Even before the UC Board of Regents recently removed the “interim” from his title, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Lawrence H. Pitts had been planning a visit to UC Davis — and that visit (with open forums) is scheduled for April 20. See below for open forum details.

Pitts is visiting all the campuses to meet with administrators, students, staff and faculty to gain a greater understanding of each campus, and its plans, needs and issues.

Pitts, a professor emeritus of neurosurgery at UC San Francisco, became the UC system’s interim provost in February 2009, succeeding another interim provost, Robert Grey, former provost and executive vice chancellor at UC Davis. Grey had succeeded Wyatt “Rory” Hume, who left UC in the summer of 2008 to become provost of United Arab Emirates University.

Pitts’ appointment as Hume’s permanent replacement followed a national search that yielded 15 prospects.

The provost is the highest-ranking academic officer at UC and is responsible for Academic Affairs systemwide, with duties that include setting academic policies on student admissions, retention and graduation; developing academic priorities; and long-ranging planning to maintain UC’s service to the public and to sustain UC’s position as the world’s leading public research institution.

Regents’ action

At the Board of Regents last meeting, March 23-25 at UCSF, UC President Mark G. Yudof recommended Pitts’ appointment, and the board agreed.

“Larry is an accomplished academic leader, and a passionate and able advocate for UC and public higher education generally,” Yudof said. “He knows UC extremely well and I think he’ll do a terrific job working with the administration, the regents, the faculty and the rest of the UC community to help lead the university into the future and to maintain UC’s standards of academic and scientific excellence.”

Pitts, 69, who joined the UCSF faculty in 1975, served as chief of neurosurgery at San Francisco General Hospital and UCSF-Mount Zion Hospital, and vice chair and acting chair of the Department of Neurosurgery.

He is a past chair of the systemwide Academic Senate. He served on a variety of senate committees at the divisional and systemwide levels, including the senate’s Shared Governance Task Force, the Task Force on Health Care and the drafting task force on UC’s Health Corporate Compliance Plan.

Pitts received concurrent bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and industrial management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as a naval officer for two years before attending the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He did his neurosurgical training at UCSF.

“Having spent most of my career at UC, I know very well what a remarkable institution the University of California is, and its impact on society, not only here in California but around the world,” Pitts said. “We have some big challenges ahead of us, but many more opportunities.”

Compensation

Pitts is receiving the same compensation and benefits that he received as interim provost. The package includes an approved annual salary of $350,000, which, under the salary reduction-furlough plan, is being cut 10 percent, to $315,000.

UCOP noted that Pitts’ approved annual salary of $350,000 is more than 18 percent less than the market median of $415,800 and more than 21 percent less than the $425,000 that Hume received as the last person to hold the post on a permanent basis.

Pitts' benefits:

• Per policy, standard sick leave and vacation accrual.

• Per policy, administrative funds for official entertainment and other purposes permitted by university policy.

• Per policy, eligibility for standard employee medical, dental and vision coverage.

As a re-employed UC retiree, Pitts will suspend his pension and retiree benefits, allowing him to return full time during this appointment as an active employee and making him eligible for regular employee health coverage and additional pension credits for his service, consistent with UC policy (this constitutes an exception to the policy under which retired employees can be rehired at no more than a 43 percent appointment; given the critical importance of the provost's responsibilities and the need to have a dedicated full-time incumbent in this role, Pitts has agreed to this appointment at 100 percent time).

OPEN FORUMS APRIL 20

The April 20 open forums with Provost and Executive Vice President Lawrence H. Pitts are all scheduled to take place in the Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom. Here are the times for various constituencies:

• 9:30-10:30 a.m. — Staff

• 10:30-11:30 a.m. — Students

• 2-3 p.m. — Academic Federation

• 3-4 p.m. — Academic Senate

In addition, Pitts is due to meet with Enrique Lavernia, provost and executive vice chancellor; the Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors; and the Academic Senate’s Executive Council.