UC Regents meeting to address proposed changes to budget

Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget proposal, which was released Tuesday, will be a major point of discussion at the UC Board of Regents meeting today and Thursday.

The regents’ meeting this week is set to take place in Sacramento, Calif., to coincide with the regents’ lobbying efforts at the capital.

During the meeting, the regents plan to discuss changes to the proposed state budget and possible next steps in the state budget process, said Steve Montiel, a UC spokesman.

Montiel said that UC President Mark Yudof, who is expected to step down in August, will also deliver a State of the University address. This will be one of his last UC Regents meetings as UC president. A replacement for Yudof has not yet been found.

The regents will hold a closed meeting to discuss the selection of the new UC president. The UC has not released any official updates on the search process since March.

Other topics on the agenda today include a discussion about academic performance indicators, like four-year degree completion rates and overall satisfaction with faculty instruction at the UC.

The board’s committee on finance will hold a vote to authorize the creation of a nonprofit corporation at UCLA.

The proposed nonprofit organization would manage the types of intellectual property at UCLA that are currently managed by UCLA’s Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Sponsored Research.

The committee on finance is also scheduled to discuss recommendations for the long-term management and investment of the General Endowment Pool, which is worth about $71.7 billion.

The endowment pool, which is made up of donations and retirement funds, is planned to be used to fund specific donor-requested programs at the University.

Additionally, the committee will vote on the authorization of funds for the CapEquip program, a financing program from the UC Office of the President that gives campuses low interest rate loans to purchase or refinance leases for capital equipment.

Though the total amount of authorized funds does not necessarily reflect the amount actually spent by the campuses, authorization of all the funds would total more than $151 million for the UC as a whole, including $5 million for UCLA, according to the agenda. The money is expected to be used for the purchase of multiple equipment, including medical equipment, musical and theatrical equipment and computer software upgrades for UCLA.

Select items on the agenda for action or discussion are regents-only, or closed session, and are not open to members of the press or public.

Compiled by Kevin Truong and Anjana Amirapu, Bruin contributors.