UC President Battles to Keep His Job

University of California President Robert C. Dynes fought to hang on to his job Wednesday, making a dramatic appearance before UC’s Board of Regents in which he sought to explain his role in a string of controversial decisions over executive pay and benefits.

Speaking at times over shouts for his resignation from several dozen UC employees and others in the regents’ meeting room, Dynes, 63, appeared at pains to show that he understood the significance of the controversy that has rocked the public university system since November -- and threatened his tenure as its leader.

In his nearly hourlong presentation to the regents, Dynes acknowledged a culture of secrecy in the way UC has rewarded its top administrators in recent years and called for a “sea change” in its compensation policies and practices. He acknowledged that he had missed warning flags along the way, and pledged far fewer policy exceptions and greater disclosure in the future.

“Let me be very clear,” Dynes said of the reforms. “This must be done and we will do it.”

The UC president fielded unusually blunt questions and comments from several typically supportive regents, including regents Chairman Gerald L. Parsky, who seemed reluctant at times to accept his explanations.

But late in the afternoon, Dynes emerged, smiling, from a two-hour closed session with the regents. He accepted hugs from colleagues but declined to answer questions about his future.

Parsky said after the closed session that Dynes had been “forthcoming and sincere” in detailing his responsibility for a number of controversial compensation decisions, and said Dynes had answered numerous questions from the board about his management and oversight. The board chairman declined to answer questions about whether Dynes would continue as president, saying the board would have a statement on the matter today.

The university has been scrambling to emerge from the compensation controversy sparked by media reports that it had spent millions in questionable or undisclosed pay for top managers, at the same time it was repeatedly raising student fees and imposing cutbacks. Recent audits, including an extensive internal report released during Wednesday’s meeting, have found that UC leaders systematically violated or circumvented policies in order to provide the extra money to top administrators and professors.

Several legislators also appeared before the regents to urge Dynes to step down. Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) chastised Dynes for describing some of the compensation problems as systemic. “You are the system, you are the man and the buck stops with you,” she told him.

Some regents appeared inclined to support Dynes.

“This was not a situation you walked into and created yourself,” Regent Norman J. Pattiz told Dynes. “I know you to be a good man, a talented man. This isn’t about hanging anybody.”

Earlier, the regents received a 54-page report by UC Auditor Patrick V. Reed that focused on nearly 300 senior managers employed in the university system as of last Dec. 31. The audit’s findings squared with earlier assessments that “many routine elements of compensation” were never brought before the board for required approval.

Among the examples of compensation that it said were not brought before the board was a $187,500 housing allowance for a former UC Riverside management school dean, Rajiv Banker.

A UC Riverside spokeswoman, Marcia McQuern, said the campus paid out only $40,625 because Banker left after only slightly more than a year in the job. She said the allowance was made after consulting the UC president’s office. “They suggested this method, so we assumed everything was kosher,” McQuern said.

Before becoming a senior manager, Banker briefly worked for the university at a daily rate of $1,250 without regents’ approval. Proper approval also was not given for the $13,995 he received for serving as a “special assistant” to the campus’ chancellor for 5 1/2 months after he stepped down as dean in 2005.

*

Trounson reported from San Francisco, Silverstein from Los Angeles.