For all concerned faculty at the University of California: •Public education for all is one of the great contributions of America to modern life, and was fought for by brilliant educators from John Dewey to Clark Kerr. It has always had doubters and enemies; it is at risk and will not survive unless we defend it once again. •All of us must be able to defend public education to our colleagues, our students and the public. To do so, we must be able to articulate its basic purposes and priorities, as well as criticize the misunderstandings and mistakes of our administration, the Regents, and the dominant ideology. •Public education is an investment in the young by the general public and [...]
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SAVE & BFA have submitted a resolution to the Academic Senate at Berkeley calling for a halt to the administration’s plan to convert course evaluations by students to publicly available on-line evaluations. Please come to the Senate meeting on Wed. April 20th, 3-5, in Sibley Auditorium to support this resolution. Proposed Senate resolution on online evaluation 4-14
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Statement on Pension Reform at UC Presented to UC Regents, Dec. 13, 2010 by Richard Walker, Vice-Chair of the Berkeley Faculty Association The Berkeley Faculty Association (BFA) is deeply concerned about the state of the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP). The UCRP’s Defined Benefit Plan is billions of dollars in arrears because contributions were suspended twenty years ago. The failure to fund UCRP has several causes, the most fundamental of which is the permanent fiscal crisis of the state of California and the political failure to support our system of public higher education – including the pension fund. The University made things worse by halting contributions to the fund over the same 20-year period. The effects of these failures [...]
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BFA Member Alert: Saving UC’s Pension Plan October 14, 2010 As most faculty know, UC’s pension plan, the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP), faces a dire problem of a growing unfunded liability, as funds have not been contributed to it for nearly twenty years now, leaving investment income as its only source of growth. As most faculty also know all too well, at their meeting in September 2010 the Regents adopted a schedule for the resumption of contributions by plan members not represented by unions (including faculty) and by UC itself. However, these contributions address only one small piece of the problem — costs that the plan is incurring right now — but not costs associated with the plan’s [...]
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Child care is an important issue for many BFA members. The Association of Academic Women will hold a meeting this week to discuss recent cuts and proposed cuts to faculty, staff, and student campus child care programs and what can be done to protect these programs. Time: Wed, October 6, 11:45-12:45 Location: Center for South Asia Studies Conference Room, 20 Stephens Hall (note that the entrance to this space is just off the plaza between Moses and Stephens Halls as you walk towards Barrows Hall) Speakers: Associate Vice Provost Angy Stacy; Vice Provost Shelly Zedeck; Alice Jordan of the Student Parent Center; and members of the audience. Concerned BFA members are welcome to attend
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The American Federation of Teachers at the University of California, the union representing lecturers, created a flyer for students on the budget cuts and the upcoming national day of action in defense of public action on October 7th. You can download by clicking here: Rethink UCB Flyer text: Rethink UC Paying more for less? While student fees skyrocket, programs and courses are slashed. Welcome to UC, your education begins here. Paying more Student fees have increased 300% since 2001. Just last year the UC Regents approved a 32% fee increase, and they are already considering another double-digit increase this year. Getting less Class sizes are increasing. Courses and services are being cut. Students may not be able to graduate on [...]
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