The members of the search committee to find UCLA’s next
chancellor will be named today, University of California officials
said.
Nearly three months ago, Chancellor Albert Carnesale announced
his plans to step down as chancellor on June 30, 2006. Following a
sabbatical, he has said he intends to return to teaching.
Upon this announcement, UC President Robert Dynes released a
statement in which he assured that “a national search for a
successor to Chancellor Carnesale will be launched as quickly as
possible.”
The committee will be comprised of five UC regents, three UCLA
faculty members, one faculty member from another UC, a member from
the leadership of the UC-wide academic council, one alumni
association representative, one UCLA staff representative and a
representative from the UCLA Foundation ““ the organization
that manages UCLA fundraising.
It also includes one undergraduate representative and one
graduate student representative, who have already been
selected.
Jenny Wood, president of the Undergraduate Students Association
Council, will serve as the undergraduate representative.
“I look forward to bringing an undergraduate perspective
and helping the committee understand that the chancellor must be
responsive to the heart of the UCLA community, which is the
undergraduate body,” Wood said.
The graduate representative, Graduate Students Association
President Jared Fox, said he has already begun soliciting opinions
from graduate students about what they would like to see in the new
chancellor.
UC Board of Regents’ Chair Gerald Parsky will serve as an
ex-officio and Dynes will serve as the chairman of the committee,
said UC Office of the President Associate President Linda
Williams.
The purpose of the chancellor search committee is to review
prospects from a large pool of individuals vying for the position
and forward a recommendation to Dynes and the UC Board of Regents,
who will make the final decision.
While the timeline is not set in stone, there is a tentative
March deadline for finalizing a recommendation.
“Overall, the process can be extensive, but the goal is
certainly to not exceed the March deadline to bring this forward
for approval by the regents,” Williams said.
The approval vote is scheduled to take place when the regents
meet at UCLA on March 16-17, 2006.
If the chancellor search committee is unable to make that
deadline or the regents do not vote at that meeting, the chancellor
cannot be approved until their next meeting in May.
As a part of the initial stages of its work, the committee will
meet at UCLA on Dec. 8 to discuss members’ views regarding
selection of the next chancellor, among other topics.
Historically, chancellor search committees meet only about four
times before they forward their recommendation, but there is a lot
of work done by the members between meetings, such as reviewing
applicant statements and interviews, Williams said.
Committee members will conduct a series of interviews, which
will continually narrow the number of applicants through several
tiers of interviews.
Williams, who has assisted with previous chancellor search
committees in the UC system, said one of the crucial tasks for the
committee is to identify what the most important attribute to look
for in an applicant is and make it a starting point for their
search.
“Obviously, the committee will be looking for certain
things in the applicants like excellent leadership, strong
management skills, and they must meet a threshold of academic
excellence,” Williams added.