New UC Leader Outlines Priorities, Challenges

Ioana Patringenaru | May 05, 2008

Incoming UC President
Mark G. Yudof.

Focusing on the Office of the President will be the first priority for the new leader of the University of California, incoming UC President Mark G. Yudof said Tuesday during a teleconference. Yudof also outlined some of his plans for the future and some of the challenges facing the 10-campus system.

During the 30-minute call with UC reporters and editors, Yudof was knowledgeable, thoughtful and sometimes self-deprecating. “It’s like being the manager of a cemetery,” he deadpanned when asked about the difference between leading UC and the University of Texas systems. “The chemistry department in San Diego doesn’t report to me directly. No one asks me my opinion.”

Yudof, current head of the University of Texas system and a recognized leader in American higher education, was appointed the 19th UC president by the UC Board of Regents March 27. He will succeed President Robert C. Dynes, who announced last August that he would step down by June 2008 after nearly five years as president. Yudof said his first priority would be to focus on the UC Office of the President.

“I’ve got to get the trains running on time,” he said. “I’ve got to cut the budget.”

By national standards, the office is overstaffed, Yudof pointed out. UCOP needs to add value to the campuses by providing services such as managing pension funds and facilitating research, he also said. “I want to save money here and get out of the way.” That money could then be reinvested at the campus level, he pointed out.

Yudof also said he believes the Office of the President needs to relinquish more responsibilities to the campuses. “I’ve had chancellors tell me it takes three months to get a vice chancellor appointment approved,” Yudof said. “I don’t think that should be the case.”  The incoming president added he plans to seek a lot of feedback and will visit all the UC campuses fairly early on in his tenure. He also said he didn’t want the visits to be too elaborate. “I want to show up and meet the people.”

Asked how UC could cope with the state’s budget crisis, Yudof had a few positive words. During their first meeting April 15 in Sacramento, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger talked to him in strong terms about the value of public education and how important it is to the state. Legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle seem to share this view, Yudof added.  “I thought it was cordial, but didn’t want to ruin it by getting into the gory details,” he said.

But Yudof also cautioned that he hasn’t seen any signs in recent years that state legislatures will ultimately be willing to step up to the plate and provide higher education institutions with the kind of funding they need. When the University of Texas system was faced with a similar budget crisis, it had to raise tuition significantly, he said. Also, each campus addressed the shortfalls by itself, which unfortunately led to higher student-faculty ratios, Yudof said. “There’s no silver bullet and none of them are painless,” he said.

But he also cautioned that the system needed to look at the net price of a UC education. It may be that all students coming from families that make less that $100,000 a year will end up attending UC for free, he said. “When the price goes up, we have to think creatively about how to maintain access.”