It may strike some as strange to see an ordinary job listing for
the chief executive of UCLA in a magazine, but seekers can flip
through the Chronicle of Higher Education and see just that.
Hiring a search firm could potentially cost the University of
California hundreds of thousands of dollars, but both chancellor
advisory committee members and the UC say it is imperative to hire
a firm to assist in the search.
Since the search for UCLA’s next chancellor began almost a
month ago, A.T. Kearney, the search firm hired to solicit
candidates for the job, has been busy advertising and recruiting
applicants.
When UCLA’s chief executive, Chancellor Albert Carnesale,
announced his plans to step down at the end of the school year, UC
President Robert Dynes appointed a 17-member chancellor advisory
committee to make recommendations for his replacement.
Candidates are pre-screened by the hired search firm to meet
previously established qualifications.
Among the qualifications listed in the ad are
“demonstrated leadership skills in an academic environment;
senior experience in the administration of large-scale, diverse and
complex organizations and a strong record of teaching.”
Alberto Pimentel, vice-president at A.T. Kearney, said the firm
has filled many high-ranking UC positions. In 2003, the firm headed
the search to look for a new vice chancellor of student affairs at
UCLA, resulting in the hiring of current Vice Chancellor Janina
Montero.
While the firm is spreading the news of the available position
at UCLA, Pimentel said the top candidates usually do not come as a
result of advertisements.
“Most of those candidates that we want are not looking at
these publications because they’ve already got pretty good
high-end jobs. So the task for the firm is to reach out to those
candidates and recruit them. We’re trying to convince them to
take a look and get them to be enthusiastic enough to apply,”
Pimentel said.
While the firm is able to pool its resources and recruit
extensively across the nation, there is a price to pay.
Search firms generally charge the value of one-third of the
position’s total yearly salary, including bonuses, according
to CFO Magazine’s Web site. Carnesale earns an annual base
salary of $315,600, according to payroll documents.
Paul Schwartz, a spokesman for the UC Office of the President,
said the cost of using the search firm is “consistent with
industry standards,” but did not give an exact price.
Schwartz said the UC works with A.T. Kearney because of the
firm’s expertise in the higher education market. The firm
helps identify and screen qualified candidates, which supports the
UC’s goal of securing the right person for the job in an
expeditious manner, he said.
UCLA Alumni Association President Eleanor Brewer, an appointed
member to the chancellor advisory committee, has had experience
serving on another committee, which was looking to fill a dean
position.
Brewer said the committee initially chose not to hire a search
firm, but as a result received an overwhelming number of resumes,
letters and other “random stuff.” The job quickly
became too inefficient and time-consuming for the committee, and
the members decided to hire a search firm, she said.
After that, the committee only interviewed and sorted though a
“filtered” pool of candidates whom the search firm had
determined would be worthy of the position, she said.
“Overall, they are very helpful because they research
everything and do a lot of the footwork,” Brewer said.
As the chancellor search nears its scheduled end sometime in the
spring quarter, Dynes plans to forward the advisory
committee’s recommendation to the UC Board of Regents for
final approval.