CUCFA Supports AB 775, Suggests Amendment
On June 26th, CUCFA delivered the following letter to Assemblyman Yee and to members and staff of the Senate Committee on Higher Education:
Dear Assemblyman Yee,
The Council of University of California Faculty Associations strongly endorse the intent of the amendments to Education Code 92020 offered on June 20, 2006, but having said that, we have some concerns about the current version of the amendment labeled 92020(a)(3), which reads:
“(3) Advisory groups that include one or more regents as members and that have continuing subject matter jurisdiction or have a regular meeting schedule.”
The current bill does not delimit the origins of the so-called “advisory groups” in language that would clearly include deliberative bodies created by the Regents that are not necessarily termed “advisory groups,” but clearly exclude committees of the Academic Senate At the moment, secret Regental discussions related to executive pay could occur in groups other than the Advisory Group on University Compensation. These include the Task Force on UC Compensation, Accountability and Transparency, The UC Long Range Guidance Team, and the Regents Task Force on Retirement Benefits. In our opinion, AB 775 should apply to these groups regardless of nomenclature.
The Academic Senate of the University is an “advisory group” that has at least one voting regent as a member—the President of the University—along with two faculty representatives to the Board that are termed non-voting regents on the regents’ page of the UCOP website. One or both of the latter individuals are members of all of the principal committees of the systemwide Academic Senate, but none of these bodies ever conduct Regental discussions. Therefore, we respectfully invite your consideration of the following alternative language for 92020(a)(3), intended to insure that AB 775 would apply to all Regentally-created entities, including those that could deliberate on compensation matters, but not apply to the Academic Senate of the University.
“(3) Ad hoc groups, study groups, or task forces advisory to the “Regents of the University of California” (as herein defined) that include one or more regents as members, have continuing subject matter jurisdiction or a regular meeting schedule, and are created by the Board of Regents, one of its standing committees, special committees, or subcommittees, or the Office of the President of the University.”
We would be happy to discuss any or all of the aforementioned concerns with you or members of your staff. In any event, The Council of University of California Faculty Associations is pleased to join the ranks of the formal supporters of AB 775.
Respectfully yours,
Charles P. Nash
Vice President—External Relations