Vice Chancellor John Meyer, whose administrative portfolio over 14 years has expanded to include everything from finance and planning to the campus's physical operations and sustainability, submitted his resignation on Sunday (April 27), and Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi accepted it with “great regret.”
Meyer said he supports a positive transition in anticipation of his stepping down at the end of June.
A ϲϿ Davis graduate and former city manager of Davis, he came to Mrak Hall in 2000 to lead the new Office of Resource Management and Planning, or ORMP. Subsequently he added facilities, utilities and grounds, and, finally, Accounting and Financial Services, Human Resources, Safety Services, and the Police and Fire departments in ORMP's consolidation with the Office of Administration in 2009.
As head of the new Administrative and Resource Management, Meyer led some 1,650 employees. “We keep the campus running,” he told his staff in a memo announcing the consolidation.
“I am very proud of the many contributions members of my office have made to improve and advance the campus in partnership with colleagues across the other administrative units, schools and colleges,” he said in his letter to the chancellor.
“In addition, I believe we have forged strong partnerships with the city and other sectors of higher education with our notable development of the first community college on a ϲϿ campus,” referring to the Sacramento City College Davis Center at West Village.
Indeed, West Village at ϲϿ Davis, the largest planned zero net energy housing development in the nation, took shape under Meyer’s watch.
Administrative and Resource Management also has made great strides in energy efficiency (with the rehabilitation of lighting systems and buildings), administrative efficiencies (via the Shared Services Center) and sustainability (with LEED-certified construction, drought-tolerant landscaping and a biodigester that turns food waste into electricity, for example).
In a separate letter to campus leadership, Katehi recognized Meyer and ARM for “proactive planning that happened perhaps before its time in sustainability.”
“From daily conservation planning to West Village to a new biodigester, he and his team were forward thinking in making ϲϿ Davis green and in protecting our environment,” Katehi wrote.
She added: “His calm and wise demeanor and appreciated humor helped all of us think through complex problems.”
Meyer said he “will always be appreciative” of the chancellor’s support “through a period when the campus faced great challenges,” notably sharp cuts in state funding.
Katehi wrote back to Meyer: “I thank you for your assistance and leadership in helping guide the university through these challenging times. It is thanks to you and others like you that ϲϿ Davis continues its upward trajectory of prominence and excellence despite these many challenges.”
She concluded: “John, you have been a respected and valued member of our campus leadership team and I sincerely appreciate your counsel and professionalism as we embark upon this upcoming leadership transition.”
Meyer summed up: “To have earned my undergraduate degree at Davis and then to return in an executive role has been a truly rewarding experience. ϲϿ Davis is an extraordinary community.”
(So extraordinary that he arrived from the East Bay Area as a freshman, received his degree in sociology in 1980 and never left — commuting to consulting jobs in Sacramento and a city government job in Oakland before becoming the Davis city manager in 1990 and serving for 10 years. He also holds a Master's of Public Administration, with a specialization in administration of local government/urban management, given by the University of Southern California, 1985.)
“While those of us in administration are fully aware of the many challenges faced by higher education, it is important that we reflect on what a wonderful university this has become due to the contributions of so many.
“I am honored to have contributed a small part to the success of the ϲϿ Davis family.”
Media Resources
Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu