University of California’s President Post Not Easy To Fill/Haley Ayraud

In major job posting publications worldwide, an ideal candidate for the President of the University of California system is describes as “an individual of uncommon wisdom to head the best public research system in the world.” While this description is rather visionary, the ad certainly leaves some major requirements out. This job will not only need a dynamic leader, the person chosen must also be able to navigate a state budget that continually threatens to limit spending, cope with a contentious faculty, manage a student body angry about rising fees and parents worried about rising admissions standards, and deal with a restive Board of Regents.

UC officials and higher education experts say the position's challenges are known around the nation and could make it tougher than in the past to find a willing person with the right scholarly, managerial and political talents. "It's not an impossible job but just a very hard, demanding job. It's a job that really requires a particular kind of skill and particular kind of commitment," said Patrick M. Callan, president of the nonprofit National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in San Jose. "You've got to have the academic authority to know how to deal with a very strong faculty. And it's a highly political job obviously in a state where politics are volatile and the monies are short."

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucprez4mar04,1,4797957.story