Increasing vacancies trouble administation

Monday, November 9, 1998

Increasing vacancies trouble administation

POSITIONS: High turnover rate produces openings for vice
chancellorships

By Lawrence Ferchaw

Daily Bruin Staff

Vacancies in the administration, a result of a number of
departures from UCLA in the past year, have some administrators
doing double, or triple duty.

"You have to make sure you take care of all tasks and issues,"
said Keith Parker. "You’ve got to constantly worry."

Parker is currently wearing three hats as assistant vice
chancellor of government and community relations, director of the
Staff Affirmative Action office and executive officer for
administrative services.

There are currently eight vice chancellor, assistant vice
chancellor and dean positions open. Most of them are currently
filled with interim appointees while searches for permanent
appointments are ongoing.

"There are lot of people here, and you would expect turnover,"
said Chancellor Albert Carnesale.

"(You) expect more turnover at times of transition in
leadership," he added.

One departure, that of Ted Mitchell, created two open positions
­ vice chancellor of external affairs and dean of the Graduate
School of Education and Information Sciences (GSE&IS). Both are
being filled on an interim basis.

Michael Eicher, the interim vice chancellor of external affairs,
is also associate vice chancellor of development. The External
Affairs division works on fund-raising, public information and
relations with governmental agencies.

"We’re pleased with the job of the acting vice chancellor
(Eicher)," Carnesale said. "We’re considering what process to use
to make a permanent appointment."

Carnesale said Eicher would be one of the candidates for the
position.

Within External Affairs, there are currently three interim
appointments as well. Those positions are assistant vice chancellor
of university communications, assistant vice chancellor of
government and community relations, and assistant vice chancellor
of finance and information management.

With the recent departure of one interim appointee, Jeffrey
Hirsch, assistant vice chancellor of university communications,
Tobi Inlender has taken his place, at least for now.

The search committee is in its final discussions with an
appointment coming soon, according to Carnesale.

George Letteney, formerly coordinator for INFORM (Information
for Resource Management), the university’s new budget and billing
system, is the interim assistant vice chancellor of finance and
information management and UCLA’s chief financial officer.

Letteney assumed the position in June and said a permanent
appointment should be made in early 1999.

"The responsibilities are the same," Letteney said of an interim
appointment. "You’re not ignoring the long term, but you try to
minimize long term decisions."

The last interim position in external affairs is the one held by
Parker ­ assistant vice chancellor of government and community
relations. Steve Juarez, who formerly held that position, resigned
less than two weeks ago.

"External Affairs is going through some degree of change,"
Parker said.

Two of the graduate schools are without permanent deans. Harold
Levine and John Mamer are interim deans of GSE&IS and The
Anderson School at UCLA, respectively.

A search committee is just forming for the GSE&IS position
while the search is ongoing for The Anderson School position.

Carnesale said he does not have a definite time line for an
appointment to these positions, or many others, because he would
rather make the best appointment than restrict the search.

The other vice chancellor position open is that of budget and
finance. The office as it is currently titled has never been
filled, but it used to be vice chancellor of academic planning and
budget. When academic planning shifted to the executive vice
chancellor and the chancellor, the old position was transformed to
a purely financial role.

"We’re looking for a finance person rather than an academic,"
Carnesale said.

The search committee is interviewing candidates, and an
appointment should be made soon, according to Carnesale.

The last open position hasn’t even been defined yet. Executive
Vice Chancellor Rory Hume is currently getting input on creating
the position of chief information officer ­ an associate vice
chancellor ­ who should be appointed by the end of the
academic year to manage technology issues on campus.

Carnesale said such a position is necessary because "information
technology has become such an important part of the infrastructure
of the university."

The single administrator will be charged with organizing the
current information technology offices to take advantage of any
"synergies."

In his first year at UCLA, Carnesale made four permanent
appointments, and all of the appointees were from within UCLA.

"I’d be surprised if all the (future) appointments were from
UCLA," Carnesale said.

Yet, having candidates from UCLA is not necessarily a
disadvantage.

"UCLA is a large university and there are a lot of talented
people here. We don’t want to discriminate against the people
here," Carnesale added.

For the interim appointments, besides some added work, there is
also the challenge of stepping into a position for only a short
time.

"You’re more conservative in the way you manage," Letteney
said.

Parker agreed, citing the quickness with which an interim
appointee must learn the issues and responsibilities of the
position.

"The biggest thing about an interim appointment is supporting
the department staff in terms of their ongoing work," Parker
said.

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