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For the week of December 14, 2009

After a US senator raised questions about UC making misleading statements to legislators and mismanaging funds, UC has agreed to hire an independent auditor to look into the allegations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “"If there is any question about the integrity of the finances at UCSF,” wrote Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who requested the review,” I am worried that similar problems regarding taxpayer dollars may also exist at other campuses within the UC system."

Berkeley students launched what was to be a week-long occupation of a major classroom building, Wheeler Hall, as part of what they called an open university week during the period leading up to finals, in which several UC professors gave presentations. 

In a before-dawn raid Friday morning, UC police arrested 66 of the occupiers ahead of a concert planned in Wheeler for Friday evening. Later that evening, eight demonstrators were arrested after a march to the chancellor’s house, at which windows and planters were broken.

Time magazine got a stack of reader mail challenging its listing of UC president Mark Yudof as one of the “ten best college presidents.”

Cuts ripping through the state’s community college system are taking a huge human toll among students and workers. At UC, the cuts come even though the university maintains a huge pool of unrestricted funds and is in excellent fiscal health.

UC has released a new compensation study by private consulting firm, Mercer, which makes the mind-boggling claim that executives are vastly underpaid while union custodians are overpaid. As one critic points out, the consultant obtained these conclusions by leaving out executive bonuses and non-base pay, which accounts for 36% of the pay of those UC employees making over $200,000.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the regents’ new fee schedule for professional schools starts soon. The fees for a year of law school at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall will now cost $44,200, while a year in the School of Social Work will be just $18,163.

The Sacramento Bee reports that UC Davis is receiving a record $622 million in research funds this year, up 6% from last year.

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