With Chancellor Albert Carnesale on his way out, the search for
a new chief executive begins ““ a task that has become almost
routine for university officials amid a recent slew of
chancellorship vacancies across the state.
Carnesale’s resignation will mark the fifth time in just
two years that the UC Office of the President will undergo an
extensive hunt to find a new chancellor.
Though the search for a replacement chief executive at UCLA is
still in its infancy, University of California officials say a look
at recent appointees at other campuses can give students an idea of
what traits to expect in their next chancellor, with scholarly
flair, a knack for managing and a personable demeanor as some
primary qualities.
“(The chancellor position) has more specifications than
most CEOs of large corporations,” said Cliff Brunk, chairman
of the UC Academic Senate.
If recent selections are any indication, the next chancellor
will likely leave a high-ranking position at another top
university.
Newly appointed chancellors include a former dean from the
University of Washington now at UC Santa Cruz, the former president
of the University of Toronto who took the helm at UC Berkeley and a
chancellor who left North Carolina State University to run the UC
San Diego campus.
Though most chancellor spots are filled by candidates outside
the UC system, picks from within are not uncommon.
UC Irvine chancellor Michael Drake served as UC vice president
for health affairs for five years before taking the top spot in
Irvine.
Most UC chancellors also boast a strong academic background with
a recent emphasis on the sciences ““ the latest appointees
include a chemist, an electrical engineer and a physicist.
UC officials say chancellor smarts translate into faculty
respect.
“As a dean, I want the leader not to just be an
administrator but also be an intellectual leader,” said Tony
Chan, UCLA’s dean of physical sciences.
With three UC chancellors belonging to racial minorities and
four who are women, diversity may play a key role in filling the
vacancy at UCLA. Though UC Office of the President spokesman Noel
Van Nyhuis shied away from saying as much, he did say that placing
more minorities and women in leadership roles is important to UC
President Robert Dynes.
Another UC official was more blunt.
When Brunk was asked if race or gender would be a factor, he
said “everything is,” implying that race and gender
along with other attributes would factor into the final
decision.
“Ultimately, the No. 1 priority is finding the best
candidate for the job,” Van Nyhuis added.
Though Brunk said the recent searches for chancellors at
UCLA’s sister schools have generated a list of “usual
suspects,” the selection process will likely take months
before the large group of candidates are finally narrowed to a
short list and, ultimately, to a new chancellor.
The list of potential candidates is a well-kept secret, as many
of the top contenders often hold high ranking positions at other
universities.
Brunk said a leak would likely embarrass the candidate, worry
the candidate’s employer and could potentially take the
candidate out of the running.
The search will start with a “campus day,” when a
UCOP-appointed advisory commission visits UCLA to get a sense of
the direction students, faculty and community leaders want their
campus to take.
From that visit, the panel will determine a best-fit profile,
which an outside executive identification firm will use to form a
list of potential candidates. That list will be narrowed to just a
handful of contenders by a panel of about a dozen regents, faculty,
staff, students, alumni and community representatives.
From that short list, Dynes will recommend one candidate to the
UC Regents, who will confirm that nominee with an essentially
symbolic vote.
“This is not an unfamiliar process to President
Dynes,” Brunk said. “They’ve gone through it over
and over again.”
Barring any selection delays or schedule conflicts with the
eventual pick, a new chancellor should arrive in Westwood this
spring.