Steppin’ out

Monday, September 28, 1998

Steppin’ out

CHANGES: In our new chancellor’s first year, UCLA saw its top
vice chancellorship and three deanships change hands. And this
year, we expect two more deans and vice chancellors. But don’t
fret; this is natural for a transitional phase, the administration
says.

By Mason Stockstill

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

In July 1997, then-Chancellor Charles Young bid farewell to the
position he had held for 28 years, and Albert Carnesale, fresh from
his post as provost at Harvard University, took over the post as
UCLA’s chief officer.

Within one year of this chancellorial swap, the campus would see
its second-highest administrative position, as well as four
deanships change hands. On top of that, there are two positions yet
to be filled (one deanship and one vice chancellorship), and two of
the five new administrators are only temporary replacements (a dean
and a vice chancellor).

That’s one new chancellor, three new vice chancellors, and five
new deans – all inside of two years.

This huge administrative shift marks a much bigger change in
UCLA’s upper administrative echelon than the mere switch of
chancellors would have brought; in fact, it means that the
university will have a much different face in the years to
come.

"Whenever you have a transition … some changes in the
administration occur," Carnesale said.

The highest position that the chancellor made an appointment to
last year was the executive vice chancellorship. The executive vice
chancellor is the second-highest administrator at the university
and handles the day-to-day operations of the university.

That position is currently filled by Wyatt "Rory" Hume, who was
previously the dean of the dental school. Hume took over the
position previously held by Charles Kennel, now the director of the
Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

Another big loss for UCLA was Ted Mitchell, who had previously
held the positions of vice chancellor of external affairs and dean
of the Graduate School of Education & Information Sciences
(GSE&IS). These positions are now filled by interim
replacements.

Mitchell is now the vice president for education and strategic
initiatives at the J. Paul Getty trust, as well as the interim
leader of the Getty Education Institute.

Aside from Kennel and Mitchell’s departures, Dean of Law Susan
Prager stepped down from her position, as did Dean of Theater, Film
and Television Gilbert Cates. The fourth dean was Hume, who moved
into the executive vice chancellor position.

Carnesale has acknowledged that this is indeed a large shift in
UCLA’s administrative picture. He and other administrators have
brushed aside any speculation that these changes are anything more
than a coincidence, however.

"Surely, the changes are probably somewhat more than in a
typical year," he said. "But if you add up the total number of
deans, vice chancellors and senior administrators, and try and
think of what a reasonable time in office might be, you’re always
going to be searching for some. It would probably be rare that
they’re all filled."

"There’s been no cleaning house," he continued.

Kennel and Mitchell both agreed with the chancellor’s
assessment, saying that neither Young’s departure nor any pressure
or friction from Carnesale caused them to leave the university.

"I had no issues with Young or Carnesale," Kennel said. "Al
invited me to stay on."

Mitchell also pointed out that turnover like this is to be
expected at a time of transition but that UCLA’s has been
relatively modest.

"I have studied transitions for a while now, and looking
nationally, one expects more turnover than we have experienced at
UCLA," he said.

Carnesale has said that in order to get a clearer picture of why
so many administrators chose to move on at the same time, one has
to evaluate each position on a case-by-case basis.

Kennel’s name was originally one of those tossed around by the
UC search committee that was looking for a replacement for Young.
As the executive vice chancellor, Kennel seemed a natural
candidate.

"When the search committee interviewed me, I encouraged them to
think big," he said.

After Carnesale’s appointment, Kennel found himself the subject
of another job offer – this one from Scripps.

"When the Scripps job came along, I had a big choice to make,"
he said.

In the end, he chose to go to Scripps because he felt that, like
many of his peers, he was "still a scientist at heart."

Mitchell was also swayed by an opportunity that he felt was too
good not to let go by.

"Vice Chancellor Mitchell had for some time been looking at
expanding his horizons," Carnesale said.

Mitchell himself said that his decision to leave UCLA was a
difficult one but one that he felt he had to make.

"The opportunity to play a leadership role at the Getty at this
point in its organizational life … (was one) I could not pass
up," he said.

Carnesale also pointed out that since deans are generally
appointed to five-year terms, the university should be used to a
significant amount of turnover every few years.

Also, some of the senior administrators had been expecting to
move on but had stayed a little longer to help with the
transition.

"To some extent, people were good enough to stay on … even
though they may have intended to make a move," he said.

Prager’s name had also surfaced during the search for Young’s
successor. She had been named as one of the four finalists for the
position, before being passed over in favor of Carnesale.

Ever since then, it had been widely rumored that Prager was
weighing her options for other positions both within and outside of
UCLA. Carnesale indicated that Prager had stayed on to help both
Young and himself through the transitional phase.

Dr. No Hee Park was appointed as the new dean of dentistry
almost immediately after Hume was bumped up to the executive vice
chancellorship. Carnesale said that this change came quickly
because it had only been two years since the last search for a new
dean.

"A full search had (already) been done, in which (Park) had
emerged as a leading candidate," Carnesale said.

One thing that all of Carnesale’s appointments have so far had
in common is that they have all come from within UCLA, despite
large search committees that looked for the best candidates
nationwide.

Specifically, Hume was already at UCLA when he was chosen to be
the next executive vice chancellor; Law Professor Jonathan Varat
has been chosen as Prager’s successor at the law school; Robert
Rosen, a film scholar who was previously the chair of the film and
television department, took over for Cates; and Park, who assumed
Hume’s position.

Administrators say that if anything, this trend reflects the
high level of excellence present in UCLA’s faculty.

"This speaks well of the institution, that we are able to
develop leadership from within and to recognize it," Mitchell
said.

The vacant deanships are at the Anderson Graduate School of
Management, and in the Graduate School of Education &
Information Sciences (GSE&IS).

Anderson was previously headed by John Mamer, who was appointed
on a temporary basis when former Dean William Pierskalla left the
position in August 1997. Mitchell was the previous dean of
GSE&IS.

Also still vacant are two vice chancellorships, both of which
were vacated (to a certain extent) by Mitchell.

The other vice chancellorship, that of finance and budget, is a
new position that was created last year. This new position will
handle some of the responsibilities that were previously taken care
of by the vice chancellor of academic planning and budget – a
position most recently held by Mitchell.

This position was eliminated by Young when Mitchell, who had
held the position, recommended to the chancellor that a new
position be created, effectively dividing academic and financial
strategy.

Carnesale also said that this kind of organizational
restructuring – creating a new position – does not represent a very
large change in the way UCLA’s administration works.

"You often see some changes in the organization" during a
transitional phase, the chancellor said. "We have not yet done any
significant changes in organization.

Carnesale has indicated, however, that more organizational
changes are to be expected for the upcoming year. The reason that
there were no other changes last year was that he felt that any
organizational changes should not be affected until the position of
executive vice chancellor was filled.

Kennel added that he would expect to see a more active
Chancellor Carnesale this year.

"He’s revving up for change," Kennel said. "At a big university
… change is more or less a way of life."

Related Daily Bruin articles:

“¢bull;June 6, 1998: Law school names new dean

“¢bull;June 6, 1998: Vice chancellor, dean to take on new

challenge at Getty Trust

“¢bull;April 24, 1998: Carnesale picks executive vice
chancellor

“¢bull;February 18, 1998: Administration reallocates
positions

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