Hundreds vie for UC Davis top job

Hundreds of people have applied to be the next chancellor of UC Davis.

The search advisory committee has reviewed approximately 525 candidates. Some of them applied for the job and others were recommended or identified by the search committee, according to UC Davis.

Thirty-two percent of the candidates are women and 28 percent are minorities, according to the UC Davis website.

In September, the University of California Office of the President named a committee to find a new chancellor to replace Linda P.B. Katehi, who resigned in August after an investigation found she violated multiple university policies but cleared her of the most serious allegations related to nepotism and misuse of student funds. The investigation found that Katehi had repeatedly sought ways to enhance her online reputation by hiring outside consultants, despite claims to the contrary to Napolitano and the media.

The search committee is in charge of recruiting, screening and conducting interviews with candidates. It will recommend a candidate to UC President Janet Napolitano in January for consideration. Napolitano will then make a recommendation to the UC Board of Regents.

Some of the requirements for the next chancellor include: having a vision for continuing the school’s rise in national and international rankings; embodying a visible and accessible leadership style; increasing commitment to diversity; building bridges between UC Davis, Davis and Sacramento; and ensuring that all members of the campus community feel consulted and fully engaged. Search firm Isaacson, Miller developed parameters for the job search for the search committee.

The search committee is taking comments at ucdchancellorsearch@ucop.edu.

Katehi was chancellor for seven years. She will remain as a full-time faculty member after a yearlong paid sabbatical at her chancellor salary of $424,360.

The UC Davis Feminist Research Institute board last month nominated Katehi to head the program, but informed people this week said that Katehi was not interested. Katehi told The Davis Enterprise on Tuesday that she was unaware she had been nominated for the post until The Sacramento Bee reported it, and that she cannot run the institute despite supporting it.

Katehi did not respond to The Bee’s request for comment last week about the Feminist Research Institute position.

This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Hundreds vie for UC Davis top job."