U of Miami Hires a CEO, Angers Faculty

The University of Miami has hired a CEO, and faculty are not happy about it, The Miami Herald reported. All administrative units will report to the CEO, who will report to the president, Julio Frenk.

“This is certainly unusual. I have not heard of it before,” said Sally Johnstone, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, told the Herald.

Jacqueline Menendez, a university spokeswoman, said Frenk nominated Joe Echevarria, the CEO of UHealth, the university’s health unit, for the job. Menendez said that, in that job, Echevarria is responsible for 79 percent of the university’s labor force and revenue.

But Scot Evans, president of the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said faculty members are questioning why the position is being created. “It’s just another slap on the face for faculty,” Evans said. “It just seems so out of touch with the people who are doing the work at the university. That they thought it was a good time to announce this high-level new administrative highly paid position when all of us are in need of a merit increase to deal with the increasing cost of housing and inflation.”