Wilcox will replace Jane Close Conoley, the interim chancellor, who replaced former chancellor Timothy White in December after White left to become chancellor of the California State University system. Wilcox was announced as nominee for the position on July 25.

While Wilcox’s appointment was approved in a unanimous vote, both Gov. Jerry Brown  and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke out against his compensation package, which includes an annual base salary of $354,000 — an increase of $29,000, or 8.9 percent, from White’s salary.

Brown expressed concerns that Wilcox would receive an increase in salary from the previous chancellor and voted against the compensation package. In November, Brown also opposed an increase in compensation for UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, citing concern with the university’s cost structure and the need for public administrators to exhibit the spirit of “servant leadership.”

Despite Brown’s opposition, the regents approved the compensation package.

UC President Mark Yudof expressed confidence that Wilcox would excel as chancellor.

“Kim Wilcox brings to the University of California distinctive expertise and interests that will serve the Riverside campus and the larger community exceedingly well,” Yudof said.

Bruce Varner, chair of the Board of Regents, served on the search committee and also expressed support of Wilcox.

“Kim Wilcox emerged as the top choice from an outstanding group of candidates,” Varner said. “He has everything it takes to be not only a strong leader and advocate for students, faculty and staff on campus but also a positive force for the larger community.”

Wilcox will begin his position as chancellor of UC Riverside on Aug. 19.

“I’m humbled and honored and excited about this chance,” Wilcox said. “Every university can become better, and great universities can become greater, and that’s what I see happening at the University of California, Riverside.”

Wilcox has served as provost and executive vice president of Michigan State University since 2005. He previously served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas from 2002 to 2005 and as president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents from 1999 to 2002.

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Changes to UC Regents Policy 7401 would extend the freedom of UC faculty and staff to freely critique policies adopted by the administration without fear of administrative discipline. The adoption comes amid a series of lawsuits that raise concerns about the limits of freedom of expression for public employees.

“There’s the issue that this policy revision will affect employer-employee relations, but I don’t think that’s a legitimate concern,” said UC President Mark Yudof of the decision.

Minor amendments also included revising the anti-discrimination policy to include “gender” and “gender expression” as well as members of all uniformed services among the prohibited types of discrimination in employment.

Susan Carlson, vice provost for academic personnel, presented the amendment to the regents on Thursday and argued that the revision protecting free speech is necessary to encourage faculty participation in governance of the UC system by ensuring protection under the First Amendment.

“Foundational policies are not often changed unless absolutely necessary,” Carlson said. “Faculty involvement in the governance of the UC is incredibly important to our public mission, and we’re ensuring that this policy change gives our employees the right to express their opinions towards university policy without fear of negative ramifications.”

The issue of free speech protection for government employees became a contentious issue in 2006, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Garcetti v. Ceballos, a case involving a Los Angeles district attorney, that the First Amendment does not prevent citizens from being disciplined for comments they make as public employees.

Joe Kiskis, vice chair of the Council of UC Faculty Associations, said that the decision did not present a problem for higher education until 2007, when UC Irvine professor Juan Hong brought up the issue in a 2007 U.S. District Court case.

In his lawsuit against university officials and the regents, Hong alleged that he had been denied a salary increase in 2004 due to his criticism of the hiring and promotion decisions within his department.

The District Court ruled in 2007 that Hong was not entitled to protection under the First Amendment because he made the comments as a public employee and not as a private citizen.

According to Kiskis, the court’s ruling in Hong’s appeal of the original decision left the question of the limits of academic expression unanswered. Before Hong’s appeal, Kiskis said faculty members believed they had the freedom to critique policies enacted by the university.

After the case, UC Davis professor Greg Pasternack, who chaired that campus’s committee of academic freedom, set out to revise university policy by proposing changes to the code of conduct. However, after the issue became entangled in several committees for the past two years, Pasternack lost track of his proposition and was surprised to hear about the regents’ decision.

“This is the greatest expansion of academic freedom made in a long time,” Pasternack said.

Contact Dennis Vidal at dvidal@dailycal.org. Follow Dennis Vidal on Twitter @vidaldennis.

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Sureya Melkonian/Staff

The UC Board of Regents appointed UC Berkeley senior Sadia Saifuddin as student regent-designate at its meeting Wednesday, despite some controversy over her selection. When Saifuddin’s term begins in July 2014, she will be the first Muslim student regent.

Saifuddin’s appointment was met with controversy during the meeting’s public comment session when some raised concerns about her support of a recent movement to divest UC funds from companies affiliated with the Israeli military. In a rare move, UC Regent Richard Blum abstained from the vote to approve Saifuddin, citing similar concerns regarding her political activity. All other regents voted in Saifuddin’s favor.

This spring, Saifuddin co-sponsored a UC Berkeley student government bill aiming to divest ASUC funds from companies that provide equipment, materials and technology to the Israeli military. Supporters cited concerns regarding Israel’s alleged human rights violations in the region and encouraged the UC system to also take action in withdrawing investments.

During the public comment session, Saifuddin’s critics alleged that her support for divestment would be a divisive force within the UC system and would alienate Jewish students.

Some, including ASUC Senator George Kadifa and former student regent Jonathan Stein, refuted those claims, supporting Saifuddin’s appointment.

“Those who do know her personally know her to be a woman of openness,” Stein said. “She invited students to Muslim student town halls (and) Muslim students to Jewish student town halls.”

Although many regents disagreed with Saifuddin’s position on divestment, they largely approved of her appointment, with explicit support from Regents Sherry Lansing, Bonnie Reiss and Frederick Ruiz.

“We disagree with her position on divestment, but we do so respectfully,” Lansing read from a statement she wrote in collaboration with UC President Mark Yudof and Regents Bruce Varner and Ruiz.

Blum abstained from the final appointment vote, saying that he strongly disagreed with Saifuddin’s point of view but did not know her well enough to justify a negative vote.

“When you’re going to be the student representative, you have to represent all the students, and you don’t want to alienate a lot of people,” Blum said.

After the vote, Saifuddin briefly addressed the meeting, thanking both her family for their support as well as the regents for the opportunity to serve the UC community.

“I think that the UC is standing at a critical juncture right now, and it’s really important for us to come together,” Saifuddin said during the meeting.

Later, at a press conference, Saifuddin addressed some of the criticisms she has received in light of her nomination as student regent.

“I think being on the receiving end of these attacks is difficult, but it’s not something that’s unexpected or unforeseen, and it’s something that I’ll learn to deal with better every day,” Saifuddin said.

Contact Simon Greenhill and Mary Zhou at newsdesk@dailycal.org.

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The Infill Apartments at Kresge, Porter, Cowell and Stevenson colleges on the UC Santa Cruz campus were constructed in 2004 and have suffered extensive water damage due to faulty exterior waterproofing systems and shower assemblies. The university is currently involved in litigation to recover the money from the damage associated with construction defects.

According to John Barnes, associate vice chancellor for physical and planning and construction, the project will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the damage at Kresge and Stevenson colleges will be addressed, and in the second phase, Porter and Cowell colleges will be repaired.

The project has a budget of $32,982,000 and will be funded by the Colleges, Housing and  Educational Services Auxiliary Reserves and external financing.

“Though the fee of this project seems high, I feel it’s necessary to ensure safety and to provide us with the manpower to put together a set of documents that are biddable,” Barnes said.

According to UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal, the project covers about 160,000 square feet and about 246 bath and shower assemblies will be examined.

“While we have done extensive forensic investigation, we may encounter additional damage,” Blumental said. “We need to do this project as soon as possible to prevent further damage. We need to create a safe and healthy environments for students.”

While the project is being carried out, displaced students will be placed in two-person rooms that will be made to accommodate three people, according to Blumenthal.

Repairs at Stevenson and Kresge colleges will occur from August 2013 through June 2014, and repairs at Cowell and Porter will occur from July 2014 through May 2015.

Later in the meeting, the regents approved an increase in funding for UCSD Medical Center East Campus Bed Tower, now called the Jacobs Medical Center, to increase inpatient beds, medical units and operating rooms. According to the agenda item posted before the meeting, the increase in funding was $141,460,000.

Contact Jane Nho at jnho@dailycal.org.

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Sureya Malkonian/File

The UC Board of Regents is set to meet this week at the UC San Francisco Mission Bay campus for its bimonthly meeting. The board is expected to discuss the UC system’s 2013-14 and preliminary 2014-15 budgets, a report on the University of California’s efforts to implement online education programs and other items at the three-day meeting, which began Tuesday. The board is also expected to vote the nomination of U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano as the next UC president on Thursday.

This page will aggregate all the decisions made by the UC Board of Regents at the meeting scheduled for July 16 to 18.

Tuesday, July 16

• The regents approved a plan to increase funding for repairs to 148 apartment units at UC Santa Cruz’s Cowell, Stevenson, Porter and Kreske colleges pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act.

• The regents approved an amendment of the budget and external financing for UCSD Medical Center East Campus Bed Tower, now called the Jacobs Medical Center, to increase inpatient beds, medical units, and operating rooms.

• The regents approved the budget of $25,053,000 for external financing for the Nimitz Marine Facility Berthing Wharf and Pier at Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Nimitz Marine Facility in Point Loma.

Wednesday, July 17

• Sadia Saifuddin was unanimously appointed as a student regent by the UC Board of Regents, with one regent, Michael Blum abstaining from the vote.

• The UC Board of Regents approved the update on the 2013-14 budget presented by the Committee on Finance. The budget will increase by 5.8 percent from the previous year to a total of $138.3 billion in State General Funds and Special Funds.

• The UC Board of Regents approved an 8 percent increases in Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition levels for the four nursing programs at UC San Francisco, UC Los Angeles, UC Davis, and UC Irvine, effective August 1.

• The UC Board of Regents approved an increase in contributions to the UC Retirement plan for both UC and its employees, effective July 2014.

Thursday, July 18

• The regents approved the appointment of  Melvin Stanton and Randolph Wedding as co-acting Chief Investment Officers in response to the recent retirement of Marie N. Berggren, effective July 2, 2013.
• The regents amended Regents Policy 7401 to revise the Faculty Code of Conduct to protect the rights of faculty to freely express opinions regarding institutional matters, such as UC policy. Revisions were also made to conform with state law regarding discrimination on the basis of “gender” and “gender expression.”
• The regents also discussed the annual accountability report, which analyzes long-term UC trends such as enrollment, faculty demographics, and graduation rates.

Thurday, July 18 – Special Session

Contact Jane Nho at jnho@dailycal.org.

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If approved, the restraining order would prohibit the two-day strike planned by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299. According to a statement released by the UC Office of the President on Friday, strikes that pose an imminent threat to public health and safety are illegal under state law, and the university believes the strike would improperly withhold health care from the public.

Dianne Klein, a UC spokesperson, said that if the union cared about patient safety, it would not endanger patients by striking.

“This (strike) is one of their tactics to get what they want, which is a special deal for their workers,” Klein said. “That is not only unfair but fiscally irresponsible.”

The strike comes amid ongoing contract negotiations that began in June 2012. The university proposed a pension reform that would increase contributions toward pension benefits from both the university and employees, but AFSCME 3299 rejected these reforms, arguing that the university is prioritizing pensions over patient care.

According to Todd Stenhouse, spokesperson for AFSCME 3299, the university is prioritizing executive pension benefits instead of adequate patient care and staffing.
“We are seeing the university cut corners in ways that are so dangerous for patients,” said Kathryn Lybarger, president of AFSCME 3299.

AFSCME 3299 has established a Patient Protection Task Force to care for patients during the strike, but that it is something in which the university refuses to participate, according to Stenhouse.

During pension reform negotiations, AFSCME 3299 asked for caps on executive pension benefits, which the university would not discuss, according to Lybarger.

“Right now, these executives are going to retire on upwards of $300,000,” Lybarger said. “That’s a lot of money to live on for doing nothing.”

The university filed a similar restraining order in July 2008 in response to a planned AFSCME 3299 strike. The court approved the restraining order, but the union went ahead with the strike.

“If the court says you are prohibited from striking and they go ahead and do it anyway, they are breaking the law,” Klein said. “We hope there is not a strike. We are prepared for one.”

University Professional and Technical Employees, another UC medical workers union, also held a demonstration Wednesday at the five UC medical centers.

AFSCME 3299 also held a sit-down protest at Wednesday’s UC Board of Regents meeting in Sacramento, resulting in the arrest of 13 demonstrators.

“We are in this fight to win real patient protection,” Lybarger said. “It’s not an option to emerge from this fight without having won real gains for our patients.”

Contact Tara Hurley at thurley@dailycal.org.

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The final resolution passed in a secret ballot by a vote of 20 in favor, 12 against and one abstention after more than five hours of debate and amendments.  The resolution does not divest funds but instead calls for divestment by the UC Board of Regents, which set investment policy for the system.

In a statement responding to the vote, UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla reminded the campus community of the regents’ policy to divest only when the U.S. government acknowledges a state has committed an act of genocide but commended the campus on its civil debate of the divestment issue.

“I am confident that our students will continue to engage in open, balanced and civil dialogue when discussing highly complex world issues that evoke strong feelings and emotions,” Khosla said in the statement.

Wednesday’s resolution is the first to come out of the ASUCSD after more than four years of discussion. In previous years, similar resolutions have failed to pass the council or have been kept from a vote entirely.

“This year, we’ve been planning for it all year,” said ASUCSD president Meggie Le. “We spent about five hours striking any clause that could be political.”

Some senators, however, were upset by the content of the meeting. ASUCSD Senators Brad Segal and Shazzy Gustafson resigned in protest following the meeting.

“While I am inspired by students who proudly stand up for their convictions, in passing this resolution our student government unequivocally demonstrated that it does not speak for me, the Jewish community, nor the UC San Diego student body as a whole,” said Segal in his letter of resignation.

At one point during Wednesday’s meeting, the original resolution was split into two parts, one calling for divestment of UC funds and the other recognizing the effects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on student life.

“I think those two resolutions would have been a great compromise,” Le said. “(The second) validates the narrative of both Israeli and Palestinian students on campus. But right now, we have a lot of upset students.”

The split resolutions, however, were tabled until the following week, and the final vote passed the original resolution in its entirety.

The ASUCSD’s vote follows earlier resolutions by other student governments nationwide in favor of divestment. Last week, students at UC Riverside passed a similar resolution, and in 2012, the Associated Students of UC Irvine also voted to support divestment.

A divestment bill was also passed at UC Berkeley in 2010 but was then vetoed. A subsequent vote to overrule the veto failed to pass.

Jacob Brown is the lead higher education reporter. Contact him at jbrown@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @jacobebrown.

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Kevin Foote/File

SAN FRANCISCO — The UC Board of Regents voted at their meeting Thursday to extend a tuition surcharge for UC students to pay off previous settlement costs the university incurred.

The extension of the $60 surcharge passed despite criticism that it was funding the costs of a settlement incurred when a court ruled the university had inappropriately raised tuition on students for the 2003-04 academic year. With the extension, the surcharge — which was first enacted in the 2007-08 school year — will now last through the 2017-18 academic year.

“The university lost a lawsuit against students and made them pay for it,” said Student Regent Jonathan Stein at the meeting.

The regents should have found an internal mechanism to pay for the costs of the lawsuits instead of putting the burden of payment on students, he said.

Students from the university’s professional schools filed class-action lawsuits against the university in 2003 and 2010, and in both cases, the court determined that the UC system raised tuition without adequately warning affected students. In total, the litigation process cost the university nearly $100 million, according to UC spokesperson Dianne Klein.

Since UC insurance did not cover the lawsuit, the university had to rely on students to fund the settlement, Klein said.

“I don’t think this is right,” said UC Regent Eddie Island. “Students are being asked to pick up the surcharge for a lawsuit with no benefit.”

When Stein and Island drew issue with extending the surcharge, UC President Mark Yudof said that students would end up paying for the lawsuits in an indirect form even without the surcharge.

“I don’t know what to say,” Yudof said. “Where would you have us take the money?”

Nathan Brostrom, executive vice president of UC business operations, lauded the regents’ decision to be candid with students about the fees.

“This is actually a hallmark of transparency, to show what it is and that it will be paid off,” Brostrom said.

While he acknowledged the funds could have come from cuts to UC programs, he said that that would have come at the expense of the quality of UC services.

According to UC Regent Richard Blum, university officials made a mistake by pursuing costly litigation and should have settled the case.

The extension will expire when the costs of the second lawsuit, Luquetta v. Regents of the University of California, are fully paid off. The first lawsuit, Kashmiri v. Regents of the University of California, is set to be paid off this school year. As per UC policy, 33 percent of the fees collected from the extension of the surcharge on professional students will go toward financial aid.

“Let’s face it, this is ugly,” Klein said. “Nobody likes this. (The university) felt strongly that we were in the right — that’s why we went through all the appeals. And guess what, we lost.”

Contact Jeremy Gordon and Libby Rainey at newdesk@dailycal.org.

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Dean Ignacio/Staff

The UC Regents will conclude their two-day March meeting, Thursday. They’re expected to discuss a $60 temporary tuition surcharge associated with the Kashmiri v. Regents and Luquetta v. Regents lawsuit judgments among other issues today. Follow the live blog for updates throughout the day.

10:48 a.m.

And, that’s a wrap. The UC Regents have adjourned their meeting.

10:47 a.m.

The regents move to adopt the criteria for the selection of the next UC President.

10:45 a.m.

President Mark Yudof is delivering his address, noting the various awards UC faculty have recently won.

10:42 a.m.

Without any questions, the regents bring the Committee on Compliance and Audit to an end. The regents will close out the day with a general meeting of the board.

10:29 a.m.

“Social media can be very viral and negative for our organization…We have to be even more responsive and expedient” #UCRegents

— Libby Rainey (@rainey_l) March 14, 2013

10:26 a.m.

“Every given year that we add a freshman class, about 20% of those students are younger than 18, minors” discussing risk of minors for #UC

— Libby Rainey (@rainey_l) March 14, 2013

10:24 a.m.

Speaker says UC is trying to move from reactive responses to risks to proactive and preventative action, such as promoting ethical conduct

— Libby Rainey (@rainey_l) March 14, 2013

10:14 a.m.

The board moves on to the next item: Ethics and Compliance Annual Board Education.

10:07 a.m.

After the conclusion of presentations from various lab representatives, the regents move on to the Committee on Compliance and Audit.

9:34 a.m.

Committee on Finance ends, moving on to the Committee on Oversight of DOE labs.

9:33 a.m.

I think students will win this one. My best guess — UC will agree to drop the caps in the coming months.

— UC Student Regent (@UCStudentRegent) March 14, 2013

9:32 a.m.

Back at Regents meeting today @ UCSF. Students at public comment called for elimination of lifetime caps in UC student health insurance.

— UC Student Regent (@UCStudentRegent) March 14, 2013

9:19 a.m.

Regents approve temporary surcharge on students. Now moving on to discuss benchmarks for financial metrics.

9:12 a.m.

UC President Mark Yudof notes that wherever the cost of the lawsuit is pulled out of the University of California, students will pay either directly or indirectly.

9:08 a.m.

“I think we’ve handled the situation very poorly to be honest,” said UC Student Regent Jonathan Stein registering his opposition to the surcharge.

9:06 a.m.

And, moving through quickly the regents complete the Committee on Compensation to move to the COmmittee on Finance.

9:00 a.m.

Public comment comes to a close. The regents move on to the Committee on Compensation.

9:00 a.m.

UC Berkeley sophomore says UC is a leader in sustainability, asks to put fossil fuel divestment on UC Regents May meeting agenda.

ASUC Senator Nolan Pack speaks about ASUC’s recent decision to divest from fossil fuels.

8:53 a.m.

Johnson,who has worked for UC for over twenty years, says, “When I came here it was about patient care it wasn’t about dollars…”#UCRegents

— Libby Rainey (@rainey_l) March 14, 2013

8:49 a.m.

President of AFSCME 3299 Kathryn Lybarger speaking about report that alleges patient neglect at UC medical centers.

8:46 a.m.

CalSERVE senator @nolanpack is present at #UCRegents meeting, appears to be waiting to speak in public comment

— Libby Rainey (@rainey_l) March 14, 2013

8:43 a.m.

Students wear shirts that read, “We > Fossil Fuels,” will speak in public comment urging UC divestment in fossil fuel companies #UCRegents

— Libby Rainey (@rainey_l) March 14, 2013

8:40 a.m.

UCB student shares stories about how UC Ship has affected UC students — anonymous students struggling with minimal health coverage, he says

— Libby Rainey (@rainey_l) March 14, 2013

8:40 a.m.

Twenty seven individuals have signed up to participate in today’s public comment session.

8:38. a.m.

UC Regent Chairperson Sherry Lansing calls the meeting the order and begins the public comment session.

Curan Mehra is the executive news editor. Contact him at cmehra@dailycal.org.

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The social media project, Promise Platform, aims to raise money by encouraging students, faculty members and alumni to start their own UC fundraising campaigns by utilizing their social networks to generate funds and promote the UC system. The program is expected to launch by Oct. 1, 2013.

“A student could promise to dye their hair purple if their friends help them raise $1,000 to support scholarships,” said  Daniel Dooley, UC vice president of external relations. “Steve Wozniak could agree to use a PC instead of a Mac for a month if his friends help him raise $50,000 for the university.”

The regents also heard updates on the Working Smarter initiative, an administrative-efficiency program that has saved more than $200 million and raised more than $89 million in additional funds as of July 2012. The program is ahead of schedule to meet its $500 million goal by 2015.

Additionally, the regents voted to support two housing projects at UC Santa Barbara and an academic building for the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine as well as UC Merced’s design for a new long-term development plan.

Before returning to a closed session, the regents heard presentations from the UC fundraising campaign Onward California and UC Berkeley professor Catherine Cole, who spoke about the Fiat Lux Redux exhibit at UC Berkeley.

In the afternoon, the regents held closed sessions on collective bargaining matters, campus security and pending litigation.

They also discussed developments in appealed court decisions that either involved the UC system or had implications for UC policy. Cases included Felarca et al. v. Birgeneau, a case surrounding the arrest of students attending the Occupy Cal protests of Nov. 9 at UC Berkeley, and Baker et al. v. Katehi, a case relating to the use of high-concentration pepper spray on students by campus police at UC Davis.

The Special Committee to Consider the Selection of a President also met for the third time in a joint closed session with the rest of the regents. The committee discussed selection criteria for the next UC president and its “relationship to potential candidates.”

The Committee on Compliance and Audit met in the last session of the day. Committee members approved the external audit plan for the year ending June 30, 2013, and discussed restructuring of UC debt. On Tuesday, the UC finance office completed a bond repurchase that is expected to save $200 million in future costs.

Contact Alex Berryhill and Jacob Brown at newsdesk@dailycal.org.

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