University Of California

Commentary

My turn: Here’s how to avert California’s next health care crisis

California faces a serious gap in health care workers. Seven million Californians, the majority of them Latino, African American, and Native American, live in Health Professional Shortage Areas — a federal designation for counties experiencing shortfalls of primary care, dental care, or mental health care providers. The California Future Health Workforce Commission offers solutions.

By Guest Commentary • February 7, 2019

Education

A new solution to the student housing crisis: retiree roommates?

UC Berkeley is matching graduate students looking for housing with retirees who have extra space in their homes. The program's organizers hope it will prove successful enough to export to other UC campuses.

By Felicia Mello • January 31, 2019

Commentary

My turn: California’s other fiscal time bomb

California’s state and local agencies have $187 billion in unfunded retiree health care and other benefit liabilities that threaten to crowd out public services, such as public safety and education, that Californians expect government to provide. Government must confront the debt.

By Guest Commentary • January 9, 2019

Capitol

The heavies turn out for Eleni Kounalakis, the new ‘lite guv’

Governors and California's independently elected lieutenant governors “don’t always see eye to eye,” Gov. Gavin Newsom noted as he prepared to swear in the new lieutenant governor, Eleni Kounalakis. “That’s about to change,” Newsom said. Exactly what duties Newsom might cede to Kounalakis remain to determined. There was no promise. But Kounalakis promises to make an impact.

By Dan Morain • January 7, 2019

Commentary

My turn: Higher ed is a prerequisite for our future. Community colleges are key to that

Higher education is the lynchpin to our future. Now, as we enter a new era of leadership, we have a chance to think big and be unapologetically bold with solutions to ensure that future is bright for Californians and the state economy alike.

By Guest Commentary • January 2, 2019

Education

Poll: California should guarantee minimum funding level for UC, CSU

Sixty-three percent of adult Californians, including majorities of both Democrats and Republicans, say the state should establish a minimum spending level for the two systems, according to the Public Policy Institute of California survey on attitudes about higher education released Wednesday.

By Felicia Mello • November 14, 2018

Education

UC urges students to file DACA renewals as appeals court rules against Trump

California notched another legal victory Thursday in its bid to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, as a federal appeals court agreed with the state’s attorney general and the University of California that the Trump administration cannot dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The U.S. Court of Appeals […]

By Felicia Mello • November 8, 2018

Elections

New lieutenant governor Kounalakis makes statewide election history

Former ambassador to Hungary Eleni Kounalakis will become California’s first woman elected lieutenant governor, charging to victory over state Sen. Ed Hernandez in a race that pitted her campaign cash and diplomatic resume against his labor connections and legislative experience. The highest ranking among a record-setting three women to be elected Tuesday to California constitutional […]

By Felicia Mello • November 7, 2018

Newsletters

How liberal is California, really?

California and the House fight. How liberal are CA Democrats? The impact of a law giving prosecutors less power. Behind the UC strike. A cholera monument.

By Dan Morain • October 26, 2018

Education

Debate over outsourcing, equity as UC workers strike

The University of California this week is weathering its second strike in a year, the latest skirmish in an ongoing conflict over how the state’s third-largest employer should treat its workers in an era of tight education budgets.

By Felicia Mello • October 25, 2018