Ono's name wasn't bandied about from the beginning of
the search process, nor was it a headhunter who lured him
in. Although he was attracting notice as the interesting young
president of the University of Cincinnati—an institution that's
long been seen as a springboard to bigger university posts—Ono
and the search committee didn't intersect until after a chance
meeting. Ono, a keynote speaker at the American Marketing
Association's symposium for the marketing of higher education
last November in Chicago, was alerted to the new job when a
UBC communications officer, Julie Ovenell, stood up and told
him he was exactly the kind of person
UBC was looking for.
According to accounts that have rippled out from the interview
process, there were three strong candidates by the end. But
Ono stood out and was the unanimous choice. People familiar
with the inner conversations at
UBC say there's a tremendous
sense of relief that it's someone like Ono who's been chosen and
that he starts with a lot of goodwill.
In spite of that, however, Ono also faces enormous chal-
lenges. Everyone who knows the post-secondary world knows
that all universities are difficult fiefdoms to manage at the best
of times—and
UBC ranks among the most complex. It's enor-
mous, for one thing, with 60,000 students (on two campuses,
spread 400 kilometres apart), 15,000 faculty and staff, and a
$2.3-billion budget—twice the size of the City of Vancouver's.
Department heads are like medieval princes, with their own
fundraising and, in some cases, research arms.
UBC has its own
property-development board and disgruntled residents' asso-
ciation. There is a board of governors, two senates and associa-
tions of faculty, managers, staff and students who all have their
say in whatever happens. "You have to do rounds of consulta-
tion for everything," says Newman. "There's a lot of egos."
This next year will be the test. "The first year is just to calm
the waters," says Newman. Ono will need to pick a team to help
him steer such a large ship, say several experienced university
DIFFICULT FIEFDOMS TO MANAGE AT THE BEST OF TIMES—AND UBC RANKS AMONG THE MOST COMPLEX
NOVEMBER 2016 BCBUSINESS 31