When I speak with groups both on and off campus, I am frequently asked the question, “What exactly does a chancellor do?” To answer that question in a somewhat granular way, I will begin an occasional blog, talking about what I’ve done in my recent work and about the issues on my mind.
When my daughter was about three, I noticed her walking rather officiously around the house (as officious as three-year old can be), carrying a purse. I asked her what she was doing, and she said, “I’m a mommy and I’m going to a meeting.”
Most of the chancellor’s day is spent exactly in that way—going to meetings.
Even in a world of digital communications nothing, for me, can take the place of face-to-face communication and interaction. It’s what many have heard me refer to as the “shoe leather” approach. It is through these meetings that I gain an understanding of what’s happening on the campus—what needs to be celebrated, supported or addressed. It is through these meetings that I seek to explain, and receive feedback about, our objectives and the strategies we intend to use in their pursuit. The job of chancellor is a combination of “story-teller in chief,” communicating in ways large and small the aspirations of the university and its understanding of its current challenges and opportunities; and of “story listener in chief,” trying to understand how parts of our community think about what we should do to make our university even truer to its mission than it is. These two shape the decisions—both large ones and small—we make every day.
While this isn’t an exhaustive list, here is a sense of what I’ve been doing for the past seven days. This past week, the Council of Chancellors (COC), met for a day, and the UC Berkeley Foundation Board also met, for a day and a half. I helped lead a discussion for the COC on free speech, talking about our experiences over the past month, gave a speech to the Foundation Board about my goals, and moderated a public panel on free speech.
We had five events at University House—a reception for new faculty, a reception for Fiat Lux scholars, a barbecue for Foundation Board members, a lunch for a potential donor, and a lunch for the new trustees joining the Foundation Board.
I visited two classes—Dan Mulhern’s class on leadership in the Haas School, and Ellen Switkes’ freshman seminar on higher education. I enjoyed both tremendously; I miss teaching, and the opportunities it presents to talk with students. I also met with the ASUC Senate, with student leaders of sustainability organizations, and with student ambassadors.
I went to a memorial service for former Berkeley Law dean Herma Hill Kay, and I met with the President of the Free University of Berlin about our collaboration. I met with my cabinet, as I do every week, and had numerous standing meetings with members of my administration.
Finally—and perhaps most importantly—I had several occasions in the past week to think intensely about diversity. I had the opportunity to discuss the recommendations in the Final Report from last spring’s Tribal Forum with the Director of Native American Student Development. I met with the Chicanx Latinx Task Force about their recommendations to increase the presence and improve the environment for Chicanx and Latinx communities on campus, and I met with the Black Student Union executive committee, who presented a set of proposals to sustain the health and safety of the black community at Cal. All of these reports and recommendations show me how much work we have to do in the area of diversity. Both the Chicanx Latinx Task Force Report and the document from the Cal BSU support their proposals with data that show how difficult the experience of underrepresented populations at Berkeley can be. Furthermore, the events of the past month have made some of our underrepresented communities feel even more fragile. In the next weeks I will be working with my team to redouble our efforts to address diversity and inclusion on our campus.