Wilcox will replace Jane Close Conoley, the interim chancellor, who replaced former chancellor Timothy White in December after White left to become chancellor of the California State University system. Wilcox was announced as nominee for the position on July 25.

While Wilcox’s appointment was approved in a unanimous vote, both Gov. Jerry Brown  and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke out against his compensation package, which includes an annual base salary of $354,000 — an increase of $29,000, or 8.9 percent, from White’s salary.

Brown expressed concerns that Wilcox would receive an increase in salary from the previous chancellor and voted against the compensation package. In November, Brown also opposed an increase in compensation for UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, citing concern with the university’s cost structure and the need for public administrators to exhibit the spirit of “servant leadership.”

Despite Brown’s opposition, the regents approved the compensation package.

UC President Mark Yudof expressed confidence that Wilcox would excel as chancellor.

“Kim Wilcox brings to the University of California distinctive expertise and interests that will serve the Riverside campus and the larger community exceedingly well,” Yudof said.

Bruce Varner, chair of the Board of Regents, served on the search committee and also expressed support of Wilcox.

“Kim Wilcox emerged as the top choice from an outstanding group of candidates,” Varner said. “He has everything it takes to be not only a strong leader and advocate for students, faculty and staff on campus but also a positive force for the larger community.”

Wilcox will begin his position as chancellor of UC Riverside on Aug. 19.

“I’m humbled and honored and excited about this chance,” Wilcox said. “Every university can become better, and great universities can become greater, and that’s what I see happening at the University of California, Riverside.”

Wilcox has served as provost and executive vice president of Michigan State University since 2005. He previously served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas from 2002 to 2005 and as president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents from 1999 to 2002.

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Wilcox will be replacing Jane Close Conoley, the interim chancellor, who has served since former chancellor Timothy White left the school to become chancellor of the California State University system at the end of December.

“My values and interests align perfectly with UC Riverside, one of the nation’s great research universities,” Wilcox said in a statement released Thursday. “I look forward to meeting with students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the larger community, to learning and exchanging ideas and to working toward making Riverside the best it can be.”

Wilcox, a professor of communicative sciences and disorders at Michigan State University, served as provost and executive vice president for eight years before stepping down on July 1.

He served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas from 2002 to 2005 and as president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Board of Regents from 1999 to 2002.

“Kim Wilcox brings to the University of California distinctive expertise and interests that will serve the Riverside campus and the larger community exceedingly well,” said UC President Mark Yudof in a statement. “He has been a dedicated teacher, scholar and researcher who also excelled as an academic leader and chief executive, always maintaining his commitment to diversity and access to higher education.”

The UC Board of Regents will discuss Wilcox’s appointment and compensation at a special meeting on Aug. 8 and will consider the effective date of the appointment on Aug. 19.

Andrea Guzman is a news editor. Contact her at aguzman@dailycal.org.

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Andrew Kuo/Senior Staff

Following months of controversy, UC Berkeley announced that it will withdraw from the systemwide UC Student Health Insurance Plan in the fall.

Chancellor Robert Birgeneau announced the decision to withdraw Thursday, joining four other UC campuses that are abandoning at least some parts of UC SHIP. The announcement comes after the systemwide Council of Chancellors approved various changes to UC SHIP, including campus withdrawal, in a meeting Wednesday.

“Today I am stating my support for the students’ position and, following their urging, announcing that UC Berkeley will be withdrawing from UC SHIP and returning to a UC Berkeley-operated student health insurance plan,” Birgeneau said in a statement.

Beginning Aug. 15, UC Berkeley will transition back into a campus-managed, fully funded insurance plan similar to what the campus had in place for decades before joining UC SHIP in 2011.

UC SHIP follows a self-funded model in which those paying the costs, in this case the UC system, are responsible for absorbing the plan’s risks, according to Bahar Navab, UC Berkeley’s student representative to the UC SHIP Advisory Board. Fully funded plans place risk on a separate insurance provider but generally have higher premiums.

UC SHIP currently has a $400,000 lifetime cap and a $10,000 prescription drug coverage cap. As a fully funded plan, UC Berkeley-provided insurance would also have to comply with the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits these coverage caps.

In a letter sent to Birgeneau last month by UC Berkeley student representatives, Navab and ASUC President Connor Landgraf wrote that poor management from the UC Office of the President and a desire for more local control were some of the reasons students favored withdrawing from UC SHIP.

“I think that localized control and more decentralized governance is what’s best for our campus right now,” Navab said. “It’s a two-year plan, and we can always re-evaluate after two years. If UC SHIP has changed enough that we want to go back to it, we always have that option.”

UC Berkeley’s decision to withdraw comes in light of UC SHIP’s projected $46.5 million net deficit, which earlier prompted the possibility of premium increases across the board.

According to Kim LaPean, communications manager at the Tang Center, the new plan is expected to include a 13 percent premium increase for undergraduates and a 20 percent increase for graduate students, though the campus has yet to finalize rates. LaPean said benefits will not decrease under the campus plan and that officials are working to ensure that students will be able to see the same outside carriers.

“Berkeley students were really clear that they did not want to lose benefits,” LaPean said. “The changes that they’re going to see are all going to be in the favor of the student.”

Other campuses that decided to partially withdraw from UC SHIP include UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara. Some campuses, like UCLA, have opted to stick with UC SHIP.

Students with coverage through UC SHIP next year will also see changes, including lifting the lifetime maximum, annual pharmacy cap and other caps on essential care. The UC Office of the President is currently reviewing options to close the deficit, but UC spokesperson Brooke Converse said students will not have to pay for the deficit through premium increases.

“Our job right now is to respect the campuses that want to leave,” said Scott Arno, the UCLA student representative to UC SHIP Advisory Board. “No campus should be forced into this plan. We need to make it run better so that they’ll want to come back.”

Mitchell Handler covers academics and administration. Contact him at mhandler@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @mitchellhandler.

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UC Riverside’s student government recently passed a resolution calling on the university to divest from companies with ties to allegedly unethical acts in Israel, and UC San Diego is considering something similar. These follow a bill passed by a branch of UC Irvine’s student government in November and a failed attempt to pass a controversial divestment bill at UC Berkeley three years ago. At least partially because of those measures, it seems likely that a related divestment effort could resurface in the ASUC Senate. Furthermore, ASUC President Connor Landgraf admitted that there “have definitely been murmurs of divestment,” and Senator Sadia Saifuddin indicated that she would be receptive to restarting the debate.

If history is any indicator, an ASUC divestment bill could catapult the UC Berkeley student body into a firestorm of controversy. In 2010, the senate’s bill asking the University of California to divest from companies associated with alleged war crimes in Israel bitterly divided the student body. The bill passed but was promptly vetoed by the ASUC president. That triggered several meetings rife with antagonistic discourse — and attracted international attention — but the senate failed to override the veto. The divisive nature of the 2010 events casts doubt over whether the ASUC is equipped to handle a healthy discussion about this issue.

Of course, there are potential benefits to reconsidering a divestment bill. It could provide a setting for an open, honest and informative dialogue. Theoretically, by bringing the issue into focus, it could also be a productive opportunity that allows supporters and opponents to spread their perspectives to more students. And if each side can enter the debate in good faith with each other, they will be far more likely to engage each other in constructive conversations.

But in order for that to happen, senators and other student leaders need to carefully heed the lessons of 2010. First, they would need to allow sufficient time for a complete discussion — because scores of students will have strong sentiments about divestment, the senate cannot attempt to rush a bill in the last few weeks of the semester. Should divestment return, senators would need to prepare themselves for a lengthy process that considers all perspectives.

The bill itself would also require an extensive time investment. Unlike the 2010 version, a new Israeli divestment bill would require thorough research if it is to receive any respect from students who oppose it. Similarly, students must also take explicit measures to ensure that all discourse about divestment does not devolve into offensive conversations that alienate campus community members. And ASUC officials should also be completely transparent about any political pressure they receive from outside groups.

Given the ASUC’s past attempt, it’s difficult to believe that another round of divestment talks in the senate could be worthwhile for any party involved. But if the subject returns, student leaders can take some specific steps to make the effort legitimate. Repeating the mistakes of 2010 would be damaging to all parties involved.

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The UC San Diego student government also discussed a divestment resolution at its weekly meeting Wednesday night but tabled its version of the bill until next week.

UC Riverside’s resolution passed by a two-thirds majority, with 11 senators in support. A similar bill was introduced at UC Berkeley in 2010, causing national outcry from pro-Israeli groups both on campus and nationwide.

ASUC President Connor Landgraf acknowledged the issue’s presence on UC Berkeley’s campus but declined to comment on how the actions taken at UCSD and UC Riverside may affect divestment at UC Berkeley.

“I’m not really sure what the fallout will be,” Landgraf said. “There have definitely been murmurs of divestment (at UC Berkeley), but it remains to be seen how those pan out and what effect the UCSD resolution will have here.”

ASUC Senator Sadia Saiffudin said that she supports UC Riverside’s divestment move and would like to see similar action at UC Berkeley.

“I think that it will also open the doors to communication from all sides of the conversation,” she said in an email. “I think there will be a lot of dialogue about what it means to divest from a conflict zone and how students on campus are (affected) by these issues. It is time that we hold the UC Regents accountable to where our money and fees are invested.”

DJ Sellarole covers the ASUC. Contact him at dsellarole@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @DJSellarole.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the UC Riverside resolution asked the University of California to divest from Israeli companies. In fact, the resolution asked the university to divest from companies profiting off alleged war crimes in Israel.

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Jan Flatley-Feldman/Staff

The UC Board of Regents confirmed the appointment of Nicholas B. Dirks as UC Berkeley’s next chancellor at a meeting Tuesday morning.

Dirks, a professor of anthropology and history who previously served as the executive vice president and dean of the faculty for arts and sciences at Columbia University, will assume office on June 1, 2013.

“UC Berkeley is one of the greatest universities in the world, not just because of its excellence but because it is a public institution with a public mission,” Dirks said after his confirmation. “The university for me is the last great utopia, and the University of California fits that bill, I think, better than any.”

The regents approved an annual base salary of $486,800 for Dirks, a $50,000 increase from Birgeneau’s current base salary. According to a statement from the UC Office of the President, the raise will be paid for by “private donors.”

Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom were the only two regents to vote no on Dirks’ proposed compensation package.

“We’re going to have to restrain this system in many, many of its elements, and this will come with great resistance,” Brown said about his vote. “The leader of the system — the leaders — have to demonstrate that they are sacrificing.”

In response, Regent George Kieffer noted that UC Berkeley’s executive compensation is “below nearly half the universities in the United States.”

At the meeting, the regents also confirmed the appointment of Jane Close Conoley as acting chancellor of UC Riverside.

Contact Gautham Thomas at gthomas@dailycal.org

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Conoley, who currently serves as dean of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at UC Santa Barbara, will begin as head of UC Riverside Dec. 31, the day after outgoing chancellor Timothy White is planning to step down. She will serve in the post until a permanent successor for White is found.

“Conoley is an established leader and scholar who cares deeply about providing access to opportunity for those who aspire to higher education,” said UC President Mark Yudof, who made the selection, in a press release. “We’re very pleased that she has agreed to serve the UC Riverside community in this vital role.”

Conoley is a psychologist by training and came to UC Santa Barbara in 2006 after heading an education program at Texas A&M University for 10 years. When she begins serving at UC Riverside, she will replace White, who is leaving the campus to become the chancellor of the California State University system at the end of December.

In a statement, White said he was pleased that Conoley would serve as interim chancellor.

“She has a keen interest in advancing UCR’s strategic goals, supporting our students and engaging with our community,” he said. “Her combination of experience and enthusiasm will serve UCR well during this time of transitional leadership.”

The UC Board of Regents is expected to approve Conoley’s appointment at a special meeting this week. The board is also expected to confirm UC Berkeley Chancellor-designate Nicholas Dirks Tuesday.

Dirks’ pending appointment as UC Berkeley’s 10th chancellor was announced Nov. 8. His appointment is expected to be confirmed by the UC Board of Regents in a special meeting on Tuesday. If confirmed, Dirks will take office on campus June 1, 2013.

Amruta Trivedi is the assistant university news editor. Contact her at atrivedi@dailycal.org.

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White will assume the position as the head of the 23-campus system at the end of December.

“I feel this is a tremendous opportunity for me to try to do more for higher education in this state, at a time that is both precarious and potentially transformative,” he wrote in an open letter to the UC Riverside community Thursday. “It is an opportunity to affect the futures of some 430,000 CSU students, and those yet to come.”

Prior to his appointment as the chancellor of UC Riverside in 2008, White served as the president of the University of Idaho from 2004 to 2008. He also spent time at UC Berkeley as a professor and chair of the former Department of Human Biodynamics from 1991 to 1996.

White earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fresno, a master’s degree from California State University, East Bay and a Ph.D. in exercise physiology from UC Berkeley.

“While he will be missed, it is no small consolation knowing that, with Chancellor White at the helm of the CSU, the University of California will continue to have a well-placed partner and ally in the fight to preserve public higher education in California,” said UC President Mark Yudof in a statement released Thursday.

Yudof said he plans to initiate a search for White’s replacement soon and will appoint an interim chancellor for UC Riverside in the near future.

Curan Mehra is the lead higher education reporter. Contact him at cmehra@dailycal.org.

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The road to the medical school has not been easy. UC Riverside received approval to build the school from the UC Board of Regents in July 2008 but had its first application for accreditation rejected by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education in the summer of 2011 due of a lack of recurring state funding to support the school.

To make up for the state funding issue, the school raised $100 million between June 2011 and April 15 of this year before submitting its second proposal, which the accreditation committee accepted.

“This milestone enables us to open the doors of the medical school and begin expanding and diversifying our region’s physician workforce,” Dean of the UC Riverside School of Medicine G. Richard Olds said in a statement released Tuesday.

The $100 million will be spread out over a decade, with $10 million granted each year. Eighty million dollars of the money came from Riverside County, and the other $20 million came from the UC Office of the President, according to Olds.

“The fact that the community gave us so much money just goes to show how much it wants this medical school,” Olds said. “It’s strange that the county would endorse a medical school, and it just shows you how important this school is to the community.”

Olds said the program at the school will differ from other medical programs in that it will be the only community-based medical school in the state and will focus on addressing the community’s lack of primary health care physicians. The school plans to enroll its first class in fall 2013.

Daniel Hunt, the co-secretary of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, said that for UC Riverside  to become a fully accredited medical school, it will have to undergo a series of routine visits from the committee to ensure it meets a total of 131 standards.

UC Riverside currently has a joint medical program with UCLA, called the Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences, in which medical students spend their first two years at UC Riverside before finishing their program at UCLA. That program will be phased out thanks to the new medical school at the Riverside campus.

Jonathan Pena, who is currently in his second year in the joint program, said many people within the community are excited about the opening of the new program because it could help alleviate a shortage of primary care physicians in the Inland Empire.

“It’s a great step forward for the UCR community and medicine in general,” Pena said. “Adding at least 25 students a year will definitely help to meet (the shortage).”

The operating cost of the school for the 2013-14 school year will be approximately $37 million, which, according to Olds, is a significantly small amount compared to most medical schools.

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What makes the school unique, said Anil Deolalikar, director of the public policy initiative and a professor of economics at UC Riverside, is that there is no center that trains policymakers in issues specific to the area east of Los Angeles.

“We have problems of immigration, population growth, environmental degradation, traffic congestion and suburban growth,” Deolalikar said. “We need good policymakers who do not go into politics out of default but are trained to handle policymaking with trained analytical skills.”

UC Riverside will begin building the school by enrolling approximately 30 students into the two-year M.P.P. program — a professional master’s program focused on giving policymakers the practical skills they will need to solve local and international issues — by fall 2014.

Eventually, the school plans to expand to include a doctoral program, along with other specialized professional programs — including an accelerated 15-month M.P.P. for professionals and a public policy doctoral minor for doctoral students in other departments, according to Deolalikar.

Because the new public policy school is a professional program, Deolalikar said it will use Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition fees to generate revenue.

“For master’s programs, students are paying professional fees,” he said. “This is actually a net revenue-generating program. In a budgetary crisis like this, it actually makes more sense to focus on professional programs.”

UC Riverside spokesperson Bettye Miller said the campus has started a search process for the school’s first dean and will select that person from the current faculty. Once the dean is selected, the school will build its faculty by creating joint appointments for existing faculty members from other campus departments.

“We will not need to hire new faculty — we have a ton of faculty interested in public policy,” Deolalikar said. “These are philosophers, engineers, economists — people who are passionate about their subjects and who are interested in public policy. It will be an organic process.”

Henry Brady, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, said that while no immediate plans for collaboration between the two schools exist, it may be something to work toward.

This goal of academic collaboration is a part of Deolalikar’s greater vision for UC Riverside’s new school of public policy.

“Maybe there is something that inland California can learn from China or Brazil, and maybe China and Brazil can learn something from inland California,” he said. “We want the school to work on inland California problems but learn from global solutions. There is a good saying that is very relevant here: Think globally, act locally.”

Contact D.J. Sellarole at dsellarole@dailycal.org.

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