The DFA has sent a letter to UC President Yudof informing him of the results of our first survey, particularly as they might assist in the selection process for UCD’s new Chancellor. The DFA also sent a similar letter to the Davis Enterprise. Below is a copy of the letter sent to President Yudof:
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July 1, 2008
President Mark G. Yudof
Office of the President
University of California
1111 Franklin St., 12th Floor
Oakland, CA 94607
Dear President Yudof,
The Davis Faculty Association (DFA) welcomes you to the University of California. The DFA is an independent entity that represents the interests of faculty members at Davis, but is not affiliated with the University Senate. One of the main goals of the DFA is to give an independent voice to our members. In that role the Davis Faculty Association has begun conducting regular opinion surveys of its members. Our first survey question was: in light of Chancellor Vanderhoef’s announced decision to retire, does UC Davis need to make a major change of direction under the next Chancellor? In summary, most of the respondents (80%) agreed that a new direction was needed.
The responses ended up listing the properties our faculty think UC’s new president should look for when choosing Vanderhoef’s successor. We urge you to consider closely the sentiments of the faculty in your consideration of a replacement Chancellor at Davis because to a considerable degree UC Davis stands at a cross-road: the appointment of the next Chancellor will set our future direction.
The most common theme in the comments was that UCD had become too insular – many of its administrative posts are now filled with people promoted into the positions from within UCD.
Sample comments along these lines included: “Many problems stem from issues relating to declining state support. However, most stem from the failure to leverage internal support and talent. This problem stems, in turn, from poor appointments, typically with internal (i.e., from UCD) individuals, made at almost every level of administrative posts from Dean and up… An essential start towards a major change in direction will be to hire a new Chancellor from the outside.” Another respondent said “we need some one with the confidence to hire top people with proven research records and to listen to them.”
Another common theme was that the new Chancellor should be more than a good administrator; he or she should have a strong academic background: “The candidates should, first and foremost, have outstanding academic credentials.”
Faculty also emphasized the importance of UC’s tradition of shared governance (between faculty and the administration) and the transparency in administrative action that must go along with shared governance: “The decision by the Chancellor to fill the Provost position, even temporarily, without – actually in spite of the near completion of – a national search is a transgression of the principles of shared governance of the highest degree.”
Another respondent said “I find the lack of transparency… infuriating, and part of a general pattern of administrative self-indulgence that compounds the university’s efforts to maintain public support… I would link it further to a CEO kind of approach to the university which too easily bargains away the integrity of the institution in the pursuit of money and some idea, perhaps, of prestige.”
Full results of the survey can be found at: http://www.ucdfa.org/news_articles/directions-survey.htm
Although the results of this survey reflect only the opinions of the DFA membership, and therefore offer a relatively small sample size, they are closely related to the sentiments that have been expressed formally and informally by the UC Davis Academic Senate and a consortium of senior and distinguished faculty. We hope that you take these concerns into consideration when you make your appointment of our next Chancellor. We wish you well in your new position and we look forward to your leadership in guiding the UC system through a very difficult period.
Sincerely,
Ian Kennedy, Chair Davis Faculty Association
and Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering