Clarifying decision-making authority

4.6.10

Colleagues:

I have been thinking about and discussing with you some organizational matters that have come up over the past several months. After hearing your viewpoints and considering what I have observed to work well at other major research universities, I have come to several conclusions that I wish to outline for you in this letter. As you will see by reading on, the changes that will follow upon these conclusions are not major and will primarily have the effect of clarifying where decisional authority rests for certain important matters. The fundamental outcome of these changes will be clearer, more efficient and effective processes for accomplishing together the important work of UC Davis.

Executive reporting relationships

For all organizational and operational purposes, vice chancellors including the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor for Human Health Sciences report to the Chancellor. Vice provosts and the University Librarian report to the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor.

Historically, based on UC Davis implementation of University policy, the deans have reported to the Chancellor. However, considering the multiplicity of activities and responsibilities now expected of the Chancellor, including extensive fundraising, for us to be able to provide the appropriate oversight to the deans and their schools and colleges, I would like to share this responsibility with the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor.

While the responsibility of appointing deans, renewing appointments, conducting annual reviews and determining compensation rests with me, I will ask the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor to play an active role in each of these activities. The enclosed organizational chart summarizes the reporting relationships that reflect the above changes.

In regard to matters of resource allocation and use, the Chancellor, together with the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor for Administrative and Resource Management, will decide how available resources are to be divided among the vice chancellors in order to provide the best possible prospect of our achieving together UC Davis missions.

The Chancellor will make these decisions after due consultation with the Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors and the Academic Senate in accord with the principles of shared governance. The Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor will determine how to divide the resources made available to him/her among the deans, vice provosts, and the University Librarian.

This guideline will hold for all resource-related matters, including, but not limited to, allocation of new operational resources, determination of budget reductions, and determination of the campus capital budget. The Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor will be responsible for managing the allocation of ladder-rank faculty positions.

In regard to other operational matters, vice chancellors may expect to have at least monthly updates with the Chancellor, while deans and vice provosts may expect to have at least monthly updates with the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor. Finally, the Chancellor is responsible for annually assessing the performance of each vice chancellor, while the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor is responsible for annually assessing the performance of each dean, vice provost, and the University Librarian. The Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor will share these performance assessments with the Chancellor to inform any compensation adjustments.

Office of the Chancellor/Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

In order to further clarify the division of responsibilities indicated above, I intend to divide the Offices of the Chancellor and Provost into an Office of the Chancellor and an Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor. I will shortly let you know the specific organizational structure of these offices.

A single administrative service cluster will serve both offices. This will prevent any increase in administrative expenses as a result of this division. Indeed, I have asked Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Lavernia to substantially reduce the administrative expenses of these offices by further clustering administrative functions and assessing functions presently under these offices that may need to be eliminated.

Title of Chief Development Officer

I have been strongly advised by the search committee I have charged to lead the recruitment of the chief development officer that the campus must offer the title of Vice Chancellor for Development to attract the kind of leader we need at the cabinet level to dramatically expand our development efforts. I have decided to accept this advice, and will shortly seek permission from the Regents to create this position as Vice Chancellor for Development, instead of the previously proposed title, Executive Director of the Comprehensive Campaign.

I have not taken lightly the decision to create this leadership position as a vice chancellor. Indeed, I have been working with the campus to reduce the number of senior administrator positions generally. We have reduced the number of vice chancellors by consolidating the Office of Administration and the Office of Resource Management and Planning under a single vice chancellor. I have started an initiative for organizational excellence that will, over the next two years, reduce administrative expenditures and staffing while enhancing staffing and support for academic units.

However, it is clear that redirection of existing resources alone will not be sufficient to maintain academic excellence or increase UC Davis' ranking among major research universities. Development will be a key element of our resource strategy, particularly as we look to the successful completion of an aggressive goal for our first comprehensive campaign, followed by increasingly ambitious fundraising initiatives.

It has been made clear to me by the search committee for the development leadership position, and by the national search firm we have retained to assist with this critical search, that we cannot hope to recruit the kind of leader we need without according the title of vice chancellor. The search committee, in which the Davis Division of the Academic Senate is well represented, and the search firm have pointed out to me that the chief development officers at our peer and aspirant institutions within or outside of the UC system all have the title of vice president or vice chancellor.

Although my decision does not change the fact that this is a cabinet level position, it has been my announced intent from the beginning that this position report directly to the Chancellor;it is certainly true that the creation of a new vice chancellor position is always a sensitive matter. The advice I have received from the search committee, however, gives me confidence that the campus community will see the wisdom in this instance.

I believe that the campus community will see that this is a critical investment in the second century for UC Davis;indeed, the position will more than pay for itself by enhancing the campus's return on its fundraising efforts. I am so confident of this that I will commit to the campus that this position will pay for itself from an increase in the revenue our central development office receives from gift fees.

Sincerely,

Linda P.B. Katehi
Chancellor, UC Davis