Critics
question executive salaries amid budget
crisis
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Critics question
why some top executives at the University
of California received pay hikes despite
a funding crisis that is forcing the system
to cut enrollment and contemplate raising
student fees.
The
incoming chancellor of the UC San Diego
campus is being paid $350,000, nearly $70,000
more than her predecessor. In February,
a new UC provost was appointed with a salary
of $380,000, almost $100,000 more than the
previous incumbent.
Searches
are under way for new chancellors at the
Berkeley and Santa Cruz campuses and critics
predict more hikes.
‘‘Each
time they raise one person’s salary,
it becomes a justification for raising the
salaries of other people in similar positions
and those below them,’’ said
Claudia Horning, state president of UC’s
clerical union, whose membership did not
get a raise this year. ‘‘But
of course this logic applies only at the
top administration.’’
UC
officials say the system’s executive
salaries have lagged behind those at comparable
institutions for years and they must try
to pay market rate to get the best candidates.
‘‘UC
is in a very tough spot,’’ said
spokesman Paul Schwartz. ‘‘We
know that morale is down because of lack
of salary increases. We’d like to
raise everyone’s salaries to where
they should be, but we need the resources
for that.’’
An
independent study found the average UC chancellor
salary of $290,490 is 34 percent less than
the average for chancellors at 26 public
and private institutions. Looking at just
public schools, UC pay was 2 percent below
the average.
George
Blumenthal, vice chair of the faculty academic
council, said that the provost salary went
up because of a previous raise to a senior
vice president who had gotten an offer elsewhere.
The UC president’s pay also went up,
to $395,000, when a new man was hired for
the job last year.
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