When Norman Abrams becomes interim chancellor of UCLA on
Saturday, he will be the first temporary chief executive the campus
has seen in decades.
Abrams’ term as chancellor is scheduled to last only until
his successor is chosen and becomes available, which starkly
contrasts with the most recent two chancellorships: outgoing
Chancellor Albert Carnesale’s term lasted nine years, and
Chancellor Emeritus Charles E. Young’s lasted 29.
But short-term chancellorships, though not recently seen at
UCLA, are relatively common in the University of California
system.
UCLA itself has experienced several gaps between chief
executives. According to the UCLA Web site, UC President Robert
Gordon Sproul took on the duties of UCLA provost from 1936 to 1937
while also maintaining his presidency and looking for a permanent
provost.
From 1942 to 1945, Sproul again acted as UCLA provost while also
serving as UC president, this time appointing a three-member
committee to help administrate UCLA. And from 1950 to 1952 an
interim administrative committee oversaw the campus, according to
the UCLA Web site.
Other UC campuses have also operated under temporary
leadership.
“When you have a leader leave, they’re usually not
able to stay until a new one is (installed),” said Dolores
Davies, a UC San Diego spokeswoman. “Since I’ve been
here, anyway, which is about 16 or 17 years, (UC San Diego has)
always had an acting chancellor when we’ve had
transitions.”
In the past two decades alone, four other UC campuses have had
acting chancellors with terms of significant length: Daniel G.
Aldrich Jr. helmed UC Santa Barbara from 1986 to 1987; Karl Pister
led UC Santa Cruz on a temporary basis from 1991 to 1992 before
achieving permanent status; David H. Warren served as UC
Riverside’s chancellor for four months in 2002; and Marsha A.
Chandler was UC San Diego’s chief executive from 2003 to
2004.
Some temporary chancellors just need to keep up with the
position’s day-to-day duties and move forward with projects
started by their predecessors, but others have more specific
objectives.
“At Santa Cruz … there was a huge instability,”
Pister said. “The faculty was very divided between a right
and a left position on a lot of issues regarding the
campus.”
“My job was very explicit,” he continued.
“(Then-UC) President (David P.) Gardner said, “˜I want
you to go in and settle the campus down so I can recruit a
chancellor.'”
Adrienne Lavine, current chairwoman of the UCLA Academic Senate,
said the main drawback to Abrams’ short chancellorship will
likely be a lack of new long-term projects.
“We just won’t have a lot of forward momentum on new
initiatives, I assume, so I think that that’s a down side to
an interim chancellor,” she said. “At the same time,
… I don’t want to rush the search for a permanent
chancellor.”
Abrams said he does not plan to let UCLA lose its momentum.
“The challenge is to get things moving and lay the
foundation for the new chancellor,” he said.
“I need to catch up on what’s been going on,”
Abrams said. “Once I’ve done that, I will consult with
various people to make some decisions about how we are going to
proceed. But we’re not simply going to sit still.”
With reports from Saba Riazati, Bruin reporter.