UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi finally met Tuesday afternoon with a group of students who have been occupying the fifth-floor lobby of Mrak Hall outside her office since Friday.

It was a brief meeting, and neither side seemed satisfied with the interaction.

The students’ protest, which demands either the resignation or the firing of Katehi, stems from the recent revelation that she accepted a paid seat on the board of DeVry Education Group, a for-profit education company. DeVry is under investigation by federal officials for exaggerated job placement claims.

Katehi also is under fire for collecting $420,000 over the three years she served on the board of textbook publisher John Wiley & Sons and for briefly serving on the board of King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia, which has been accused of buying its way to an impressive international ranking.

She has apologized and offered to fund student scholarships with $200,000 of her Wiley stock.

A video of the encounter shows Katehi enter the lobby from the door that leads from her office. With her are Suad Joseph, faculty adviser to the chancellor and an anthropology professor; Prasant Mohapatra, associate chancellor and a computer science professor; and Milton Lang, associate vice chancellor for student life, campus community and retention services.

The video is nearly eight minutes long and can be watched in its entirety here (the audio improves after the first minute):

As Katehi enters the room, she tells the students that she knows they have a number of questions for her. A student, off-camera, quickly says, “Our main thing we want to know, are you resigning? We want you to resign. A lot of people want you to resign. So are you going to resign?”

Katehi responds, “Well, I’m here to listen.” She tells them she wants to hear their concerns about the university.

The students persist, and Mohapatra suggests setting up a meeting to discuss details of their concerns.

“There’s nothing to discuss,” another student can be heard saying. “We want to know if she is leaving or if we’re gonna have to get her fired.”

After about 90 seconds, the students approach the discussion with more substantive complaints, including her paid board positions while working for UCD, their dissatisfaction with her response to hate crimes on campus, and her lack of judgment and poor decision-making on behalf of UCD.

As a student lists issues, Joseph tries to answer for Katehi, which clearly frustrates the student.

“If you’re not going to answer that question — why are you not speaking right now? … Why did you come here to have other people speak for you?”

Katehi tells the student that “a lot” of the issues outlined by the student are “totally incorrect and untrue.” She explained that she is willing to sit down and discuss these issues, but she will bring her “team,” because she is not the only one who makes decisions for the university, and members of this team “know why decisions are made and how.”

Katehi continued by telling them she would like to have some of the gathered students meet her and her team “for a very extensive discussion.” She suggests meeting the following day, but no time is set.

Katehi and Lang the leave the lobby and head back toward Katehi’s office, and Mohapatra and Joseph are left to answer more questions by the students.

Note: On the video, when Katehi leaves, the door makes a loud slam. A few students who were interviewed for this story commented that she slammed the door as she left, but Mohapatra can be heard saying, “No, the door bangs.”

The students again express annoyance that Katehi will not meet right then, reminding Joseph and Mohapatra that they have waited for her for five days already, which has carried them into finals week.

A second video is an immediate continuation of the first, and can be seen in its entirety here:

As Mohapatra directs the students to set up a meeting, a student calmly informs him that at such a meeting, “We are not on equal footing, because Katehi and the administration is holding threats over our head, having police constant surveillance all over the building, so we feel threatened.”

This likely references an “eviction letter” the students had received on Monday from David Lawlor, vice chancellor for finance, operations and administration and the campus’ chief financial officer.

“We have been threatened with disciplinary action, including dismissal from the university,” said sociology Ph.D. student Emily — who chose not to provide a last name, like most of the students interviewed.

The letter cited sections of the University of California Policy on Student Conduct and Discipline as reason the students should leave.

“Section 102.13 prohibits the obstruction of teaching, research, administration, disciplinary procedures or other university activities,” while Section 102.06 “prohibits the unauthorized entry to, possession of, … or use of any university services, equipment, resources or properties.”

If the students do not voluntarily leave, Lawlor continued, “Disciplinary consequences can range from a formal reprimand to probation, suspension or dismissal.”

Joseph and Mohapatra express surprise and sympathy when a student references the letter threatening dismissal. “I’m sorry,” Mohapatra says, “That’s not the right thing to do.”

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Adela de la Torre clarified the consequences on Monday, saying, “The Student Code of Conduct standards and procedures are administrative only. Although each case is fact-specific, most student conduct cases do not result in suspension or dismissal, unless there are multiple or continuing offenses or the conduct is serious.”

Tricia, a first-year entomology Ph.D. student, said Tuesday that UCD police officers had checked in on the students on the fifth floor one day over the weekend, instead of just patrolling the first through fourth floors. Tricia said the officers who arrived said they didn’t know students were there, which she does not believe.

Police Chief Matt Carmichael replied Tuesday, “UC police have not had interaction with the students in the sit-in other than carrying out routine security patrols in Mrak Hall. The interaction with the students has been through Student Affairs.”

— Reach Tanya Perez at [email protected] or 530-747-8082. Follow her on Twitter at @EnterpriseTanya