Last time Chancellor-elect Gene Block was on the UCLA campus it was to accept the post of UCLA’s chief executive.
Though today is his last day on campus for a while, over the past two days Block has met with students, faculty, staff and administrators to discuss the various issues impacting the campus community and to get better acquainted with the campus.
Block said he now has a good general understanding of the campus issues people care about, but he still needs to be briefed on the details before he is able to accurately assess the specific needs of the campus.
“There are a lot of deep concerns that I tend to hear over and over again, … but there’s a positive spirit about solving problems and a lot of volunteers willing to play a role,” said Block, the current provost of the University of Virginia.
Nearly a month ago, Block was named UCLA’s ninth chancellor, and he said since then he has been in constant communication with Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams to be in tune with campus events.
In those discussions, Block said Abrams advised him that as a chancellor, it is easy to “be pulled in a lot of different ways” and that it is difficult to “deal with all the different constituencies and treat all the different constituencies fairly.”
To better gauge the needs of the various campus groups, Block met with student leaders, deans, vice chancellors, members of the Academic Senate and members of the UCLA Foundation, the group that focuses on philanthropy for the school.
James T. McCarthy, chairman of the UCLA Foundation, said the focus of their discussion was the growing need for more private donations to UCLA.
“He talked about everything from academic excellence to the perils of getting on the 405 at rush hour,” McCarthy said, laughing. “He focused on (monetary) resource issues like the UCLA Foundation philanthropy and expanding that over time as the need for private funds increases. He comes from a school where (fundraising) has also been an issue.”
Earlier this year, UCLA completed a 10-year, $3 billion fundraising drive known as Campaign UCLA.
Block said the need to initiate another fundraising campaign is an extremely important aspect of maintaining the university.
“Certainly there will be another campaign. … But even in the absence of a capital campaign, the annual fundraising effort has to be strong and vigorous and that’s going to take time,” he said.
McCarthy said Block made a good impression on the UCLA Foundation.
“(Block) was warm, engaging and very enthusiastic,” he said. “The UCLA Foundation looks very much forward to working with Chancellor Block.”
In addition to administrative groups, Block met with student leaders.
Undergraduate Students Association Council President Marwa Kaisey said she met with Block along with a small group of other student leaders.
“It was a very intimate meeting. He asked for about 10 students to be there. It was just us and him around a table. We had an hour with him, (and) we shared what our time had been like at UCLA and what sort of issues we were concerned with,” Kaisey said.
She added that the groups discussed issues of student diversity and life on the Hill.
“We encouraged him to understand the dynamics of the Hill community since more and more students are interested in living on the Hill. … We encouraged him to try to bring separate groups of students together, and we also encouraged him to work on creating a greater sense of pride (among) our alumni,” Kaisey said.
Kaisey said Block was presented with a copy of a resolution USAC passed Tuesday night outlining what the undergraduate student government expects from the new chancellor.
But concerns with the diversity of the student body are not new to Block.
He said he is aware of the issue and is hoping to continue the efforts Abrams has already made with respect to increasing student population diversity, such as instituting a policy of holistic review for undergraduate admissions.
“Access is important (to me). I will find a way to come together with student leaders. It will be a struggle, but it’s an important issue,” Block said.
In addition to student diversity, Block said he would like to work on increasing diversity within the faculty, as well as creating interdisciplinary programs, both of which are projects he has worked on at the University of Virginia.