not being passed.
Director of Government Relations and Legislative Affairs of UC Graduate and Professional Council (UCGPC) Ernesto Arciniega outlined the priorities of UCGPC, including enhancing civic engagement, affordable housing, improving mental health services and increasing funding for supporting UC graduates.
“It’s crucial that we advocate for these increases. This funding is essential for graduate students to drive groundbreaking discoveries and advance scientific progress statewide and nationally,” Arciniega said. “Next year will be a very critical period to ensure that the voices of graduate students are heard in the appropriations process and that funding for federal agencies and programs remains strong and inflation-adjusted rather than flat lined or reduced.”
Regents say diversity report shows small increase in diversity among UC senior management
The second biennial Senior Management Group (SMG) Recruitments Diversity Report showed a 4% increase in diversity in the past two years but remained mostly in single-digit percentages for underrepresented groups in hired positions and candidate pools.
The SMG report assesses diversity among executive leadership recruitment and hired position.
According to the report, 40% of SMG applicants self-identified as coming from “historically excluded and currently underrepresented racial and ethnic groups” in 2024, increasing 4% from the 36% in 2022. Women’s self-identification increased by 1% during the same period from 40% to 41%.
Although the report didn’t include chancellor applicants, Vice President of Systemwide Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer Cheryl Lloyd said these positions had “very diverse candidate pools.”
This pool is likely to hold UC Santa Barbara’s next chancellor as Chancellor Henry T. Yang is set to retire after the end of this academic year. An advisory committee for the next chancellor was named on Nov. 5.
Regents Maria Anguiano and Pérez discussed the single-digit percentages, noting that the 6% Hispanic or Latino applicant pool increased to 8-9% throughout the recruitment stages.
“I think our own internal work has really missed the mark. I will say to you here what I said to the participants at the HSRI [Hispanic-Serving Institution] conference at UCLA these last couple of weeks. That I think we have a blind spot here. And it’s a blind spot with the largest population group in the state,” Pérez said.
Regents discuss campus climate, assess task force reports on antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism at UCLA
The UC Regents discussed campus climate after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack last year and subsequent siege by Israel on the Gaza Strip which spurred national pro-Palestine student encampments and resulted in several lawsuits against the UC for its handling of the protests. According to two reports the Regents assessed, campuses saw an increase in reported cases of antisemitic, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian incidents.
A self-initiated report conducted by the UCLA Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias found that over 70% of respondents felt that the UCLA spring encampment fueled antisemitism and 41% considered leaving the campus over the encampment. The respondents included 428 Jewish students, staff and faculty members.
Another self-initiated report conducted by the UCLA Task Force on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Muslim, and Anti-Arab Racism compiled instances of harassment and punitive actions taken against faculty and students for their support of Palestinian rights and the violent attacks by counter-protestors at the UCLA Palestine solidarity encampment.
It compiled videos from social media, including first-hand accounts and news articles that chronicled the encampment. The task force did not do a campus-wide survey.
The campus climate discussion centered on the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias report. The Regents did not acknowledge the content of the Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Muslim, and Anti-Arab Racism report. All of the Regents who provided comment condemned antisemitism on UC campuses.
“I am deeply dismayed by the findings of the antisemitism and the anti-Israel bias report. It describes a situation that should be horrifying to every fair-minded person. There is no circumstance under which our students, faculty and staff should suffer the effects of such toxic bias and discrimination,” Regents Board Chair Janet Reilly said.
UCLA Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt said the task forces, both of which he commissioned, were put together in hopes of having administration and the campus community implement actionable recommendations to ease campus tensions.
Drake said he was “deeply dismayed” by the findings of both reports and that there should be no circumstance where students, faculty and staff “suffer the effects of such toxic bias and discrimination.”
“While we applaud the efforts of the campus to address this insidious problem, there should be no mistake about our primary reaction to this report before us. The circumstances described are intolerable, and we will do everything we can to address the underlying issues,” Drake said.
He added that the Systemwide Office of Civil Rights, an office created last spring, and its $7 million systemwide grant helped over 100 efforts across the system to address antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of bias, bigotry and discrimination at the University.
The two reports did not have criteria to which they were both held, Hunt said upon questioning by Student Regent Josiah Beharry. Beharry said he was disappointed by the findings in the UCLA Task Force on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Muslim, and Anti-Arab Racism report as there was “no basis for a lot of what’s on there.”
When Regent Jonathan Sures asked how many reports have been issued to UCLA on antisemitism incidents versus anti-Palestinian incidents, Hunt said that there were “hundreds” on both fronts, taken up through UCLA’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
Regents Richard Leib and Greg Sarris pushed for discipline against faculty reported by students to the Academic Senate.
“These incidents go beyond freedom of speech and violate the faculty code of conduct. Yet the report indicates that not one faculty member was recommended for discipline by the faculty senate,” Leib said.
“I’d like to point out that there are processes we follow at the University of California and that administration of discipline is really a series of events that may become complex,” Academic Senate Chair Steven Cheung said, referring to the steps an investigation may take. “We have those processes. And those processes are to protect our due diligence rights and our rights to a hearing and to ensure we are deliberative in our decision-making.”
Sarris emphasized his personal background and ties to the issues at UC campuses, as a Jewish and Indigenous man who grew up in the LA area.
“Everyone who’s sitting here is sitting on occupied land, if you will, on the blood of my ancestors. And to see people out here, and I can empathize with the students, holding my picture of me on this land, where my ancestors perished so that we can be here, becomes a hurtful irony that erases my experience and who I am,” Sarris said.
Regent Anguiano gave the final remark of the discussion, noting that the bulk of these policies affect students who are not in the room.
“The focus should be on education with the understanding that it is fundamentally appropriate for young adults to test the boundaries. And that we are here to guide them and show them where the boundaries are and expect the best for them,”Anguiano concluded.
Former UC Health advisor debriefs lessons from pandemic, gives Regents recommendations for future health emergencies
Former Executive Vice President for UC Health and Special Advisor for Health Security Carrie Byington briefed the Regents about key lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding leadership and finances at the Regents’ Nov. 14 Board meeting. Byington also made recommendations for handling future emergencies.
Now a clinical professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego, Byington first posed the issue of COVID-19 to UC leadership in January of 2020. With the hindsight of having managed the pandemic, Byington said her report is vital to increasing education and preparedness for future public health crises.
“When I asked to write this report, I felt that it was very important that we document all of the activities that we performed during the COVID-19 pandemic for the future because there were many lessons that needed to be learned that have been learned and that will serve us well in the inevitable occurrence of a next public health emergency,” Byington said.
The report emphasized the necessity of strong central leadership and collaboration across campus locations to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. According to Byington, the UC response set an example for others across the nation.
“The University of California is built for leadership, and what we did across our system was viewed by many, studied by many, copied by many and we provided leadership for the state and the nation,” Byington said.
Byington also addressed tensions between central and local governances and said that setting up standardized protocols across the board was the best way to deal with this issue. In doing this, UC administrators remained flexible and took into account the bandwidth and expertise of local leaders.
“It became obvious early on that the mechanism that we needed to support was a people-first framework. People-first, everything else second. And our goal was to limit the variation across the UC settings,” Byington said.
One issue UC administration faced at the start of the pandemic was that the UC Office of the President Management Response Plan did not contain a health representative. Byington helped create the UC Health Coordinating Committee, consisting of public health experts who analyzed data and made recommendations to the UC chancellors, regents and community.
Byington recommends that the UC increase focus on occupational health through increased investments, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliant data resources and electronic health record capabilities. The UC has already increased academic health funding by $400 million, ranking it among the top educational institutions putting funds towards COVID-19 research.
“Overall, our research increased by 25%, our research funding, from $1.6 billion to $2 billion across the academic health centers. And the [National Institutes of Health] did [an] analysis of all COVID-related research funding, of which there was almost $5 billion given across the United States, half of those dollars went to just five institutions, and one of those was UCLA,” Byington said.
Byington emphasized her pride in the UC response to COVID-19, noting that UC hospitals saw lower death counts compared to other health facilities.
“We took care of some of the sickest patients in the United States, and we had the lowest mortality. If you were very sick with COVID, it made a difference for you to come to a University of California system,” Byington said.
A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the Nov. 21, 2024 print version of the Daily Nexus.
