Monday, April 8, 1996
Dean expected to ease transition for Young’s departureBy Anne
Mai
Daily Bruin Contributor
Following Chancellor Charles Young’s decision to resign next
June  after 27 years in the university’s highest post Â
some administrators are expecting a challenging transition from one
leader to another.
Administrators face the unusual difficulty of filling a
potential power vacuum with a new chancellor, coupled with the
recent arrival of Charles Kennel, who was appointed executive vice
chancellor a few months ago.
In order to ease the transition of having new officials at the
No. 1 and No. 2 posts, the UCLA administration has recently made
numerous high-powered appointments.
The newest in the line of prominent appointments  which
have included Kennel and administrative Vice Chancellor Pete
Blackman  was that of Ted Mitchell as the vice chancellor of
academic planning and budget and special assistant to the
chancellor.
Now on leave from his position as dean of Graduate School of
Educational and Information Studies, Mitchell began his new duties
on April 1.
Mitchell also has the additional appointment of special
assistant to the chancellor for one year. He will help Young
complete his final projects, such as UCLA’s $1 billion fund-raising
campaign.
In a prepared statement, Young expressed confidence in
Mitchell’s ability to lead UCLA through a challenging period for
the administration.
"We are fortunate to have Ted in this key position at this
critical time," Young said in a prepared statement. "He is a
skilled academic leader and an excellent administrator, and he
brings with him a wealth of knowledge about the challenges facing
higher education. We have much to accomplish over these next 16
months to prepare UCLA to meet its future with continued
success."
Mitchell was unavailable for comment, but in a prepared
statement he described the next 16 months as "a critical transition
period for UCLA."
"It is important that we bring several key initiatives to
closure and create a budgeting environment that will enable the
academic leadership to plan strategically as we think toward the
future," Mitchell’s statement said.
Mitchell is now responsible for the development and
implementation of the university’s planning and budgeting.
During this transitional period, the day-to-day activities of
the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies will be
taken on by Associate Dean Eva Baker.
In her new position, Baker said she hopes to continue promoting
research and development while continuing major plans Mitchell has
already initiated.
"What I want to be sure of is that I push ahead what (Ted) and
the faculty (have) articulated," Baker said. "What we don’t want is
to stagnate and do nothing while we wait for Ted to come back."
"It won’t stay the same, but it will continue along the same
lines," agreed Lynn Beck, the faculty chair at the school.
One of Mitchell’s major accomplishments was to put the school on
the map for educational reform in Los Angeles, Baker said.
Education Professor Wellford Wilms agreed that Mitchell "has
really raised our visibility outside of UCLA."
Administrators hailed Mitchell’s qualifications, explaining that
his experience will make him an effective leader. Brian Copenhaver,
chair of the vice chancellor search committee and provost of the
college of Letters & Science, cited Mitchell’s experience and
talent as reasons why he was chosen.
Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, the vice chancellor of academic
affairs, agreed that Mitchell’s strong administrative background
will help him be successful in his new position.
"For a person of his relative youth, he’s had some very
preparatory and supportive positions," Mitchell-Kernan said.
Mitchell has had experience serving as deputy to the president
and provost at Stanford University and as an associate professor
and chair of the education department at Dartmouth College.
In 1994, the Graduate School of Education merged with the
Graduate School of Library and Information Science. The
departmental marriage was an administrative cost-cutting measure
and Mitchell was named as the new school’s head.
"He did an extraordinary job of receiving this new entity into
the Graduate School of Education … by creating the right kind of
atmosphere (through) softening the blow of dis-establishment," said
Mitchell-Kernan.
Mitchell was also lauded for guiding the school through the
formulation and implementation of Responsibility Center Management,
a budget decentralization program initiated by Young in 1994. The
idea behind the program was to make each university department
responsible for raising more of its own funds.
The school, which has been involved in the planning stages of
the programs, has served as a "guinea pig" for the 1995 fiscal
year.
In addition to his skills in budget-making, officials cite
Mitchell’s extensive planning abilities.
"Ted has amazing ability to see the big picture. He’s an
educational historian," Beck said. "It’s critical for someone in
planning."
These personal assets are seen by administrators as a major
boon, especially for the transitional period before Young’s
resignation.
"The fact that Ted is there at this time makes us feel a lot
better," Baker said. "Involving Ted is a positive, forward-looking
thing to do."
Officials believe that Mitchell will help relieve some of the
inevitable anxiety caused by Young’s resignation.
"Ted will be link between one administration and another, both
internal and external," Beck said.
In addition to his formal duties, Beck believes that Mitchell’s
new position will include the equally important task of
"articulating clearly the university’s position and vision to the
public, media, academia, students and students parents."
In the time to come, Beck believes that Mitchell’s job will be
three fold.
"Telling the story. Connecting with the regents. (And)
connecting with the campus community," Beck said.
Mitchell will also be heading the $1 billion university-wide
fund-raising campaign, which should be completed before July
1997.
Officials believe that Mitchell will help relieve some …
anxiety.Mitchell has had experience serving as deputy to the
president and provost at Stanford University.