The University of California has rules to ensure equitable working conditions, writes Missy Matella, associate vice president for systemwide employee and labor relations. She takes issue with a recent op-ed by UC Santa Cruz graduate student worker Rebecca Gross.
Higher Ed
Posted inEducation
UC Santa Cruz ‘disappointed’ in judge’s ruling on enrollment growth plan, weighs next steps
UC Santa Cruz officials say they’re considering their next steps after a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge sided Monday with the city and county of Santa Cruz in a lawsuit arguing that the university’s plan for student enrollment growth didn’t adequately evaluate the potential impacts.
Posted inEducation
Months after UC Santa Cruz Gaza protest arrests, formal charges still in limbo
More than 100 protesters who were arrested by police at the UC Santa Cruz Gaza solidarity encampment in May have yet to be formally charged by the Santa Cruz County district attorney’s office. Assistant District Attorney Steve Drottar told Lookout the office hasn’t received UCSC police reports yet and is waiting to review those to determine if it will file charges.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The UC forced strikes to end — but behind the scenes, it’s still waging war on student workers
The University of California system – and UC Santa Cruz in particular – is not treating its graduate student workers fairly and is committing illegal, anti-labor actions, writes UCSC graduate student worker and labor union organizer Rebecca Gross. Student workers across the 10 UC campuses are being punished, she writes, for the spring labor and Palestinian solidarity strikes that upended campus life. The student workers say they are seeing their pay docked and that they have received warning notices about their spring strike activities. Gross says UCSC has illegally attempted to fire four graduate student workers because of strike activities. The state Public Employment Relations Board is set to rule on the legality of the strike this fall.
Posted inEducation
Judge: UC Santa Cruz failed to gauge impact of enrollment growth
A Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge published a decision Monday in favor of the City of Santa Cruz in a lawsuit filed against UC Santa Cruz and the University of California Board of Regents. City of Santa Cruz attorney Anthony Condotti told Lookout the judge agreed with the city’s argument that the university’s environmental analysis of its enrollment growth was insufficient.
Posted inEducation
UCSC chancellor says budget deficit larger than expected, layoffs underway
In a Tuesday statement, UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive said the 2024 fiscal year deficit was larger than officials initially projected. University officials said the campus will have to move forward with staff reductions but they didn’t provide details on how many or when.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Taxpayers cover tuition at California’s for-profit schools. The results? Low-wage, high-turnover jobs
California officials have warned for years that for-profit schools can make misleading career claims — leaving students with “a mountain of debt” but no job. Still, many for-profit schools remain on the state’s list of recommended job training programs.
Posted inEducation
After phishing test gone wrong, UC Santa Cruz apologizes for false alert about Ebola case
UC Santa Cruz officials apologized this week for an email sent by the Information Security division Sunday that they say was meant to serve as training to help employees recognize scam emails, or phishing emails. The email appeared to be an alert from campus about an Ebola case at UCSC, but was not real.
Posted inEducation
Mold, asthma and a rent increase vex UCSC Family Student Housing tenants
Residents of an aging student family housing complex at UC Santa Cruz are fighting a $65-a-month rent increase while demanding that something be done about mold problems and other issues they claim are contributing to asthma and other health problems. The issues come more than a year away from the opening of an under-construction replacement for the complex and the demolition of existing apartments to make way for 2,700 new dorm-style units for undergraduate housing.
Posted inLatest News
UCSC is replacing its 30-year-old buses, but not because of fatal crash
UC Santa Cruz is replacing buses that are more than 30 years old, but officials say the move is unrelated to a fatal accident involving one of them. Last week, the university said the cause of the crash that led to driver Dan Stevenson’s death was due to his failure to negotiate a left turn in the road and had nothing to do with mechanical failure or deficiencies with the vehicle.