UC has proposed capping out-of-state undergraduate enrollment at 20 percent. The details to the proposal are key, as the cap would apply to the system-wide proportion, meaning some campuses would be able to exceed the 20 percent threshold (at Berkeley, nonresidents make up about 24.5 percent), so long as the inflated nonresident enrollment is balanced out elsewhere (at UC Merced, the rate is below one percent). However, the three campuses currently above 20 percent — Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego — would not be allowed to grow their share of out-of-state ranks any further. Last year, lawmakers in Sacramento said UC would not receive an additional $18.5 million unless it established a cap on such enrollment, a demand tied to a controversial state audit which criticized the system for admitting too many students from outside California. Currently, nonresident students make up 16.5 percent of the system’s 210,000 undergraduates. UC contends out-of-state enrollment increases diversity and funds the education of additional Californians, as nonresidents brought in $550 million in tuition in 2016-17. The average percent of nonresident enrollment within the 62-member AAU is 27.9 percent. In other news, a large group of former students of Nezar AlSayyad — a Berkeley architecture professor accused in media reports of sexual misconduct — decried the academic’s ‘trial by the press’ and questioned the validity of any investigation into his conduct.
3/6 – UC proposes its first enrollment cap — 20% — on out-of-state students (LATimes): The article notes a lukewarm response to the proposal, including from Assemblymen Kevin McCarty and faculty representatives:
“It’s a mixed bag,” McCarty said of the UC proposal. “Finally, after all of these years, UC is on the verge of setting a firm nonresident policy that will help us prioritize California kids. But we were hoping the cap would be at today’s numbers. It’s close, but it falls a little short.”
…Faculty members are not enthusiastic, said UC Academic Senate Chairman James Chalfant. They oppose an “arbitrary quota,” he said, that could force UC to turn away the best and the brightest and forgo additional needed dollars. The group has presented an alternative that would impose enrollment limits only on campuses at which the expansion of nonresident students hurts Californians and only after UC is given enough funding to maintain its quality.
3/6 – Op-Ed: Berkeley professor accused of misconduct being railroaded (EBT): Thirty-six former students of Berkeley Professor Professor Nezar AlSayyad question the treatment of their former mentor who has been accused in media accounts of sexual misconduct. The authors claim support for AlSayyad and question the investigation into his actions.
3/8 – Sexual harassment: records show how University of California faculty target students (Guardian): More coverage of last week’s records release concerning over 100 cases of sexual misconduct. This article highlights how faculty members have targeted students.
3/10 – UC Berkeley cops release photos of 31 suspects in campus riot (SFGate): UC Berkeley police have asked the public for help in identifying 31 suspects in the riot that prevented Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking on campus.
Berkeley Faculty Association | Our University Project 