University of California President Robert Dynes announced he will step down in June 2008, capping a nearly five-year tenure that has been partially marked by controversy and scandal.
Though Dynes will not officially vacate his post until June 2008, he will immediately turn over control of the university’s day-to-day affairs to Provost Rory Hume, who will take over as chief operating officer of the UC.
“I feel privileged to have had an opportunity to make a contribution to this unique institution and look forward to completing my term with the same momentum that I have attempted to bring to the previous years of my appointment,” Dynes wrote in a letter to the UC Board of Regents last week.
The former UC San Diego chancellor offered personal reasons for his resignation ““ his wife of about five months lives in San Diego, and currently Dynes commutes between San Diego and Oakland, where his UC office is.
He also noted that when he first took over as UC president in October 2003, he expected to remain in that post for five years, and his announced departure date is consistent with that expectation.
But Dynes’ presidency has generated its share of criticism and controversy, leading some to question whether there might be other reasons behind Dynes’ decision to leave.
Controversy takes root
Dynes and other UC administrators came under fire in 2005 after it was discovered that some top officials had received millions of dollars in perks and benefits that were never submitted to public oversight.
“I think given all the controversy that has happened on his watch it is appropriate for him to step aside,” said state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, who was an outspoken critic of Dynes during the investigation into executive compensation. “It is time for President Dynes to move along.”
Yee said he believes Dynes’ handling of the executive compensation issue had negative effects on the UC president’s relationship with the state legislature.
“It’s just extremely frustrating to deal with the university,” Yee said. “You cannot go before the senate education committee and say everything’s fine and then, lo and behold, there are revelations in the newspaper (about problems with compensation).”
Bill Shiebler, former president of the UC Student Association, also criticized Dynes’ handling of the compensation issue, adding that he personally believes the focus on high-level executives came at the expense of students.
“I think (Dynes’ presidency) affected students a lot in a very bad way,” Shiebler said. “Tuition’s been skyrocketing for so long.”
In the wake of Dynes’ resignation announcement, some have suggested that the regents pressured Dynes to leave early, partly as a result of his leadership during the compensation controversy.
Dynes denied those rumors during a press conference last Monday.
“I chose not to leave in the middle of that until we got it resolved,” he said. “I feel we’ve come through that.”
But Yee questioned why Dynes would effectively cede everyday control of the university for the last year of his presidency if he had not been pressured to leave early.
“The fact that he is turning over day-to-day operation to someone else suggests to me that the regents and other individuals have lost faith in him,” Yee said.
Periods of progress
But while the controversy over executive compensation often overshadows discussions of his presidency, Dynes has also led the UC through some periods of significant progress.
Dynes oversaw the opening of UC Merced, the system’s 10th campus. He also helped the UC win contracts to continue managing two nuclear weapons labs, even as allegations of mismanagement emerged.
After critics protested several consecutive years of student fee hikes, Dynes also helped arrange an agreement with the governor to hold student fees steady for a number of years and stabilize funding for the university.
In a letter to the university community last week, Dynes said he takes great pride in these accomplishments and hopes to see his successor continue working toward similar goals.
The purpose of appointing Hume chief operating officer of the university is so that Dynes can focus on broader goals to advance the UC in the long run, said Brad Hayward, a spokesman for the UC Office of the President.
Dynes plans to travel around the state and possibly abroad, to gain a better understanding of campuses’ needs as well as how the UC can strengthen its international partnerships.
“(Dynes will spend time) both in campuses and in areas of the state that don’t have a UC campus physically there but are served by the university in many ways,” Hayward said. “That’s all about ensuring that there’s a dialogue between the university and the people it serves.”
Hayward added that appointing Hume chief operating officer brings the system-wide leadership structure more in line with what most campuses have.
Most campuses, including UCLA, have a chancellor, who works largely on long-range, broader goals, while an executive vice chancellor oversees the daily business of the campus.
Hume is a former executive vice chancellor at UCLA and so will be familiar with such a role, Hayward noted.
“(This will help) maintain momentum and business as usual so the university can continue its day-to-day activity despite the fact that there’s a presidential transition,” he said.
Looking ahead
The regents are expected to take the first steps toward that transition within the next few weeks. They must form a search committee, and their choice must eventually be submitted to the state legislature for approval.
Yee said he believes this represents an opportunity for the regents to begin solving many of the problems the UC has had over the past few years.
“UC is at a crossroads right now. It is extremely important that UC doesn’t have an adversarial relationship with the state legislature. It has to win back the confidence of the workers, the people, the students, the parents. And this is an opportunity to do that, and I hope the regents take the time to find a person who can bring us all back together,” Yee said.
He also said he believes the next UC president will need to devote a significant portion of his or her efforts toward fixing existing problems.
“It’s a whole catalog of challenges, and they have to be dealt with not sequentially, but simultaneously,” Yee said, citing stabilizing student fees, resolving compensation issues and meeting increasing demand for space at the university as just a few examples of challenges the new president will have to confront.
He added that the next president will probably have to be a “renaissance man or renaissance woman.”
Shiebler said he hopes Dynes’ successor will emphasize students and opening up what Shiebler said has become an “inaccessible institution.”
“I hope the regents hire someone who has more of a stake in making the University of California serve the public of California,” Shiebler said.