UC President Robert Dynes, who officially took office last week, will host a series of “Web chats” for UC community faculty, staff and students this week as part of a continuing effort to stay in touch with key constituencies within UC and around the state.
Dynes’ live Web chat with staff and faculty is set for 10-11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14. Then, from 4-5 p.m. on Wednesday, he will focus on student issues, inviting students from across the UC system to join in the discussion.
In a meeting with campus-based reporters last week, Dynes reiterated his desire to touch base with UC community members and to also hear what non-UC affiliated state residents think about UC. “I want to hear from as many people as I can,” he said.
Instead of a traditional inauguration, Dynes has opted for an “inaugural tour,” which will take him around the state and to Los Alamos National Laboratory during the first six months of his presidency.
The visits will include campuses and labs and their surrounding communities. Dynes will meet with faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the university, along with elected officials, business community members and the media.
His dates to visit UC Davis have not been confirmed. Tentatively, however, Dynes’ schedule will find him at UC Riverside on Nov. 20, at UCLA on Dec. 1, at UC Santa Barbara Dec. 4-5, and in the San Joaquin Valley Dec. 8-9.
An avid runner, the new president also will be inviting folks along his tour route to join him for morning runs.
Traveling around the state thus far this summer, he said, he has found that “California really is the envy of the world.”
Dynes said others view the state as a place of risk-taking innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, diversity and tolerance; and he credits UC for much of that success. “Sure we have problems,” he said, noting, however, that the university has a history of taking those problems to task.
He said he’s eager to face the challenges of leading UC, even through this initial period of budgetary difficulty. “My adrenaline’s pumping, my mind is turning like mad, and I want to get on with it,” Dynes said.
The Web chats are a continuation of “Dynes’ Desk,” an Internet forum the president hosted as chancellor of UC San Diego. Appearing at Dynes’ Desk were e-mails from UCSD affiliates — commenting on a range of topics, from student fees to staff workload. “I read every e-mail that came to me,” Dynes said, noting that many of those submissions were posted at Dynes’ Desk and were personally answered or acted upon.
Dynes hopes to establish a similar vehicle for communication as president.
For more about the chats, see http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/newpresident.