Monday, 4/21/97
Carnesale visits UCLA campus
UCLA’s next leader gets familiar with issues, concerns
By Mason Stockstill
Daily Bruin Contributor
Dr. Albert Carnesale, UCLA’s next chancellor, visited the campus
this weekend to meet with administrators and student groups, and to
better acquaint himself with the university.
Throughout the weekend, Carnesale met with members of the
Academic Senate, the Council of Faculty Chairs, the deans and
provosts of the schools and several vice chancellors.
Carnesale spoke with members of both the undergraduate and
graduate student governments (USAC and GSA) on Friday, addressing
their concerns about his arrival and attempting to answer any
questions they had.
"What I intend to do is to learn," Carnesale said. "I want to
know what is on people’s minds, rather than tell you what I think
should be done."
Carnesale demurred answering specific questions about his plans
or positions on many issues facing the student body at this time
because of his self-admitted unfamiliarity with the politics of the
campus.
"I don’t become chancellor until July 1," he said. "I don’t want
to speak about things in a way that could be considered decisions
or conclusions on my part until I’ve been immersed in the
position," Carnesale said.
"I just thought it would be helpful for you to get to know me a
little bit, and for me to get to know a little bit of what’s on
your minds," he continued.
A large concern of students speaking with Carnesale was
maintaining diversity at UCLA through ethnic studies.
"That’s always been a priority for us," said Max Espinoza, USAC
Academic Affairs Commissioner. "Particularly now, with (California
Proposition) 209, and the general climate of California, it’s
something that’s always on our minds," he continued.
Carnesale declined to comment on his plans for ensuring
diversity on the grounds that he has not had enough time to adjust
to the climate of UCLA, but did note that students should gain a
"broad" education before graduation.
In addressing concerns about coming to a large public school
from the small and private Harvard, Carnesale pointed out that
there are not as many differences between the two as some tend to
think.
"I think that the goal of striving for academic excellence
should be no different at a public school than it should be at a
private school," he said.
On the issue of shared governance, Carnesale mentioned that a
similar, though reversed situation exists in private institutions
that do not have shared governance.
"The difference is that, because the faculty members (at
Harvard) are more autonomous, there is usually more debate over
decisions that have already been made, as opposed to the shared
governance system here, where the debate is usually over what
should be done," he said.
Undergraduate President John Du brought up the fact that of the
over $190 million raised by UCLA last year, a very small amount of
it actually went toward lowering student fees.
Carnesale agreed, adding that it is "difficult to raise money
for financial aid, when so many other options of donation are so
much sexier."
"Having your name on a building, or on an endowed professorship
– these things attract more donations than giving money
specifically for financial aid," he said, noting that UCLA’s trove
of alumni is the campus’ largest source of financial aid
donations.
"We had a large amount of alumni support at Harvard, and I am
hoping to duplicate that at UCLA," he said.
Carnesale indicated that such fund-raising is important to the
survival of the university.
"Private sources of funds are essential if the university is to
maintain the level of excellence that people have come to expect,"
he said.
"UCLA gets 22 percent of its budget from state funds. Harvard
gets 22 percent of its budget from the endowment. After that, there
isn’t a lot of difference in the way funds are dispersed."
Because UCLA is depending more and more on private sources of
funding, some students wondered if the university would begin to
focus more on meeting the goals of the donors and less on providing
an affordable, quality education for the public.
"I don’t believe that those are necessarily in conflict,"
Carnesale said. "In supporting the private interests, you still
have to be entirely consistent with the mission (of the university)
or you shouldn’t be doing it," he continued.
"Anybody who takes money to do something that a university
otherwise shouldn’t otherwise be doing has confused being a
university with being a business," Carnesale said. "We’re not a
business."
When asked about his decision to become chancellor of UCLA,
Carnesale responded with interest.
"I wasn’t looking for a job," he said, claiming he was perfectly
happy as provost of Harvard University. "But when the opportunity
came along, I had to think about whether I wanted to spend the rest
of my career at Harvard, or go to UCLA.
"I decided that if I was to become president or chancellor of a
university, then UCLA would be the best place for me to do
that."PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
USAC President John Du (foreground) and Academic Affairs
Commissioner Max Espinoza listen as future chancellor Dr. Albert
Carnesale addresses graduate and undergraduate government
representatives.
Previous Daily Bruin Stories:
3/10/97 "Complex issues await Carnesale."
3/10/97 "Harvard Provost Albert Carnesale named UCLA’s eighth
chancellor."