CSUN University News Clippings

UCI students might face another fee hike

(September 10, 2009)

The University of California’s Board of Regents will discuss the possibility of raising student fees at Irvine and the system’s nine other campuses when it meets next week in San Francisco. It would be the second hike this year, if it comes to pass.

The board increased student fees an average of 9.3 percent in May, largely because it was told to reduce expenses to help the state erase a $26 billion budget deficit. The UC also has been cutting classes, issuing furloughs, firing people and eliminating programs in an effort to slice more than $800 million in costs.

As we noted earlier, the furloughs and related issues have infuriated many faculty, resulting in a call for UC professors to stage a one day walkout on Sept. 24th, which comes on the week the UCI begins its fall quarter.  The letter was written by a small group of UC faculty that includes Irvine’s Catherine Liu.

The cuts also have led to other impacts. UCI’s highly-ranked physics and astronomy department has stopped competing for some research grants because the campus can’t come up with matching money in some areas. The, in most cases, Irvine has frozen faculty hiring, preventing the school for competing for fresh talent.

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Publication: Orange County Register