Traveling First Class

That's what some deans at UCLA prefer when they fly on business.  After all, they are making in the six figures so they are entitled to a perquisite or two when traveling on school business.  But, UCLA being a state school and the times being tough for most state agencies, their policy is allow first or business class flying only if it is medically necessary.

It appears as though some - 6 of 17 - of the deans at UCLA have medical problems, as their doctors have put it in writing.  As a result, over the past few years the university has spent $234,000 more than it would have for coach-class flights. Also they have taken chauffeured town cars to the airport and spent nights at a Four Seasons hotel at university expense.

We don't know what these medical problems are.  However, the dean who heads the Anderson School of Management, is a pretty good biker and a “cardio junkie”; she has tackled the arduous 56-mile cycling leg of the long course relay at Monterey County’s Wildflower Triathlon. One of the dean's tasks is to raise money for the school, thus she is on the road a lot and spends more on airfare and other travel expenses ($647,000 from 2008 to 2012) than any other UCLA dean or the chancellor, and she also far outpaces her counterpart at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.  In response to a reporter's inquiries about these travel expenses, UCLA says, “Globalization is one of the biggest priorities for Anderson, and the dean’s results have been remarkable, including many new global alumni chapters and global immersion programs, a new global center, two joint global degree programs and an applicant pool that is now over 50 percent from abroad.”  It may be that the global applicant pool is so large because tuition and fees have increased nearly 70 percent since the 2008 school year.

The dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television seems to be cheap.  Although she makes a good salary, she charges UCLA $5 to drop her dog at the kennel when she has to take a trip for the university.