The UC Board of Regents will vote Thursday on whether to endorse Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget and authorize the UC president to implement nonresident tuition increases.
Brown’s revised budget contains a framework that includes a freeze on undergraduate resident tuition, as well as an investment of $464 million over the course of three years into the university’s pension fund. The item, if approved, would also allow increases in nonresident tuition of up to 8 percent per year.
The agreement arose from collaboration between UC President Janet Napolitano and Brown after the UC regents approved a tuition increase in November, which Brown’s January budget proposal did not allow for.
UC spokesperson Dianne Klein said that the agreement is a significant accomplishment but that the university hopes to work with the state Legislature to find additional funding for enrollment growth.
“Is it perfect? Is it done? No,” Klein said. “This is part of what we hope will be a comprehensive deal towards stability and predictability.”
The meeting will also feature Student Regent Sadia Saifuddin and Judy Sakaki, vice president of student affairs for the UC Office of the President, who will present information on university-wide food security efforts at Thursday’s meeting.
The presentation will outline current efforts to alleviate UC student malnourishment and will include recommendations for a university-wide, “holistic” food security model, according to Ruben Canedo, coordinating chair for the subcommittee on food security and access of the UC Global Food Initiative.
Saifuddin said that the number of students who report having skipped meals in order to save money has gone up incrementally over the years. Recent survey results show that about one in four UC students experience varied levels of food insecurity.
When Napolitano announced the UC Global Food Initiative in 2014, Saifuddin advocated the university to also look at student hunger on its own campuses. Napolitano responded by adding the subcommittee on food security and access to the initiative.
In the past, Saifuddin said, these food security efforts have primarily been funded by student money.
“We’re hoping to take a closer look at the way we package financial aid,” Saifuddin said. “It’s not just about making sure students can come and get free food.”
The meeting will include other presentations, with topics including a research collaboration between a UC national laboratory, UC San Diego as well as the new UC Information Center.
Pamela Brown, the UCOP vice president of institutional research and academic planning, is set to introduce the UC Information Center, a website featuring interactive data visualizations of student diversity, graduation rates and affordability, among other topics.
The regents will meet Wednesday and Thursday at the UCSF Mission Bay campus. According to Klein, the board plans to wrap up discussion Thursday and will only meet Friday if needed.
