ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the Apr. 30 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room.

Meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m.

Joe Chatham, ASUCD president, present

Chris Dietrich, ASUCD vice president, present

Joemar Clemente, ASUCD senator, present

Danny Garrett, ASUCD senator, present

Justin Gold, ASUCD senator, present

Erin Lebe, ASUCD senator, present

Kevin Massoudi, ASUCD senator, present

Justin Patrizio, ASUCD senator, present

Laura Pulido, ASUCD senator, present

Shawdee Rouhafza, ASUCD senator, present

Trevor Taylor, ASUCD senator, present

Mo Torres, ASUCD senator, present

Previn Witana, ASUCD senator, present

Jack Zwald, ASUCD president pro-tempore, present

Appointments and Confirmations

Maryam Taeb was confirmed director for the Office of University Affairs.

Unit Director Reports

Coffee House Director Sharon Coulson announced the upcoming renovations to the coffeehouse, which are scheduled to begin at the end of July 2009. Temporary kitchens will be set up in the east wing of the Memorial Union.

Public Announcements

The Sustainability Summit will be held June 1 at Putah Creek Lodge, in which a series of speakers will talk about sustainability on the UC Davis campus. The summit will also showcase what students have been doing to work for increased local sustainability.

Court Announcements

Chief Justice Missy Whitney announced that in light of Court Case #45, the ASUCD court will deal with its own issues concerning written documents within the organization; focusing on reviewing their own judicial codes to clarify and correct discrepancies.

Consideration of old legislation

Senate Bill 46, authored by the Internal Affairs Commission, co-authored by Chen and introduced by the Internal Affairs Commission, to correct the removal process of Outreach Assembly members, passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 47, authored by the Internal Affairs Commission, co-authored by Chen and introduced by the Internal Affairs Commission, to revise the process by which a chairperson of a commission is selected, passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 48, authored and introduced by the Internal Affairs Commission, to include commissions and the Outreach Assembly in posting ASUCD minutes, passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 49, authored by the Internal Affairs Commission, co-authored by Sergio Cano and introduced by the Internal Affairs Commission, to clarify language and revise textural errors in Chapter Two of the ASUCD Bylaws, passed unanimously.

Senate Reports

Gold discussed plans to hire an architect for the Silo Project, which is currently forecasted to commence in fall 2011. Architectural renovation plans for the bookstore are expected to start in spring 2010. This means that both the Coffee House and the bookstore may be under construction at the same time.

Meeting adjourned at 9:23 p.m.

RITA SIMERLY compiles the Senate Briefs. She can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

The ceremonial ground breaking for a hotel expected to open January 2010 on the southern edge of campus took place on Thursday, with representatives from the University Hospitality Group, Hyatt, the city of Davis and UC Davis officials including Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef.

The majority of funding for the 75-room Hyatt Place boutique hotel comes from the University Hospitality Group, which is acting as the developer of the project and will staff and manage the hotel upon its completion.

“Planning for this project goes back into the late 1980s,” Chancellor Vanderhoef said in his ceremonial opening speech. “That’s how long we’ve been thinking about this, I’m excited that we finally have gotten here today.“

Vanderhoef said in his speech that he hopes this hotel, along with the new conference center being constructed directly across from the Mondavi Center, will increase attention not only to the university but also to the surrounding community.

“Conferences are not just 75 people” Vanderhoef said. “The traffic produced by this hotel will spill over into the community, and people who would normally go to larger venues in San Francisco will notice that this is UC Davis.“

The hotel, conference center, as well as the new Graduate School of Management building – all of which are located directly adjacent to the Buehler Alumni Center – are being constructed through a partnership between two Sacramento-based construction companies, Tricorp and Tony Moayed Construction Service (TMCS).

“The goal for this project is to have a first rate hotel together with the conference center,” Vanderhoef said.

The two companies have worked on campus since 1994 and are responsible for the construction of a number of major buildings including the Activities and Recreation Center, the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and the Buehler Alumni Center. They are also currently in the process of constructing the new Student Health and Wellness Center on La Rue Drive, the new Graduate School of Management and the conference center, which will include a restaurant.

“We’re based out of Sacramento but we do work from the Bay area to Reno,” said Tony Moayed, president of TMCS construction. “[The university] is not one of our biggest contractors; we’re currently doing work on the Sacramento airport and we were also involved in a number of renovations in the capitol area downtown.“

The hotel will be open to the public, and along with the planned restaurant will be run by the University Hospitality Group, which is currently leasing the land from the university.

“The Hyatt Place is a new brand,“ said Mary Hayakawa, executive director for real estate services in UC Davis‘ Office of Resource Management and Planning. “It’s a little more contemporary, this along with one that’s being built in Roseville will be the first two [of this brand] on the West Coast.“

The conference center and graduate school of management are expected to open this fall.

“This project will complement the ARC and Freeborn Hall, which are usually used for conferences,” Hayakawa said. “It will give us the opportunity to host academic conferences that we really don’t have the capacity for right now.“

CHARLES HINRIKSSON can be reached at campus@theaggie.org. 

Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef held his final dialogue with the Chancellor on Thursday evening in the Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom.

The event, which was hosted by the Student Assistants to the Chancellor, was the last in a series of dialogues and brownbag chats Chancellor Vanderhoef has held with the university community during his 15-year tenure as chancellor of UC Davis.

“[The dialogues are] meant to connect students with the administration.… Since this was the chancellor’s final dialogue, we really wanted to give him a chance to reflect back on his time here, and talk about what message he wants to send to the students … to give some words of wisdom, in a way,” said Traci Brown, student assistant to the chancellor.

Former ASUCD Presidents Ivan Carrillo and Kareem Salem, among other current and former members of student government, were present, as well as administration officials, and a handful of alumni, community leaders and students.

Student Assistants to the Chancellor Traci Brown and Molly Sundstrom opened with introductions and a slide show dedicated to the university’s past, present and future.

Afterward, Vanderhoef delivered his prepared remarks to the small audience. In reflecting on 100 years of Aggie legacy, the chancellor emphasized his respect and admiration for the role of student initiative in UC Davis‘ history.

“What if today there was no Unitrans, and we go out to the city and said we have this great idea: We’re going to have a bus system, it’s going to serve the campus, and the city too, with around 50 of the most modern buses, and we will let it be run by students,“ Vanderhoef said. “I could just see the people in city council not buying that. But it has [worked] … and it was because of the students.”

Vanderhoef noted that Davis‘ bike paths – the first of their kind in the nation – were largely established and encouraged by students.

As for the university’s recent growth, ranging from the Aggie Stadium and ARC to the new student health center currently under construction, the outgoing chancellor again lauded students‘ efforts, stating that students like Scott Reid – a former ASUCD president who was instrumental in raising funds for the projects – “make you very proud of the campus.“

Also among a litany of students Vanderhoef mentioned was Adam Rosenthal, a former UC Davis student and previous student regent. Rosenthal persuaded the University of California Regents to divest from companies affiliated with the Sudanese government in protest of acts of genocide in the Darfur region.

“I will never forget the day when he made his final proposal,” Vanderhoef said. “The regents, without a single dissent, passed it.“

The chancellor then discussed his plans for the future, noting he plans to teach a biology course for non-science majors, continue scholarly dialogue with institutions in Iran, and at some point, write a book about his experiences as chancellor, vice chancellor and provost during a period of burgeoning growth for the Davis campus.

“I’m happy to say that to a few of you,” Vanderhoef said. “That’s what’s really come back to me over and over again. My experiences here with the students are really at the top. They are the best ones that I’ve had, and I will never ever forget them.”

Following his remarks, the chancellor took an eclectic mix of questions from the audience.

A current student asked what recommendations Vanderhoef would give for those entering a difficult job market.

“It’s scary right?” Vanderhoef said. “But the point is these [times] are short-lived. You happen to be right in the middle of a tough time, but the country has a great reputation for figuring these out.… I wouldn’t change my plans one bit from what you really want to do. Stick with that.… Don’t give up easily, really stick with it and I promise it will [work out].“

Another student asked what Vanderhoef would have done if he had not become an academic.

Noting he “just sort of followed his nose,” Vanderhoef said he could have been a professional pool player (“That’s why I almost flunked out of school – I found out you could make a lot of money playing pool“) or a farmer, thanks to a role model boss he had in his youth.

The final question was regarding what important issues the new chancellor would face during his or her tenure.

“He or she is going to have to think about our financial circumstances … about how to do what we are doing, do those things that well – without any decline in quality … with less money, and so probably fewer people,” Vanderhoef said. “[Also,] I’m worried about these high fees … [especially] graduate fees. The average debt for a professional school student will be $100,000. Too high, absolutely too high.… There are a lot of public service jobs for lawyers and medical doctors that are very satisfying and allow you to do everything you wanted, but you can’t afford it. We’ve got to figure out how to, at a minimum, stop the increases in those fees.“

Following his remarks, the student assistants presented him with two enormous ‘thank-you‘ cakes, congratulating Vanderhoef on 25 years of service to the university.

Sergio Blanco, a junior political science major and former ASUCD senator, commended Vanderhoef for his remarks.

“Being a chancellor is definitely not an easy job. If you look at the town [of Davis], it has grown because the university has grown.… He’s really been a catalyst for that change,” Blanco said.

Blanco noted that while students often took the initiatives for new projects, it was the administration’s cooperation with students that turned them into realities. Blanco also agreed with the chancellor’s assessment of the university’s current financial issues.

“Are [we] going to protect students, both in living and academic aspects?” Blanco said. “Going to university has become a privilege, and people who have the merit and have achieved enough might not be able to go. How is the new chancellor going to deal with that?”

Larry N. Vanderhoef was appointed chancellor of UC Davis in April 1994, after serving as vice chancellor and provost since 1984. During his tenure, UC Davis‘ population grew from 22,000 to more than 30,000, and the faculty increased by 44 percent.

ANDRE LEE can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

University of California President Mark Yudof announced his recommendation of Linda Katehi from the University of Illinois to be UC Davis‘ sixth chancellor on Friday.

Pending approval by the UC Board of Regents later this week, Katehi will take over for Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef on Aug. 17. Vanderhoef announced his retirement in June 2008 after serving 15 years as chancellor preceded by another 10 as executive vice chancellor and provost.

Katehi, 55, has served as the provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs at the University of Illinois since 2006. The 41,000-student campus is a public land-grant institution like UC Davis.

“UC Davis is an institution of demonstrated excellence in faculty scholarship and academic programs, and I am humbled by President Yudof’s recommendation of my candidacy to lead it,“ Katehi said in a press release. “The next chancellor has a wonderful opportunity to work with the academic community to solidify the position of UC Davis as one of the top public research universities in the country and help it visibly participate in the development of the national agenda.“

The Greek native obtained her undergraduate degree from the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece before receiving her master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from UCLA.

Following her graduation from UCLA, Katehi spent 18 years as a faculty member and administrator at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor before becoming dean of engineering at Purdue University in 2002.

“I can’t imagine a more perfect next chancellor for the Davis campus than President Yudof’s recommended choice – Linda Katehi, currently provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,” Chancellor Vanderhoef said in a letter to the campus. “By virtually any measure, she is a superstar!”

President Yudof also announced his choice for UCSF’s next chancellor as Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, a cancer researcher and current president of product development at the biotechnology company Genentech. Confirmation of the two nominees would represent a significant increase in female chancellors, as currently only UC San Diego is headed by a woman.

“I am delighted to bring two extraordinary candidates to the regents for consideration,“ Yudof said in a press release. “These are creative, imaginative leaders who bring a strong record as managers and a strong commitment to high-quality academic programs that make a direct contribution to people’s lives.

“Both are tremendous success stories, and both will ensure that these UC campuses are national players in shaping the future of higher education and health care.”

University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman announced Katehi’s move in an e-mail to faculty and staff with “mixed emotions.”

“We are losing an individual of strong intellect, a leader with considerable capacity to guide our academic units, and a nationally respected scholar,” Herman wrote. “When you appoint individuals of this caliber, you know they will be constantly recruited. The position at UC Davis is an exceptional opportunity for Linda.”

Katehi isn’t the first administrator to come to UC Davis from Illinois. UC Davis‘ Vice Provost for Information and Educational Technology Peter Siegel came from the University of Illinois in 2006.

“Pete is quite a catch for the Davis campus,” Chancellor Vanderhoef said in a 2006 press release. “He comes from a university that is regarded as a national leader in the area of information technology.”

Katehi and Desmond-Hellmann will face a confirmation vote at the regents‘ meeting on Thursday. The meeting, originally scheduled to be at UCSD, will now take place via teleconference due to concerns about overburdening UCSD’s medical and security resources during the swine flu outbreak, according to a UC press release.

UC officials dismissed the notion that the regents are trying to avoid student protesters expected in response to the proposed 9.3 percent fee increase, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

In anticipation of the regents‘ approval of Katehi, UC Davis is planning a welcome reception on Friday at 11:15 a.m. in the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

ALYSOUN BONDE can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.