[Online Exclusive]: Regents to vote on UC salary increase

SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; The UC Board of Regents moved to stop
further “brain drain” of the university system’s
senior leadership at its meeting Thursday, setting the framework
for a November vote that would allow increases to the six-figure
salaries that top officials currently make.

Proponents of the salary increase say such a raise is crucial in
order to keep the University of California competitive in hiring
and retaining capable high-ranking employees, while the
measure’s opponents fear higher salaries would translate into
higher student fees.

The outcome of the November vote may play an important role in
deciding who will take the helm at UCLA when Chancellor Albert
Carnesale leaves his post at the end of the 2005-2006 academic
year.

Regents Chairman Gerald Parsky said augmenting salaries of
top-level employees would be crucial if the UC hopes to recruit an
able candidate to fill the chancellorship vacancy at UCLA.

Also on the day’s agenda was a look at the UC’s willed
body programs, which came under fire last year after employees at
the UCLA cadaver program were accused of selling body parts that
had been donated for research purposes.

UC officials say the program’s security is being improved.
One new measure that is already being implemented is a Web-enabled
database that would allow the UC Office of the President and
officials at individual campuses to monitor the programs, said
Cathryn Nation, executive director of academic health sciences.

Also in the works is a radio frequency identification device to
help willed body employees keep track of cadavers, she said.

Thursday’s meeting was more about discussion than action, but
the regent finance committee did move unanimously to vote on the
measure to increase some employee salaries when the regents
reconvene at the UC Berkeley campus in November.

Some regents said the salary increase would be beneficial to the
university, even though it may bring some dissent from across the
state.

“We should pay whatever we have to pay and not play games
about it,” said Regent Richard Blum. “If we’re
going to have to take some heat to be competitive, then so be
it.”

The UC ““ considered by many to be the nation’s top
public university system ““ currently lags considerably behind
comparable institutions in salaries for its high-level employees,
though its health and retirement benefits surpass those of many
other institutions.

The proposed salary increase would likely affect UC employees
earning more than $168,000 ““ a group of about 800 people,
many of whom work at the UC-run national labs.

While the decision to put the measure to a vote was a stepping
stone for final action and does not necessarily indicate what the
board’s final decision would be, the measure seemed to irk some
regents due to the effects a salary increase may have on UC
students.

“I know where that funding will come from, and
that’s from student fees,” said Student Regent Adam
Rosenthal.

Another aspect of the measure ““ which would increase the
salary of UC employees already making more than $350,000, a small
group made up mostly of chancellors ““ was also tabled for
consideration until November.

Some UC officials said they hoped that ““ if approved
““ raises for some of the university system’s highest
paid employees would be funded by private donors, a condition the
proposal’s opponents fear would encourage the state
government to further cut UC funding.

The talk of salary increases for the university’s top
officials comes amid a labor dispute between the university system
and its nurses and four months after university service workers
went on strike for higher pay.

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