[Englecturers] Fwd: Fwd: Please sign UC faculty petition -- truly
independent look into administrators' perks, transparency
cynthiatuell at adelphia.net
cynthiatuell at adelphia.net
Thu Dec 8 11:22:06 PST 2005
>
>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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