National search begins for new chancellor

National search begins for new chancellor

Two current UCLA vice chancellors could be candidates

By Rachanee Srisavasdi

Daily Bruin Contributor

After Chancellor Charles Young’s announcement Wednesday that he
will retire next June, his future successor may be the most
immediate concern facing the UCLA community.

The national search for a new UCLA chancellor – who will
ultimately be chosen by the UC Regents – will begin
immediately.

During a press conference Wednesday, Young characterized the
best possible successor as someone "who can work effectively with
the higher educational establishment across the country and in
California, specifically, with the chancellors, president and the
Board of Regents."

Young also added that the appointee needs to be able to "work
with the faculty, can have a productive relationship with students,
and who can attract high-caliber colleagues to work with him in the
future."

Two possible candidates for the position are UCLA insiders –
Administrative Vice Chancellor Peter Blackman and newly-appointed
Executive Vice Chancellor Edward Kennel.

Blackman, who assumed his new post last September, is
responsible for all administrative functions, including business
enterprises, accounting and financial services, community safety,
facilities management and telecommunications.

"Pete Blackman has been an effective and active participant in
our efforts to improve administrative efficiencies at UCLA for more
than 10 years," Young said in a previous statement regarding
Blackman’s appointment. "He has the leadership, vision and
knowledge to assume (the administrative vice chancellor
position)."

Blackman joined UCLA in 1983 as special assistant to Young. In
1985 he became vice chancellor of capital programs and was
responsible for capital budgets, physical planning, space
management and environmental planning and qualification.

A second prospective candidate, Administrative Vice Chancellor
Kennel, was just appointed to the position last month.

"UCLA can develop into a really extraordinary university that
will fully respond to the needs of the 21st century," Kennel said
upon taking the position. "My job is to take all the smart people
in the university and get them to integrate their thoughts toward
academics."

As the chief executive officer at UCLA, Kennel oversees
day-to-day operations of the university and reports directly to
Young.

"(Kennel) is an outstanding scientist and scholar and an
inventive thinker who will help UCLA formulate the kinds of
long-range planning necessary to position the university for
preeminence in the 21st century," Young said in a previous
statement on the selection of Kennel as executive vice
chancellor.

A committee, to be appointed by UC President Richard Atkinson,
will suggest potential candidates. The committee will consist of
five regents, five faculty members, a graduate and undergraduate
student, an alumnus, a staff employee and an outside
representative.

Additionally, Board of Regent Chairman Clair Burgener and
Atkinson will serve on the committee, with Atkinson as chairman of
the committee.

Committee members will evaluate nominations and interview
candidates. Atkinson will then pass on the committee’s
recommendation to the regents, who have final authority on who will
become chancellor.

Young’s announcement was made 16 months in advance partially to
allocate more time to choose a successor. Education analysts
predicted the position will attract many applicants.

"UCLA will attract a top-notch field of candidates," said
Patrick Callan, executive director of the Higher Education Policy
Center in San Jose. "It’s an open competition for the best
qualified in the country for this job."

The current tension about shared governance and alleged
political interference within the UC system will be issues Young’s
successor may have to address – a tenuous situation that could
concern potential applicants, according to education analysts.

"One of the things that any president or chancellor is going to
worry about is that ‘(the regents) are my bosses – do they have
their act together,’" Callan asked. "The difficulty they had hiring
a president … they went through an embarrassing public process
over that. The regents are not an asset when you’re looking to
recruit these days."

Daily Bruin File Photo

Peter Blackman

Daily Bruin File Photo

Edward Kennel

Related Stories:

Young retire from
UCLA

Young’s departure
will end long UCLA career

Uneasiness
follows chancellor’s announcement

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