Employees leave UCLA Extension amid administrative turmoil and loss of deans

About 75 employees left UCLA Extension amid administrative upheaval, despite UCLA cancelling an initial plan to lay off about one-quarter of UCLA Extension’s employees last year.

In January 2018, UCLA Extension’s revenue was projected to be $10 million less than the previous year. The projection caused former dean Wayne Smutz to announce layoffs for about one-quarter of UCLA Extension’s employees.

This January, Tom Oser, UCLA Extension interim vice provost, said in an email statement that last year’s announced layoffs never happened.

“The announced layoffs were canceled by Executive Vice Chancellor (and Provost) Scott Waugh,” Oser said. “Approximately 75 people voluntarily left the employment of UCLA Extension for other positions.”

The mass resignation of almost one-third of UCLA Extension’s staff sent ripples through all levels of administration.

At the start of 2018, UCLA Extension had one dean and two associate deans; by the start of 2019, all three deans were gone.

On July 24, 2018, Waugh announced Smutz would retire by Oct. 31.

Both associate deans, Kevin Vaughn and Radhika Seshan, quit their jobs at UCLA Extension and were hired as head deans of extension programs at other California schools by the end of the 2017-2018 academic year.

Oser added course offerings would not be affected by the recent changes in administration.

UCLA Extension employees who spoke to the Daily Bruin asked to remain anonymous because they were concerned for their job security.

Employee A said in an email statement that they think the massive upheaval in administration was reminiscent of a sinking ship with no captain willing to go down with it.

“It was very clear that they did not want to be left holding the bag, and it was not very inspiring at all,” employee A said.

Employee A added they believe Smutz was asked to retire.

Last year, UCLA Extension employees alleged Smutz unethically hired colleagues he worked with at his previous job and mismanaged large amounts of money.

Employee A said Smutz lambasted a new employee when she criticized a failing project that she inherited from a former employee and one of Smutz’s former colleagues.

“Smutz went up to the person and charged and berated her – yelling at her till he was red in the face, saying he was disappointed in her performance and that everything was fine until she got involved,” employee A said.

Employee B said many employees were concerned for their job security after UCLA Extension’s administrative structure was destabilized.

“There’s that tiny worry in the back of your head,” employee B said. “Will this fall apart and be dissolved one day?”

Employee B added even though they worked with a good group of coworkers, they eventually left UCLA Extension because of the organizational instability.

Many employees quit when Waugh’s office stepped in and identified UCLA Extension’s operational issues, employee B said.

“Of course that writing was on the wall,” employee B said. “Whoever was there who was contributing to the chaos, including the dean at the time, all exited at that time.”

Employee B said they believe UCLA Extension remains a positive influence in the community and for the adult learners that it helps educate, despite its many administrative problems.

“I have seen so many testimonials and letters that come in that thank the instructors on what a big impact it had on their life,” employee B said. “It’s a big part of the story.”

Employee B said they hope new leadership will help UCLA Extension refocus and return to its priorities, despite the previous shortcomings.

“I think with the right team and determination that there’s no question that it can turn back around,” employee B said. “It would be nice to see Extension get back on its feet and get back to its core mission of helping the community.”

Around The League: Jan. 23

Gymnastics
Angie Forburger, assistant Sports editor

Pac-12 gymnastics competition is underway.

No. 2 UCLA (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) – the highest-ranked team in the conference – scored a season-best 197.775 against No. 19 Arizona State (1-1, 0-1) on Monday. UCLA will next travel to Stanford (0-1, 0-1) in a dual meet Sunday.

The Cardinal took home two first-place finishes to open its season but lost to No. 12 California (1-1, 1-0) on Monday. Stanford will next host its first two home meets of the year against UCLA and No. 11 Washington (1-1, 1-0).

Coming off their loss to UCLA, Arizona State will host No. 4 Utah (3-0, 1-0) on Saturday before traveling to Berkeley to take on California and No. 16 BYU in a tri-meet.

The Utes have yet to lose a meeting this season, defeating Penn State, BYU and No. 19 Oregon State (0-1, 0-1). After facing Arizona State, Utah has two home meets slated for the next two weeks against Arizona (0-2, 0-1) and California.

After dropping their season opener to No. 5 LSU and finishing second at the Collegiate Challenge, the Golden Bears took home a win against Stanford on Monday. They will continue their season Saturday against Arizona.

Arizona has not won a meet this season, finishing second in a quad-meet against Central Michigan, Bridgeport and Illinois and falling to Arkansas and Washington the past two weeks. After hosting California, Arizona will travel to Utah.

Washington split its first two meets of the year, falling to No. 18 Nebraska but defeating Arizona. The Huskies will next host the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday.

Oregon State finished first in a quad-meet against Illinois, No. 17 Kentucky and Lindenwood but dropped its first dual meet Saturday to Utah.

Men’s basketball
Ryan Smith, Sports editor

Two weeks into Pac-12 play, the Bruins find themselves sitting in a four-way tie at fourth place in the conference standings.

UCLA (10-8, 3-2 Pac-12) opened its Pac-12 schedule with three straight victories, but suffered back-to-back road losses to Oregon State and USC last week. The Bruins will face two of the three schools ahead of them in the standings at the end of the week when they host the Arizona Wildcats (14-5, 5-1) and Arizona State Sun Devils (13-5, 4-2) at Pauley Pavilion.

Arizona State – who knocked off then-No. 1 Kansas in December and currently rank third in the Pac-12 – have been inconsistent in conference play with wins over Oregon (11-7, 2-3) and Oregon State (11-6, 3-2), but losses to Utah (9-8, 3-2) and Stanford (9-9, 2-4).

Arizona, on the other hand, has arguably been the most surprising team in the Pac-12. After losing a handful of recruits before the start of the season, coach Sean Miller and the Wildcats have strung together a 5-1 start to conference play – good enough for the second spot in the standings.

Despite hot starts from both Arizona schools, there is still one unbeaten program sitting atop the Pac-12 – Washington. The Huskies are a perfect 5-0 and will head to Oregon this weekend for matchups with the Ducks and Beavers before returning home next week to face the Bruins and Trojans.

With only two games separating the first and seventh spots in the conference standings, this weekend’s slate of games has the ability to drastically shift the current landscape.

Women’s basketball
Sam Connon, assistant Sports editor

The race atop the Pac-12 is still neck-and-neck.

The Pac-12 boasts five teams ranked in the women’s basketball top 25, including three inside the top 10. No. 5 Oregon (17-1, 6-0 Pac-12) leads the pack due to a tiebreaker, but No. 6 Stanford (16-1, 6-0) is right there with it.

No. 9 Oregon State (15-3, 5-1) and No. 21 Utah (16-1, 5-1) aren’t undefeated in conference play, but they’re just one game back from the top spot in the Pac-12. The Beavers entered last weekend tied for first with the Ducks and the Cardinal, but a 79-76 loss to the No. 16 Arizona State Sun Devils (13-5, 4-3) knocked them down a rung.

USC (11-6, 1-5) and Colorado (10-7, 0-6) join Washington (8-11, 1-6) in the bottom three, but the Trojans and Buffaloes both entered the Pac-12 schedule at 10-1. USC did earn its first conference win Sunday, going across Los Angeles to beat UCLA (9-9, 2-4) 72-67, making it four straight losses for the Bruins.

California (12-5, 3-3), Arizona (13-5, 3-4) and Washington State (7-11, 2-5) join UCLA in the middle of the pack, but the Golden Bears are still receiving votes in the AP poll after topping out at No. 13 back in mid-December.

Men’s tennis rallies for dual-match season after four-day tournament

Tournament season isn’t over for the Bruins.

No. 7 UCLA men’s tennis sent 10 players to compete at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup this past weekend in Thousand Oaks, California. They competed with Stanford and Texas A&M in a four-day tournament from Friday to Monday.

The doubles team of freshman Govind Nanda and senior Maxime Cressy won the doubles tournament championship. In the singles tournament, Nanda as well as sophomore Keegan Smith both advanced to the semifinals before falling short. Six of the 10 Bruins won their first-round singles matches while only two of five doubles teams managed to win their openers.

Texas A&M, ranked No. 9, and Stanford, ranked No. 10, are high-level programs that provided a good test for UCLA’s young team, said coach Billy Martin.

“These are teams that always play at the top level of college tennis,” Martin said. “Going forward we will be sure to watch their matches, as they’ll watch ours, to see how we match up against other solid teams.”

On his way to a championship and semifinal, Nanda played in his first college tennis match. He said there was an adjustment to playing college opponents as opposed to USTA and Challenger events.

“Just a different kind of game,” Nanda said. “From the scoring being no-ad, which brings more pressure points, and also the pressure of playing for a team that represents your school.”

No-ad scoring is playing one point to win a game when the score is 40-40 instead of having to win two straight points to win a game.

Nanda said Cressy, his doubles partner, helped influence his game heading into collegiate tennis.

“He’s a great leader to have, and after a good fall season he came in with a lot of confidence,” Nanda said. “Playing with him at that level really gave me a lot of confidence this weekend.”

Smith played his way into the singles semifinals of the tourney for the second straight year before falling to No. 64 Alexandre Rotsaert. He said there were a few mental errors that hurt his play during the match.

“I have to work on patience, going for too much too soon in a rally can lose points,” Smith said. “Overall, the consistency of my groundstrokes is going to need to improve to win matches.”

Smith said that he feels more prepared to head into the dual match season as a sophomore, but there are also parts of his freshman experience that helped him play early on.

“I know what I’m getting into this year in terms of an entire season,” Smith said. “But, those feelings from last year, the nerves and excitement of your first college tennis match, they help your preparation.”

Martin said he was pleased with the performance of the team, but said he also knows there’s room for improvement.

“We were rusty, coming off the four days of rain,” Martin said. “But as the days went on we got better and better, particularly our young players … now we just have to keep searching and figuring out our doubles teams.”

After its doubleheader against UC Davis and Nevada was cancelled Wednesday due to rain, UCLA now opens its dual-match season at home against Indiana on Friday.

Women’s basketball ready to face future challenges after losses against USC

It is a good sign for the Bruins when Michaela Onyenwere has a hot shooting night.

UCLA women’s basketball (9-9, 2-4 Pac-12) is 9-1 when the sophomore forward shoots over 45 percent from the field and 0-8 when she does not.

The Bruins lost in their second meeting with the Trojans on Sunday, completing a three-game homestand – each one ending in defeat.

Onyenwere was held to just six points in the first half until she put up a 12-point fourth quarter against then-Pac-12-worst USC.

Coach Cori Close said USC gave them fits in getting the ball to UCLA’s two main post players – Onyenwere and redshirt senior forward Lajahna Drummer.

Prior to the homestand, Onyenwere logged 27 points and tied a career-high 29 points in UCLA’s victories over USC and California on Dec. 30 and Jan. 4.

Onyenwere said she has noticed a difference in the opponents’ game plans since then.

“Teams are scouting me differently,” Onyenwere said. “I think it’s a little bit harder to score. … (I need to keep) finding ways for myself to be more effective, find different ways to score, even if a team has scouted me well.”

Onyenwere – who leads the Bruins in scoring with 16.9 points per game – recorded 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting when UCLA fell to Stanford on Jan. 6 and was 5-of-13 from the field for 13 points in the loss to Oregon on Jan. 13.

USC coach Mark Trakh said he was pleased with how his frontcourt handled Onyenwere since the last time the teams last met.

“(Forwards Kayla Overbeck, Asiah Jones and Ja’Tavia Tapley) really did a heck of a job defensively,” Trakh said. “Drummer and Onyenwere jump out of the gym. They are just so powerful.”

Redshirt freshman Lindsey Corsaro said the Bruins shoot with comfort as a result of Onyenwere’s offensive prowess.

“(Onyenwere) has (our) back in every capacity,” Corsaro said. “That gives me confidence to shoot the ball from the outside because I know if I miss it, she’s probably going to get the rebound and score it.”

Corsaro went 3-of-3 from beyond the arc against USC while Onyenwere logged her sixth double-double of the season including three offensive rebounds.

“As a guard, I know that if she’s posting up, I can throw it to her,” Corsaro said. “She’s going to come away with the ball (even with) the double-team behind her.”

Sunday marked the first time the Bruins have lost three straight at home in nearly two decades.

“We’re hurting right now. We’re disappointed,” Close said. “But the one thing I know is, I just really trust our team. And I trust (Onyenwere and Corsaro).”

Men’s basketball ready to rebound after two consecutive road losses

The Murry Bartow honeymoon phase ended with a pair of road losses last week, but the Bruins are still encouraged by the direction they are headed.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed the last two on the road have not gone our way, but guys are practicing hard, their spirit is good, the energy is good,” the interim coach said. “And we’re excited about these two games this week so hopefully we can play great here this week.”

UCLA men’s basketball (10-8, 3-2 Pac-12) dropped games at Oregon State and USC this past week after a 3-0 start to conference play. In those two games, the Bruins turned the ball over a combined 33 times and shot just 39.6 percent from the field.

Bartow said his team’s recent offensive woes boil down to its inability to take care of the basketball.

“I think there’s four or five things,” Bartow said. “If I could just tell you one, the one thing I would tell you: We have to turn it over less. That encompasses a lot of things, but we can’t turn the ball over 20 times on the road and expect to win.”

The Bruins also faced zone defenses in each of the losses, something they have struggled with due to their personnel and lack of 3-point threats on the perimeter.

Redshirt junior guard Prince Ali said that while he feels the team is equipped to face zone defenses, he admitted that poor decision-making has overshadowed its preparation in practice.

“I wouldn’t say it’s thrown us off. We just aren’t making great decisions against the zone,” Ali said. “Like I said, just make simple plays, probably move it a little bit more, and we’ll be all right.”

Despite the offense’s inefficiencies, freshman guard Jules Bernard said he thinks the turnover problems will disappear as UCLA gets more comfortable pushing the pace in Bartow’s system.

“It’s something that we just had (to) change not too many weeks ago, and we’re adapting to a new style of play,” Bernard said. “We played fast with (former coach Steve) Alford, but Bartow wants us to play even faster. We’re adjusting to it. It’s going to take some time to cut down those turnovers, but we’ve got to expedite the process, and we’re going to work hard in practice and just sort of relax.”

Bernard also stressed the importance of sorting out the issues sooner rather than later because of the implications each turnover can have on the outcome of a game.

“You don’t always get certain opportunities back in the games, and maybe one possession could change the whole game,” Bernard said. “So you’ve got to take every possession seriously, be as efficient as possible and take care of the ball.”

The Bruins will play in their first home game in nearly three weeks when they welcome the Arizona State Sun Devils (13-5, 4-2) to Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night. The Sun Devils rank fourth in the Pac-12 in opponents field goal percentage and sixth in points allowed.

UCLA gymnastics hopes to improve upon already impressive season

Three wins, three perfect 10s and three consecutive scores above 197 for the Bruins.

No. 2 UCLA gymnastics (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) scored a season high of 197.775 against No. 19 Arizona State (1-1, 0-1), marking the first time in school history that the Bruins have scored above 197 in the first three meets of the season.

But coach Valorie Kondos Field, who did not even realize UCLA had broken a record, said she is looking for more.

“I don’t really keep track of scores, so that’s really cool,” Kondos Field said. “The best part is that we haven’t really hit a great meet yet. We’ve had good meets, but we haven’t hit four events fabulously altogether.”

Junior Madison Kocian echoed her coach’s sentiment.

“We’ve had good, solid meets, but I think that’s our default right now,” Kocian said. “We’re at a really good point right now, and it’s only the third meet, so I think we need to pace ourselves like we did last year.”

Kocian started off the season with a 9.825 on bars before working up to her perfect 10 against the Sun Devils.

UCLA gymnasts have consistently posted high scores, collectively garnering an event score of 49.075 or above in all events. Freshman Norah Flatley received a 9.975 on bars against the Sun Devils and three athletes – freshman Margzetta Frazier, junior Kyla Ross and senior Katelyn Ohashi – registered a 9.950 on floor. Ohashi and Ross also each notched a perfect 10 apiece on floor and uneven bars, respectively, during the Collegiate Challenge.

Floor has been one of the Bruins’ strongest events throughout the season. Against Nebraska and during the Collegiate Challenge, floor yielded UCLA’s highest event scores at 49.550 and 49.700, respectively. Only during the Arizona State meet was its score second to another event, and even then the scores were close – 49.700 on the uneven bars and 49.650 on floor. At least two Bruins posted a 9.950 or above on floor each meet.

“The amount of hard work that goes not only into our tumbling but into our dance and our characters and our floor routine, that’s something that we really cherish,” Ross said. “It’s really cool to be able to embody a character and perform.”

UCLA has also been diversifying the lineup as the season progresses due to injuries. Junior Grace Glenn has not competed since facing off against the Cornhuskers, though freshman Sekai Wright made her debut against the Sun Devils once healed.

“We’ve been doing a lot of lineup changes, just trying to get people a little more competition (and) practice,” Kocian said. “Once our lineups are solidified then we’ll really show how intense we can be and how high of a score we can get.”

Aside from aiming for an upward trajectory, the team is also aware that its days with Kondos Field are dwindling down – but that does not change the Bruins’ mindset.

“I think every single member on this team is really just trying to take in every moment with Miss Val,” Kocian said. “I don’t know necessarily that we’re thinking ‘Oh, it’s Miss Val’s last year, we have to win for her.’ We’re challenging ourselves to be better than we were the meet before. That’s what’s really making us where we’re at right now and I think there’s only even more to come for the rest of the season.”

For her last season at UCLA, Kondos Field does have one final goal.

“We’ve never gone undefeated,” she said. “UCLA gymnastics has never done it. That’s something new for me. I’d like to do that before retiring.”

Open Mic Night to provide platform for student poets, authors and musicians

Open Mic Night is a time for people to speak their minds and speak from their hearts.

The event, which will be held Thursday in Renée and David Kaplan Hall, is hosted by UCLA’s creative writing program and the English department’s quarterly Westwind Journal, allowing students of all years and majors to perform original poetry and songs under five minutes. Amara Trabosh, a fourth-year English student and the managing editor of Westwind, said she hopes the event will serve as a unifying force among UCLA students, providing them a chance to express their emotions, regardless of their academic background.

“Because we are part of the English department, we typically only end up with a very small group of people,” Trabosh said. “We really wanted to get Westwind out more to the UCLA community, especially for all of the creative people.”

Benjamin Balazs, a third-year English student, will be reading a few of his short poems during the event. His poems are free verse, he said, inspired by the generation of beat poets from the 1950s post-World War II era. Balazs will dedicate his five-minute performance to criticizing themes such as consumerism, capitalism and the authoritarian “Big Brother.” Beat poets tended to treat the government as some sort of mechanized demon, he said. Similarly, in his recent work, Balazs references the “machine” as something that seeks to eradicate nature and direct society toward further industrialization.

Balazs criticizes spaces like food courts, public pools and metropolitan hubs – all public microcosms of the “machine” effect. At food courts, for instance, humans are forced into lines, not dissimilar to the way animals are at slaughterhouses, he said: They are ushered along an institutionalized procession that rewards them with food at the end. Their humanity also is reduced because of the minimal communication that occurs between people as they place their orders with cashiers. Balazs said he looks forward to the opportunity of getting feedback on his poetic expression at the event.

“I think open mic nights are generally a nice opportunity for any sort of creative artist or performer or writer to have an environment in which they are encouraged to express stuff they are working on,” Balazs said. “It’s really valuable because you can get feedback from an audience. It’s hard to come by without having to audition or have a space or a venue that’s otherwise populated and competitive.”

Justine Ramos, a third-year English and human biology and society student, will also be performing at Open Mic Night, and she thinks the event will help her meet others in the UCLA community who share her passion for poetry. Ramos is deciding between two poems to read but said she is leaning toward one themed around anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder. She said she was inspired to write poetry about eating disorders because even though they are very common, they are often met with judgment; she has witnessed her own friends and family members struggle with eating disorders. She said her little brother had a negative body image because of comments from friends and family members.

“(I want to) show people they can express themselves with their words in a healthy way and channel their emotions in a healthy way,” Ramos said.

In October, Ramos also started her own campus poetry club called SLAM uniVERSE, which meets weekly and fosters an environment that promotes mental health awareness and provides resources for students. She hopes to use Open Mic Night as a means of connecting the students in her club with participants in Westwind’s event. Similarly, Trabosh said she hopes students will be able to form their own communities and connections through Open Mic Night, feel more comfortable with poetry and find a healthy, safe environment to share their work.

“We are really just hoping that everyone who comes has a good time and hears more about Westwind and that we can meet more people from UCLA who are interested in creative pursuits,” Trabosh said.