Top Administrators at CSU Given Raises

By Lisa Petrillo, The San Diego Union-Tribune

Jan. 24–LONG BEACH — While students face tuition increases and professors walk picket lines over salary beefs, state education officials gave raises yesterday to top executives.

The California State University’s presidents and five top administrators, got 4 percent salary boosts from the system’s trustees, raising their pay to between $239,000 and $377,000 annually.

All 23 campus presidents received the pay raise, including those at San Diego State and Cal State San Marcos, which comes in addition to either free use of state-owned housing or housing subsidies of up to $60,000 per year.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi criticized trustees for what he called bad timing, and recommended that the CSU wait until student fee increases and faculty contract issues are settled.

“I was in the Capitol last night, and I talked to many key legislators who were not happy, not happy at all,” said Garamendi, who as an ex-officio member of the CSU board registered the only “no” vote against the raises.

Chancellor Charles Reed, who is the highest paid of those getting raises, would earn $377,000.

He told trustees that he has been putting the salary boost on hold since July. “There is never a good time to raise executive compensation,” he said.

CSU officials maintain executives earn 20 percent to 44 percent less than those at comparable universities nationally. To stay competitive, they have to fix the salary gap, they said.

Faculty union leader Janet Powell of CSU San Marcos, who walked a picket line at her campus this week, agreed that CSU salaries lag. “All of us make less than our peers. Why should just executives have their salary gap covered?”

Executives’ raises are retroactive to July, and come less than 18 months after the CSU awarded them an average raise of 13.7 percent. At the same time, the system’s 23,000 professors got a 3.5 percent raise.

The CSU’s proposed budget is based on a 10 percent tuition increase for 2007-08. In the past five years, student fees have shot up 76 percent.

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