Chodorow may be top choice at UCLA

The provost's whereabouts this week remain uncertain. Provost Stanley Chodorow may be the top candidate in the University of California's search for a new chancellor for its Los Angeles campus. The Los Angeles Times and UCLA's Daily Bruin both reported yesterday that Chodorow was interviewed by UCLA's selection committee in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday. A clerk at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, Calif., confirmed that Chodorow was registered at the hotel, but checked out around 3 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday. Different sources at Penn give varying accounts of where the provost is now, with some officials in his office telling The Daily Pennsylvanian that Chodorow is in Florida this week. Other candidates reportedly interviewing for the UCLA job include Harvard University Provost Albert Carnesale, UCLA Medical School Dean Gerald Levy and UCLA Law School Dean Susan Prager. But sources told the Bruin that Chodorow and Carnesale may have left the UCLA candidates in the dust. "Many committee members felt that [Chodorow] had the breadth of knowledge about UCLA's strengths and weaknesses necessary to be an effective chancellor," one source said. Chodorow served as UC San Diego dean of arts and humanities and associate vice chancellor of academic planning while current UC President Atkinson served as that school's chancellor. And Atkinson's spokesperson Terry Colvin said Chodorow and Atkinson are still close friends. Opinions on Carnesale were mixed, with one official describing him as the likely pick and another claiming that it was unclear whether he could run an institution like UCLA. According to the Bruin, LeveyEfaces opposition from some committee members, but is favored by some UC regents. "Levey faced a considerable amount of opposition from members of the search committee because of his dictatorial managements style," a committee source said. And although Prager interviewed well, several sources said she is unlikely to be Atkinson's choice for the job. Regardless of how where Chodorow may stand in the search, his executive assistant Linda Koons said the provost has been in Florida this week, not California. "As far as we know he is in Florida fundraising, that's what we were told and that's what we made the tickets for," Koons said. But Chodorow's executive secretary, Joan Paye, said the provost's office did not handle his travel arrangements for this trip, adding that she believes he may have done it himself. Paye said that while Chodorow told her he was going on a fundraising trip, he didn't say what cities he was visiting or where he was staying. And students in the provost's History 211 seminar -- which met on Monday --Esaid he indicated he would be on a fundraising trip on the West Coast until Friday. The reports about Chodorow's interview comes two weeks after he responded to a Sacramento Bee report that he was on a short list of candidates for the UCLA post by calling the article "speculative" and insisting he did not apply for the position. A Bruin article published that same week did not list Chodorow on either its list of candidates or its list of alternates. Atkinson --Ewho selects the candidate after hearing the advice of the search committee --Eis expected to present one of the final four candidates to the Board of Regents for approval in March.

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