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By Patrick KerkstraSummer Bruin Staff

In a decision that promises major consequences for Los Angeles' artistic and educational communities, UCLA's second-highest ranking official, Executive Vice Chancellor Andrea Rich, announced her resignation last week.

On November 1, Rich will assume the top position at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), as the unanimous selection of the museum's board of trustees.

As UCLA's executive vice chancellor, Rich is responsible for the day to day operations of the university and reports directly to Chancellor Charles Young. She oversees the College of Letters and Science, the UCLA Medical Center and 11 professional schools, comprising more than 40,000 persons. When Young is out of town, Rich holds final authority.

Rich's announcement raised concerns of an administrative power vacuum, since she is responsible for running so much of the university.

"Young takes care of high level decisions and is UCLA's ambassador. He doesn't take care of day to day management," said Tim Beasley, last year's graduate student president. Beasley worked extensively with Young and Rich on a wide array of student affairs.

"They think very similarly; he trusts her to carry out all kinds of things," Beasley continued. "A lot of what comes out with Young's name on it is probably her handiwork."

Rich expects to officially resign her $144,000 a year job in the beginning of September, leaving the university two short months for the transition.

"There's never enough (time). Transitions are always difficult and this one will not be not difficult," Rich said, adding that she feels many issues can be resolved in her remaining days.

Rich's looming departure created immediate speculation on who her successor will be. Young, who is out of the country and unavailable for comment, said in a prepared statement that he has begun pulling together a search committee for her replacement.

It is unknown whether or not students will have a voice in the search process, but some student leaders are already calling for representation in the selection.

"I believe we have a unique opportunity to offer student input at a very high level," said graduate student president John Shapley. "The executive vice-chancellor has a lot of power and student opinion needs to be heavily considered in choosing the next one.

Shapley hopes to see at least one undergraduate and one graduate student on the search committee.

In her 34 years at UCLA, Rich has grown from a student to the second most powerful administrator on campus. As Rich began to attract the attention of other campuses, becoming a presidential candidate for colleges elsewhere, she was approached by LACMA. Although she was not interested in the job at first, she gradually changed her mind.

"I think that there comes a point in people's lives and careers where you stand at a crossroads. I have been at UCLA for 34 years, I have been in the Chancellor's Office almost 10 years, and I've been the executive vice-chancellor almost five years," Rich said.

"I was beginning to be recruited by other universities. And sometimes you're more appreciated from the outside then you are on the inside."

Besides the dramatic career change, Rich said she was attracted to the ability the position gave her to remain in her Los Angeles, her home since she entered UCLA as an undergraduate student.

Since those early days, Rich has helped create the communication studies major, the splintered School of Theater, Film and Television, and the School of Public Policy and Social Research.

The executive vice-chancellor lists these among her proudest accomplishments at UCLA, but much of her time has been spent on less visible projects, such as reorganizing the medical center and creating the Office of Instructional Development, which attempts to improve undergraduate curriculum.

Those achievements won Rich the admiration of Young, who entrusted her with increasingly larger projects as she moved up the administrative ladder.

"(Rich's) vision and leadership will be greatly missed at UCLA. I am delighted, however, that she will continue to play a central role in the educational and cultural life of our community at LACMA," Young said in a prepared statement.

Although Rich's career has garnered official praise and LACMA's recognition, some of her other actions have earned her criticism from the campus community, and in particular student leaders.

Rich provoked a flurry of complaints and helped spark further protests when she called in the Los Angeles Police Department to control a student occupation of the Faculty Center in May, 1993. Students were demanding creation of a Chicana/o studies department.

Young was off campus then, leaving Rich in charge. Her decision to bring in the city police, dressed in full riot gear, resulted in 99 student arrests. A series of letters to the Daily Bruin's Viewpoint section condemned Rich's actions, and dubbed her the "Ice Queen." One submission, signed by over 100 people, called for her immediate resignation.

Rich was also challenged when Young appointed her to the position of chief academic officer. The Graduate Student Association (GSA) called for an official search process to fill the position, as well as questioning the appointment of the untenured Rich to such a senior academic position.

Student leaders also challenged Rich's attitude towards students, arguing that she failed to give much weight to campus opinion.

"I would assume that a person in her position would push for student input as much as possible," said Loc Nguyen, graduate student internal vice-president and former commissioner of academic affairs. "She hasn't pushed it as much as I would hope for."

Others agreed, but said that her style would work well at LACMA.

"If you can work and survive within academic politics, then you'll do well pretty much anywhere else," Nguyen said.

"She is competent at managing things, and runs an organization incredibly well, effectively and efficiently," Beasley agreed. "I'm just not sure she belongs at a university."

Rich's new position, as president and chief executive officer of LACMA, is bound to be as public and political as her work at UCLA.

Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight has already questioned the ability of an administrator to effectively run an art museum, pointing to past, similar failed attempts at other museums.

The difference between LACMA's situation and Knight's examples is its unique management organization. Rich will head the administrative side of the institution, working with public officials and setting general policy. A still unchosen director will work under Rich, and will be responsible for the artistic end of the museum. The director is likely to more closely resemble the typical museum curator.

"We're going to be looking for someone who is absolutely focused, committed, devoted to the art part, with excellent credentials and creativity around acquisition, exhibitions, and scholarly work as well as conservation," Rich said.

"It's a new paradigm," she continued, describing LACMA's structure, "and nobody knows what to quite make of it."

Museum officials said they are pleased with the new specialized leadership arrangement and highly regard Rich's administrative skills.

"She is a woman of extraordinary abilities and intellect, we want to transfer that experience," said William Mingst, president of the museum board of trustees.

Rich's plans for the museum include increasing community connectedness through diversifying the institutions displays and the creation of new programs.

Rich also expects to quickly establish formal links between LACMA and UCLA, which she feels both share a common purpose and challenge. Budget cuts are forcing both the university and LACMA to re-examine their means of business.

"My goal for all of these institutions is to ensure that they are as relevant and great in the year 2000 as they were 10 years ago. Conservative institutions like museums and universities are by definition and nature, appropriately built for all time," Rich said.

"They need to be agile, not to shift their mission, but to be adaptable."

Rich leaves school for sculptures