EVC’s attention shifts from information technology to budget

By Marcelle Richards
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[email protected]

Chancellor Albert Carnesale is using his hiring opportunities to
switch gears and patch the UCLA piggy bank.

The transition from current executive vice chancellor Rory Hume
to successor Daniel Neuman signifies the last look back at the hey
day of a lucrative stock market as the impending state budget
crunch unfolds.

Neuman’s main focus will be the strategic planning and
budget process; this determines what the university
prioritizes.

“That is one of his most, if not the most, important
priority,” Carnesale said, explaining the changing role of
the new EVC.

Hume, who made information technology the university’s pet
project during his term, served during more profitable days when
investments in the sector were turning in substantial profits. The
market took a plunge in 1999 and is still recovering.

Carnesale, who takes the chief role in soliciting financial
support, has already fine-tuned the administration to take on a
more finance-conscious role.

The creation of the associate vice chancellor of community
partnerships this week ties into the UCLA in L.A. initiative, which
works to create “mutually beneficial ties to the broader
community, and (to create) new ones.”

These “partnerships” are what fuel Campaign UCLA,
the campus effort to raise $2.4 billion by 2005.

Neuman will not be as involved in the process, but he is no
stranger to the game.

During his term as dean of the School of Arts and Architecture,
he secured the largest donation in the nation’s history to
benefit the dance art form. The $18 million gift paid for
renovating Kaufman Hall; it houses the world arts and cultures
department.

A more recent notch on his belt is the $20 million gift for a
new namesake for the Dickson Art Center. It will take on the names
of donors Edythe and Eli Broad.