Amid Budget Crisis, UC to Begin President Hunt

The formidable task of searching for a new president of the University of California will begin next week amid a state budget crisis that could force unprecedented enrollment limits and sharp fee increases, UC officials said Friday.

UC Board of Regents Chairwoman Meredith Khachigian said she would start to form a committee Monday to find a successor to David P. Gardner, who announced Thursday that he would retire Oct. 1. Gardner, the chief of the nine-campus system since 1983, said the death of his wife earlier this year had so upset his life that he decided to leave the post.

Citing the financial and political troubles ahead for UC, Khachigian said Friday: “You need a godlike person to run the university.”

She said that the search committee would consider distinguished educators around the world as well as within the UC system, but that no timetable has been set for reaching a decision on finalists for the top post. The board of regents will make the final decision on Gardner’s replacement.

Search committee members will include Khachigian, former board Chairman Roy T. Brophy, Gov. Pete Wilson (who is an ex-officio regent), three other regents and student and alumni board representatives. In addition, a faculty panel will serve in an advisory capacity.

Various UC officials, gathered for a regents meeting Friday, said a UC president must have academic stature, managerial and budget skills and the ability to deal with the governor, legislators and interest groups.

Regent Brophy said: “I’d like a clone of David Gardner. That’s what I’d like. But I realize he is one of a kind.”

During an interview Friday at his Oakland office 22 stories above Lake Merritt, Gardner said his successor must be a person who understands “the subtleties and the peculiarities” of California and the UC system. But Gardner, who was previously president of the University of Utah and a vice president and professor at UC, said there were no obvious candidates from within the system.

Most of the 15 presidents in UC history rose from within the UC system, but the top ranks of UC executives have been thinned by retirements and vacancies. One of the next highest-ranking officials after Gardner--William R. Frazer, senior vice president for academic affairs--recently announced his plans to retire Sept 1. UC officials will soon have to fill the position of UC Riverside Chancellor Rosemary Schraer, who also has announced her plans to retire.

Some UC and Sacramento officials said several UC campus chancellors might be considered for the presidency. The list includes Richard C. Atkinson of UC San Diego, Theodore L. Hullar of UC Davis, Chang-Lin Tien of UC Berkeley and Charles E. Young of UCLA.

Even more immediate--and painful--decisions about raising admission standards and imposing steeper fee hikes lie ahead for UC, Gardner said Friday.

Under a state master plan, UC enrolls the top 12.5% of high school graduates in California. If state funding is insufficient, that standard could be changed to 9% in a few years, Gardner said. The number of qualified high school seniors who are refused admission could rise next fall.

Lt. Governor Leo McCarthy, who is an ex-officio regent, predicted that fees would increase at least 10%. For the current year, the in-state fee for undergraduates rose 40% to $2,274, not including living expenses and other costs.

Gardner declined to predict the size of the next fee increase, saying that he wanted to first see the governor’s budget plans in January.

UC officials insist that Gardner’s resignation will not hurt them in the upcoming budget debates in Sacramento. The UC president, who has gained national acclaim for his ability to win funding for the 166,000-student university, said he hopes he can be “at least as effective . . . if not more” in lobbying for UC.

On Friday, the regents approved a plan to ask the state for $2.4 billion in general revenue funds for 1992-93, an increase of 9.8% from the current year. But they acknowledged that it may be an unrealistic demand in light of the state’s overall fiscal problems.

Gardner said he has not had time to plan his future and is unaware of having received any job offers since his announcement. He is eligible for a professorship in education at UC Berkeley, but some associates speculated that he might move back to Utah, where he has family and friends.