UC Hiring Consultant to Polish Image : Education: Public relations expert will be asked to help counter the recent flow of unflattering news with more positive stories.

University of California officials, dismayed by a barrage of unflattering news stories, have asked a former Bank of America and Kaiser Aluminum executive known for his aggressive public relations style to advise them on how to improve UC’s sagging image.

William B. Baker, UC vice president for university and external affairs, said he recently met with Ronald E. Rhody, now a private Walnut Creek media consultant, and asked him to help the nine-campus system put out more “positive stories” about faculty and student accomplishments.

“The negative stories seem to overwhelm the positive stories, so we’re trying to make sure that the people know that we’re a pretty good institution after all, to the extent that people feel otherwise,” said Baker, who directs UC’s public information and lobbying efforts.

Rhody, 62, is negotiating a contract with UC that would last four to six months. Rhody will counsel the university on public relations strategy but will not deal directly with reporters. UC officials declined to say how much the contract would cost, but added that Rhody would charge a discounted rate and UC will pay him out of private, not public, funds.

Among Rhody’s clients is the Oakland Coliseum, owned jointly by the city of Oakland and Alameda County and now engaged in a spirited campaign to keep the Oakland A’s baseball team from moving.

UC’s decision to approach Rhody--whose firm advises on crisis management and damage control--comes after a series of critical news stories about costly administrative retirement packages, escalating student fee hikes, political miscues and a controversial contract with fallen junk bond king Michael Milken.

“We were constantly shooting ourselves in the foot or being shot in the head by somebody,” said UC Regent Ward Connerly, a Sacramento land-use consultant. Connerly said a number of regents began talking two months ago about seeking outside media help.

Baker said he decided to seek public relations advice even before the regents’ discussion because his public information staff has been cut in half by budget reductions at a time when the university needs to expand its outreach efforts.

“It’s not an image consultant, it’s not a firm, it’s a guy to give us advice,” Baker said.

Rhody is known for his take-charge style of corporate image-shaping. He worked for Oakland-based Kaiser Aluminum for 20 years before Sam Armacost, then chief executive officer of Bank of America, hired him in 1983 to run the San Francisco-based bank’s public relations unit during what would be some of the institution’s darkest hours.

On Rhody’s watch, the bank weathered a $95-million mortgage loan scandal, a nasty fight with federal banking regulators, top management turnovers and a hostile takeover attempt. The bank stopped paying dividends in late 1985 and was the subject of rumors about discussions with federal regulators for a bailout.

John Keane, the bank’s current director of corporate relations, said Rhody countered by having the bank call publicly for a federal investigation and putting its top executive on the radio to defuse the public relations nightmare.

As the bank pulled out of its financial nose dive, Rhody was just as aggressive at trumpeting good news, such as the restoration of stock dividends in 1988, Keane said.