California Universities Drop Opposition to Donor-Transparency Bill

May 25, 2011, 2:38 pm

The University of California and California State University systems will no longer oppose a bill that would make their nonprofit foundations subject to the state’s open-records law, the bill’s author, Sen. Leland Yee, announced on Wednesday. The universities aggressively fought similar legislation in past years, and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it twice over concerns that it would violate the privacy of university donors who wished to remain anonymous. But Mr. Yee reached an agreement on a compromise bill, which is very likely to be enacted, that he said would protect the anonymity of any donor who did not receive certain monetary rewards or attempt to “influence curriculum or university operations.”

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perspective2

University of California Chancellor Birgeneau DENIES public university education to sons and daughters of Californians.
University of California Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau ($500,000 salary) has forgotten that he is a public servant, steward of the public money, not overseer of his own fiefdom (these are not isolated examples):

recruits (uses California tax $) out of state $50,000 tuition students that displace
qualified Californians from public university education; spends $7,000,000 + for consultants to do his & vice chancellors work (prominent East Coast university accomplishing same
0 cost); pays ex Michigan governor $300,000 for lectures; in procuring
$3,000,000 consultants he failed to receive proposals from other firms; Latino enrollment drops while out of state jumps 2010; tuition to Return on Investment drops below top10; NCAA
places basketball program on probation: absence institutional control.

It’s all shameful. There is no justification for such practices by a steward of the
public trust. Absolutely none.

Birgeneau’s practices will not change. UC Board of Regents Chair Sherry Lansing must do a better job of vigorously enforcing oversight by President Yudof than has been done in the
past for Chancellors who, like Birgeneau, treat the university as their fiefdom.

Until demonstrable action is swiftly applied to Chancellors by the Board of Regents/President Yudof, the University of California shouldn’t come to the Governor or public for support for any taxes.

I have 35 years’ consulting experience, have taught at UC Berkeley, where I
observed the culture and the way senior management worked. No, I was not fired
or downsized; am retired.