Posted on 02/14/2006 9:44:28 PM PST by NormsRevenge
The chairman of the University of California's board of regents wants to limit the number of corporate boards university leaders can sit on, a step that could directly affect UCSD's chancellor, Marye Anne Fox. UC Regent Chairman Gerry Parsky said the system needs to ensure chancellors keep the university as their top priority and that any benefits board memberships may bring to the university aren't outweighed by excessive demands on their time.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported last month that Fox sits on 10 corporate and nonprofit boards, more than any other chancellor in the 10-campus system. Fox has said her board service doesn't interfere with her duties and enhances the university's profile.
Parsky said in an interview Monday that “the regents need to address the issue of outside compensation and responsibilities undertaken by the senior management in the university, including boardships.”
“We need to determine what is appropriate in terms of the number of boards,” he said.
In the past, regents have deferred to UC President Robert Dynes regarding chancellors' compensation and outside activities. Parsky's statements seem to suggest the UC board plans to take a more active role.
Parsky is scheduled to testify next Wednesday in front of the state Senate Education Committee about UC's compensation issues. At a similar hearing last week, Dynes came under attack from the committee members for awarding excessive compensation to UC executives without disclosing it to regents, a violation of UC policy. They questioned why the UC system had not learned its lesson after coming under scrutiny a decade ago for the same thing.
Fox is among those executives the Senate committee named last week, both for her numerous board memberships and for receiving a $248,000 payment last year for a sabbatical she had reportedly earned at another university.
The state legislative hearings were prompted by recent newspaper reports, which also triggered a state audit and the creation of a UC audit and task force to study shortcomings in the UC system's policies and their enforcement.
Fox, 58, an organic chemist, has said she will not step down from any corporate boards because she considers her service a boon to the university.
“All things involved in managing and directing and envisioning for corporate entities are virtually the same things you have to do for universities,” she said in an interview last month. She also stated she works 14-hour days to handle all her responsibilities. Fox was not available for comment Tuesday.
Fox spent more than 180 hours last year attending board meetings, many on the East Coast, according to her calendar, which was obtained through a California Public Records Act request.
Fox used 21 vacation days to attend the meetings, more than the 18 vacation days she accrued over the year, according to her calendar records.
For her outside positions, Fox received at least $339,260 in cash and stock in the past year, according to corporate annual reports, proxy statements and tax returns. That rivals her university salary of $359,000.
Dynes said last month that he is aware of Fox's board service and is letting her set her own limits. UC's current policy doesn't curtail board memberships. It simply states that no employee should have outside activities that interfere with university responsibilities.
Many at UCSD applaud Fox's outside service, while others worry that she is unable to give her all to the 26,000-student public university.
“My personal view is, as long as she does her job as chancellor in a way that is satisfactory to people at the university, the fact that she serves on external boards can only be a good thing for the university,” said Bernard Minster, chairman of UCSD's academic senate. “It raises the profile of the university, and it gives her an outlook on life that is different from our own ivory tower.”
Others have a different view.
“We're glad that the regents are going to set a policy to limit the number of boards,” said Carolan Buckmaster, the president of UCSD's University Professional and Technical Employees union, which represents 3,000 lab researchers, technical staff and social workers. “We're concerned that she's not spending enough time on UCSD.”
Despite a university policy requiring annual reports on executives' outside compensation, regents have not received the information for at least two years. The data were not included in the last annual report on UC officer compensation, which covered the years 2002-03 and was issued in 2004. UC officials blame the oversight on overwork.
UC also has not released annual reports on Fox's board service commitments and compensation, and would not explain why, despite a Union-Tribune public records request submitted last month.
I have a board they can sat on. Two big nails sticking up, just for educators butts!
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