The top candidate to fill the position of UCLA’s next
chancellor, Deborah A. Freund, has decided not to accept the job
offer. Her reasoning, as reported in a Los Angeles Times article,
citing an anonymous source: UCLA couldn’t find a job for her
husband.
Although this anonymous source may or may not be completely
reliable, the practice of universities finding jobs for spouses of
new employees is the norm.
This may seem slightly bizarre at first. After all, when you
find a job at Associated Students UCLA to help cover the cost of
all those bluebooks, Scantrons and margaritas, the bookstore is not
also going to offer to employ your girlfriend.
Or after you graduate from law school, your new firm will not
ask you if your husband would like a position as a receptionist in
the front office.
This practice, however, is common in the academic world.
University of California campuses, as well as most institutions of
higher learning, generally attempt to find or create positions for
the spouses of the really important people they hire.
Because of the endless abyss of debt most students find
themselves lost in after graduation, many people, especially
students, are worried about this practice.
It is often difficult to tell if these new positions are really
necessary or just an expensive way to lure in potential employees.
And if there is a position that could be filled by the spouse of,
say, a future chancellor, shouldn’t he or she compete against
all the other qualified candidates without preferential
treatment?
No.
This is a dog-eat-dog world, people. Competition is fierce to
get the best administrators.
Yes, Chancellor Albert Carnesale receives a compensation package
of $324,516, but a good salary just isn’t enough. Besides,
compared to a lot of private universities, that’s not a lot
of money. We need to add the other benefits that make the life of
the chancellor so freakin’ sweet.
UCLA’s future chancellor will, for instance, get to live
in a state-owned house and will probably receive a cushy relocation
package.
Securing a job for an official’s spouse just makes sense.
Even if there aren’t any open positions, one surely can be
made up.
In fact, UCLA could create the Department of Nepotism and
appoint the future chancellor’s spouse as president. The
creation of this department alone would open up tons of
administrative positions for other spouses.
If the Department of Nepotism ever became fully staffed, the
department could actually do something ““ like work on
creating other miscellaneous occupations for spouses of important
UC officials.
This would be quite a financial strain and would probably cause
Gov. Schwarzenegger to go back on his promise to prevent student
fees from rising. But it’s a small price to pay for the best
chancellor.
Just think back to how many times in your UCLA career that
Chancellor Carnesale personally touched your academic life. Would
you really want to lose that?
There is also the option of giving the new chancellor’s
spouse Robin Carnesale’s current title: associate of the
chancellor.
Although this position does not come with a salary, it does
include many of the benefits of being employed by the
university.
It’s like being the first lady. Sure, you don’t
actually make any money for being married to the president of the
United States, but you get to kick it at Camp David on your
vacation and use the bowling alley while your husband attends all
those boring meetings about nuclear this and genocide that.
William G. Tierney, director of the Center for Higher Education
Policy Analysis at USC, discussed with the Times what it’s
like to be a top administrator at an enormous university like
UCLA.
“These are 24-hours, seven-days-a-week jobs. They burn
people up and out.”
Being the spouse of the person with the hectic job isn’t a
picnic either. There are countless fundraisers, basketball games
and public appearances.
The spouse is expected to become a symbol of UCLA. That means
making all the sacrifices that come along with being a public
figure.
After losing out on Freund, the university must renew its search
for a chancellor. For whatever reason Freund declined, it is of
little importance now. Maybe a job offer to her husband would have
made a difference, maybe not.
What is important is that we make sure no other great leaders
slip through our fingers. How can we expect a chancellor to be
content with just the extra perk of charging $11,000 to UCLA for
season tickets to the Hollywood Bowl? A complimentary job or title
like “associate of the chancellor” for a spouse is the
least we can do.
We can’t lose out on any more potentially great
administrators. If I have to pay out an extra few bucks every year
so we can have a chancellor who will make us proud, then so be it.
Gov. Schwarzenegger, do your worst.
If your newspaper or magazine has an open position for
Strickland and her spouse, e-mail her your best offer at
kstrickland@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments
to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.