Wednesday, August 30th 2006
Union opposes Diversity Czar
Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross shed some more light on Cal’s new Diversity Czar in today’s Chronicle:
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau has just announced he’s creating the new post of vice chancellor for equity and inclusion — a job that not only has an impressive title, but an equally impressive salary of between $182,000 and $282,000 a year… Plus an office budget in excess of $4 million.
In a post a few days ago, Beetle commented: I will note that, considering the bitching about overpaid administrators, this should probably be picking up a whole lot more opposition, especially since there’s no real evidence that this new “vice chancellor of equity and inclusion” will actually be doing anything.
It looks like that opposition is coming from an unlikely source:
The creation of the new post comes at a time when the university system is already under fire over executive pay — and for having so many high-level positions…
Judy Shattuck, president of Local 3 of the Coalition of University Employees, which represents about 2,000 clerical workers at UC Berkeley and the Office of the President, said she feared the new appointment was just “window dressing” intended to give the appearance of addressing discriminatory behavior at the campus.
Chancellor, when the bloggers and the unions agree that something is a waste of time and money, maybe it really is. Cut the BS.
