[Englecturers] Fwd: Fwd: Please sign UC faculty petition -- truly independent look into administrators' perks, transparency

[cynthiatuell at adelphia.net]

>
>It's been wonderful to see our UC colleagues rallying around the petition 
>to the board of regents -- simply asking for an independent panel that 
>will objectively look into UCOP compensation practices in a tough-headed 
>manner (appearing below).
>
>As you have likely been following, several reports have confirmed that 
>UCOP spent over $870 million in recent years on bonuses, housing and 
>relocation allowances benefiting over 8,500 top and mid-level 
>administrators. The systemwide provost has stepped down, in part after the 
>revelation that the president's office awarded her a $125,000 'relocation 
>allowance', to move 90 miles.
>
>We urge you to sign the petition -- which has arisen from faculty concerns 
>at UCLA and Berkeley -- by sending a short note to 
>UCPROBE at LISTS.BERKELEY.EDU    And if comfortable, please relay this note 
>to UC colleagues. Together, we can help to rebuild the university's public 
>credibility through greater transparency.
>
>Background details and last week's developments appear in the attachment. 
>We are beginning to coordinate more closely with the academic senate machinery.
>
>Bruce Fuller
>Professor
>
>To:      Mr. Gerald Parsky, Chair, Board of Regents
>Copy:  Regent Joanne Kozberg, Former Regent Bob Hertzberg, and President 
>Robert Dynes
>
>California journalists, as you know, have detailed a number of 
>questionable decisions by the University's highest administrators. 
>Although it remains unclear which of these allegations pertaining to 
>secret compensation deals, bonuses, huge relocation allowances, and other 
>perquisites are factually true and reasonable, the evidence that is now in 
>the public domain raises a number of disturbing issues to those of us who 
>care deeply about the university's credibility and long-term vitality.
>
>This is not the first time that the president, at times with the regents' 
>concurrence, has approved large compensation packages in such 
>non-transparent ways. Its essential that our students, UC parents, and 
>California taxpayers know that many faculty members find these practices 
>distasteful and unbefitting a university that should display the highest 
>levels of moral integrity and public responsibility.
>
>The presidents office continues to argue that these various perquisites 
>described in recent news reports are required to attract top university 
>managers from around the country. But many of the beneficiaries have long 
>worked within UC before being promoted. In addition, the independent 
>estimates reported by the president's own consultants show that 
>compensation received by UC administrators even before adding these perks 
>is highly competitive with that offered by other top universities.
>
>These questionable practices also prompt the obvious question: if such 
>perks have been effective in attracting such wise managers, why have these 
>same individuals made such reckless decisions which now place the 
>university's record of integrity and moral leadership in jeopardy?
>
>The policy of squandering millions of dollars to attract administrators, 
>some who simply move from a neighboring campus, stands in stark contrast 
>with more effective ways to spend scarce resources. Is it necessary to 
>remind the administration that the reputation and productivity of this 
>university depends upon the intellectual rigor and creativity of its 
>students and faculty?
>
>We face sharp challenges in trying to maintain the quality of our 
>programs. Each year we struggle to put together sufficient fellowship 
>dollars to attract the best graduate students. We are losing our ability 
>to recruit talented undergraduates from diverse communities after the 
>administration agreed with the governor to raise public university tuition 
>by $1.1 billion in recent and future years. And the faculty's ability to 
>be productive is hampered by high turnover and low morale among university 
>support staff who simply can't afford to live in most parts of California 
>on salaries of $35,000 a year.
>
>These revelations also under cut the university's respect in Sacramento. 
>How could our top managers make a series of decisions which signal that 
>this institution has plenty of money to squander? Having now seen how the 
>administration can waste public and privates dollars, what are state 
>legislators going to say when UC comes hat in hand to Sacramento with its 
>annual plea of poverty?
>
>As members of the university's faculty, we urge you to appoint a truly 
>independent investigator to uncover which of these allegations are true, 
>justifiable, or simply indefensible. With all due respect, what informed 
>California citizen is going to believe that current or former regents are 
>truly independent of this administration? The regents can begin to rebuild 
>the public's trust in the university by showing leadership. Your inaction 
>will only allow this painful and recurring wound to fester.
>
>Partial listing -- being updated from the campuses --
>University of California, Berkeley and UCLA faculty members
>
>Patricia Baquedano-Lopez
>Karen Brodkin
>Clair Brown
>Philip Cowan
>Bruce Fuller
>W. Norton Grubb
>Kris Gutierrez
>Gillian Hart
>Susan Holloway
>Carollee Howes
>Matt Kondolf
>Robert Meister, UCSC
>Jane Mauldon
>Jeannie Oakes
>Michael Reich
>Ingrid Seyer-Ochi
>William Roy
>M. Steven Shackley
>David Stern
>Barrie Thorne
>Stefan Timmermans
>Carlos Torres
>Richard Walker
>Joanna Williams
>Wellford Wilms
>Frank C. Worrell
>Maurice Zeitlin
>
>-------------------------------------------
>Professor, Education & Public Policy
>University of California, Berkeley 94720
>510-643-5362




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