5,2 Plan

The 5,2 plan is outlined in the report 'The Strong 21st Century Public University,' which was released in December 2009. The plan proposes new changes on Regent eligibility and electoral processes, and suggests that Regents be selected through a combination of appointments, ex-officio positions, direct citizen elections, and stakeholder elections. The plan is proposed as part of a 56-page report seeking to facilitate public comment and discussion:

THE 21st CENTURY STRONG PUBLIC UNIVERSITY: A Proposal for the Reform of the Structure of the Board of Regents of the University of California

SUMMARY: (or html) | FULL REPORT: (1 MB) | APPENDICES: (7 MB)

Legislative Control

This proposal would transfer control over the University to the legislature, and was reportedly supported by AFSCME Local 3299. It was proposed in Senate and Assembly Bills SCA 21 and ACA 14. See UCWatch.org for more info.

De Facto Elections (Taylor)

UC Students, Faculty, and Staff/Workers agree on an election structure, and then go forward and hold elections for new UC Regents without waiting for approval from the legislature. When the UC campus community has elected a new Board of Regents, it will be possible to pressure and persuade the state legislature to amend the State Constitution to disband the old Board of Regents and transfer power to the new, democratically-elected Board of Regents.

By electing Regents, we are taking power and creating the kind of crisis that will likely be necessary to influence the legislature to win our goal. Throughout the course of the campaign, we should of course lobby the legislature to amend the constitution, but we cannot expect them to pass our amendment without significant pressure. If the legislature knows that the students, faculty, and staff are speaking in one voice on this matter, that we no longer recognize the legitimacy of the current Board of Regents, and that we have chosen a replacement government for our University, at some point they will feel that they have no choice but to work with us.

The full 'Taylor' proposal is here: (the text is also in the 5,2 plan Appendices)

Decentralized Councils (CRU)

This proposal aims to:

Replace the 18 regents presently appointed by the Governor for 12 year terms with:
** 9 regents elected in statewide elections, on a non-partisan basis; candidates need 6000 signatures to be nominated; voters would each cast a vote for one candidate on the ballot and the 9 highest vote getters are elected; and
** 9 regents appointed by Campus Councils and confirmed by the Assembly.
These 18 regents serve 4 year terms with a 12 year term limit.
Continue the present ** 4 ex-officio members of the Board of Regents: the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Continue the ** 2 representatives of the UC Alumni Association. Add ** 2 representatives of the UC Student Association (These two would replace the one student regent, now selected by the Board, and the president of the University.)
The alumni regents and student regents would also be confirmed by the Assembly.

Each UC would have a council that would select the appointed regents, and be empowered "to hold public hearings and issue advisory reports on any matters of general concern to the campus, to make appropriate rules for the conduct of their business, and to exercise other powers that the regents may delegate to them."

The full CRU proposal can be found here: http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~schwrtz/democ.html