New UC Chief to Seek Input on ‘Downsizing’ Bureaucracy : Education: On his first day at work, Richard C. Atkinson says he’ll seek advice from corporate leaders. He vows an effort to maintain diversity.

On his first day as president of the University of California, Richard C. Atkinson said Monday that he is seeking the input of corporate “downsizing” experts to help guide a likely trimming of administrative staff at the nine-campus system.

Meeting with reporters at UC’s central headquarters here, Atkinson said he is sending letters to the university’s Board of Regents asking for recommendations of people “in the business world who’ve had a lot of experience with restructuring and downsizing companies.”

Atkinson stopped short of saying how many positions he hoped to eliminate, and he praised his predecessor, Jack W. Peltason, for paring UC’s central bureaucracy from 1,400 employees to about 1,000. But Atkinson indicated that before he can get down to the nitty-gritty of being president of the 162,000-student system, he must put his own house in order.

“My view is that the problems of this country are focused on economic growth and productivity,” said the 66-year-old experimental psychologist and former chancellor of UC San Diego. “Clearly the whole society is changing the way it does its business. And the university is going to be part of that.”

Atkinson’s comments came midway through his first morning on the job, and he admitted to being so new to the building that he didn’t know where to get a cup of coffee. But in a wide-ranging discussion with the news media, he expressed firm opinions about everything from the state of medical education (the nation trains too many doctors, he says) to UC’s ability to maintain diversity in the wake of the regents’ recent affirmative action decision (it isn’t going to be easy).

“I am fairly optimistic at the graduate level and professional schools that we can ensure diversity in the classes,” he said, when asked about the decision to prohibit the consideration of race or gender in the university’s hiring, contracting and admissions policies. “At the undergraduate level, we’re going to have to work very hard. . . . And the fact is that our level of diversity has not been that impressive over the last 15 years.”

Atkinson noted that African Americans make up just 5% of UC’s undergraduate student body, and he lamented that that figure has remained about the same for more than a decade.

What the regents’ decision did, Atkinson said, was force the university to pay even more attention to “outreach,” shorthand for programs that help underrepresented students become eligible for admission to UC.

One idea that is being considered, he said, is the targeting of schools whose students rarely qualify for UC, a strategy that would probably reach an ethnically diverse group. Another tactic is encouraging more UC students to volunteer their time in California’s public schools. Atkinson said he wanted to make it easier for students to get academic credit for such activities.

Like the UC chancellors and faculty, Atkinson opposed the regents’ decision. Nevertheless, he said, he does not support a current effort, begun in the wake of the affirmative action debate, to change the way regents are chosen. Today, 18 of the 26 regents are appointed by the governor. But a proposed statewide initiative is seeking to make regents be elected and to shorten their 12-year terms.

In explaining his opposition to the initiative, Atkinson said, “I’ve seen too many other states where the regents are elected, and there’s chaos, and people don’t know enough about what a university is about to really govern effectively.”

Asked about a planned Oct. 12 protest of the affirmative action decision at which some students have threatened to shut down the university, Atkinson said he hoped such a disruption would not occur.

“I understand why people would want to demonstrate their views on this matter,” he said. “But I doubt if a lot is achieved by trying to shut the university down.”

Most of what Atkinson said Monday related to the theme of safeguarding the university’s two missions, teaching and research, through efficiency and reorganization. Given the current financial climate--UC has lost about $300 million in state revenues in three years--each campus must specialize, he said.

“Different departments will have emphases in different areas,” he said. “Every campus . . . will obviously have a physics department,” but each will have its own special expertise.

Atkinson also said he was interested in increasing computer-based education where possible, remarking that once the right interactive programs are developed, subjects such as calculus and introductory chemistry “probably shouldn’t be taught by instructors.”

Atkinson lamented that faculty salaries at UC are about 11% lower than at comparable schools. He worried aloud about whether the numerous fee hikes in recent years have impeded UC’s mission to be accessible to the top 12.5% of the state’s high school graduates. Even building maintenance has suffered in recent years, he said.

“We are hurting. We’ve had three or four very bad years,” Atkinson said. But it was his first day, and he was feeling optimistic. When asked about plans for a 10th UC campus--a project in Merced whose funding has yet to be found--Atkinson said with confidence, “There will be a 10th campus.”

How will he address the university’s money problems? He smiled warmly and offered one word: “Vigorously.”