Who needs a chancellor, anyway? The question...

Who needs a

chancellor, anyway?

The question posed in the May 11 Daily Pilot, “What is a

chancellor and what do they do?” sought to identify the role and

responsibilities of this somewhat exalted position and, in the

process, seek to provide something resembling justification for the

jump in his salary along with his three vice-chancellor assistants.

This did not happen.

It’s most pertinent to recall that, a little over five years ago,

the California Citizens Commission on Higher Education saw fit to

recommend the elimination of the chancellors of the 72 community

college districts in California, along with 72 district boards. The

commission was headed by John Brooks Slaughter, president of

Occidental College, and Harold M. Williams, president emeritus of the

J. Paul Getty Trust. The remaining 25 members included distinguished

leaders in education and business.

In its final report, “Toward a State of Learning,” the commission

found that “higher education’s structure tends to be overly

stratified” and, more specifically for the community colleges,

recommended that “the governance and structure of the California

Community Colleges should be simplified and changed to one based on

campuses, not on districts.”

To fill the void created by the loss of the chancellor and the

board, the commission proposed the appointment of a council, which

would consist of members appointed by local elected officials, the

state board and campus constituencies.

Although there is much to be said in behalf of these

recommendations, including phenomenal savings approaching $150

million, they went nowhere in the Legislature or in educational

circles.

Perhaps the time has come for the new leadership in Sacramento to

dust of the commission’s report and give it a thorough review.

LEFTERIS LAVRAKAS

Costa Mesa