A diverse education/ administration

Monday, September 28, 1998

A diverse education/ administration

ADMINISTRATION: Senior officials

at UCLA don’t have many

underrepresented minorities among their ranks.

However,

UCLA

is leading

the way

to change

the statistics.

By Lawrence Ferchaw

Daily Bruin Staff

In the state with the largest immigrant population, in a county
where whites are a minority, and on a campus where the student
population is 55 percent non-white, most members of UCLA’s senior
administration are white.

Women also find themselves in the minority, despite making up
more than half of the general population.

There are 47 people in the senior management group (SMG) at
UCLA, which consists of the chancellor, vice chancellors, some
associate and assistant vice chancellors, Medical Center
administrators, deans and provosts. Of those, 80 percent are white,
and 70 percent are male.

Administrators blame the lack of diversity on a number of
factors, including the small number of females and minorities in
applicant pools. Many said they are hopeful that increases in
student diversity will eventually lead to increases in
administrator diversity.

"I think diversity at the administrative level, and diversity at
the faculty level will make UCLA a more attractive place in terms
of attracting more diverse students," said Claudia Mitchell-Kernan,
vice chancellor of academic affairs and dean of the graduate
division.

Individuals in SMG are at the top of the leadership pyramid at
UCLA, and their areas of influence range from the next new building
on campus to a case of student cheating.

"When you walk into Murphy Hall, it should be like walking
through different parts of Los Angeles," said Raymund Paredes,
associate vice chancellor of academic development. "It’s not like
that now."

Paredes described the lack of many minorities and women in the
administration as a "collective failure" on the part of the
university, but said the amount of women and minorities is
increasing.

Administrators point to the importance of women and minorities
in senior management as reason to increase diversity.

"For the Asian community, and for the university community, it’s
important to get used to the idea that lots of different people are
capable of being in leadership positions," said Pauline Yu, dean of
humanities.

It’s also important for the students to see people of different
backgrounds in leadership positions, according to Keith Parker,
director of the Staff Affirmative Action Office.

"It’s helpful to see people like ourselves and different from
ourselves; then you don’t fall into stereotypes," Parker said.

One administrator indicated the lack of diversity in senior
administration is not the result of individuals not caring about
diversity.

"I think most individuals I know have a sincere conviction that
we need to diversify at all levels," said Jim Turner, assistant
vice chancellor of graduate programs. "I don’t think people are
hypocrites."

Indeed, in the last year, with the number of underrepresented
minorities in the incoming freshman class diminishing, Chancellor
Albert Carnesale has said diversity is a priority at UCLA.

Recently, Carnesale said he has focused on student diversity
because an increase in diversity at the student level should lead
to an increase at the administrative level in the long term.

"Chancellor Carnesale has said that one of our missions is to
train leaders for California, and we need to train leaders from
every part of the state’s population," Paredes said.

Of Carnesale’s four permanent appointments to senior management
during his first year, all have been male, and three have been
white.

Carnesale noted the small number of minorities in the applicant
pools as part of the reason.

"But I don’t want to make excuses here," Carnesale said. "We’re
talking about what some of the difficulties are, but it’s certainly
my aspiration to do better than we’ve been doing."

Paredes said that it’s too early to judge the chancellor’s
efforts.

"I think you have to look at the work of the chancellor over the
long run and look at a variety of positions," he said. "He’s
concerned with diversity, and we will see some improvement."

Administrators point to a number of factors that contribute to
the small number of women and minorities in senior management.
Among those is the infrequency of turnover in these positions.

"You don’t have an availability of openings to build a pool (of
applicants) around," Parker said.

However, Parker pointed to the fact that the pools are becoming
more diverse, which should increase the chances that minorities and
females are selected for positions.

Typical searches for senior management involve nationwide
searches that create a list of qualified applicants. A campus
committee which may include faculty, staff and students will
discuss the candidates and recommend one to the chancellor.

In an attempt to diversify the pools of applicants, Paredes said
more aggressive recruitment is needed, especially after the passage
of Proposition 209, which outlawed affirmative action programs in
California public institutions.

"Proposition 209 has indicated to some people that the
University of California is not committed to diversity and we need
to be more aggressive," Paredes said. "We have not weakened."

The Staff Affirmative Action Office continues to monitor
diversity as well as develop plans to increase diversity.
Proposition 209 does not affect much of what the office does,
because diversity in staff hiring is required as part of UCLA’s
status as a federal contractor.

These actions extend to special efforts to increase the number
of minorities and women in applicant pools, but does not mean that
decisions are based on a candidate’s gender or ethnicity.

Often applicants come from the UCLA community and many rise from
the ranks of the faculty, a group at UCLA which is 80 percent white
and 78 percent male.

"Women are less likely to get tenure," said Mary Dee Wenniger,
editor and publisher of the newsletter Women in Higher Education.
"If they’re excluded from tenure, then they’re excluded from
administration."

Wenniger also pointed to the characteristics of the job which
make such positions less appealing for women, particularly the
heavy workload involved.

"Very few female administrators have wives at home, so it’s a
lot harder," Wenniger said.

Vice Chancellor Mitchell-Kernan said help from her husband has
been instrumental.

"Men, for the most part, are in a more advantageous position,"
Mitchell-Kernan said.

Women of color experience twice the difficulties, according to
Wenniger. "They have two strikes against them instead of just one,"
she said.

In contrast to UCLA’s entire administration, female
administrators at the UCLA Law School find themselves in the
majority, since well over half of the senior administrators there
are female.

Until July, the law school had been led by a female dean for 16
years. After Susan Prager retired, she was replaced by a Jonathan
Varat.

"If anything, bringing in Jonathan Varat brings a better gender
balance," said Elizabeth Cheadle, dean of students at the law
school.

At the Bradley International Student Center, the director said
he is trying increase diversity of its board of directors. He’s
recently added three minorities to the group.

"Since we serve an international clientele, a diverse board
makes a statement about what the U.S. represents," said Larry
Gower, director of the Office of International Students and
Scholars.

He added that diversity can also produce "creative conflicts"
which can lead to growth.

"I look at UCLA, and one thing I’m proud of is the commitment to
diversity, which extends across all levels," Gower said.

UCLA’s senior management group does include a larger percentage
of minorities and women than some other UC schools.

UC Berkeley’s senior management group, for example, is 85
percent white and 76 percent male.

"We can take small comfort … in noting that as a general rule,
we’re doing better than the other campuses in the University of
California system, which in turn is doing better than most campuses
around the nation," Carnesale said. "But that’s small comfort, it’s
not what we would hope to achieve."

UCLA’s group of senior managers is also larger than the groups
at other UC schools.

Still, despite the large number of people in the group,
individuals stay in these positions for long periods of time,
necessitating only a few appointments each year.

Also few in number are those minorities and women with the
backgrounds for jobs in higher administration, according to
Assistant Vice Chancellor Turner.

"The shortage of minorities in faculty and administration, and
the desire of so many institutions to change this makes these
people extremely desirable," Turner said.

Another senior manager said this should not be used as an excuse
for less representation of minorities and women.

"Very distinguished scholars are few and far between, but when
we want to recruit those people, we don’t say there aren’t that
many and so we shouldn’t try," Mitchell-Kernan said.

Minorities and women in administration can act as role models
for others who may be interested in similar positions, according to
Turner.

Female and minority administrators agreed with this and said
they enjoyed the opportunity to help others.

"I’m pleased when I have the opportunity to (recommend) women
and people of color," Yu said. She added she also recommends and
nominates men and whites for jobs.

"I’m not exclusive," Yu said.

It’s actions like recommending minorities, and serving as role
models that many in senior management said could increase the
number of minorities and women in that group, something they also
say will take time.

Parker and other administrators are quick to point out that
there is more representation of women and minorities in senior
management than in the past, and that this increase will
continue.

"If you go back to when I came here in 1982, there has been a
lot of progress," Parker said. "Could there be more? Certainly. It
can and will be better."

With reports from Mason Stockstill, Daily Bruin Senior Staff

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