Three days after the UC Board of Regents was presented with a
sharply critical report condemning University of California
officials for their past compensation practices, UC President
Robert Dynes announced a series of actions he plans to implement to
better the situation.
The task force report called on the UC to overhaul its policies
to better accomplish public transparency and accountability, and
Dynes said Monday he intends to put in place a series of new
procedures and policies to improve disclosure of compensation and
salary reports.
Some of these should be implemented by the end of the week, he
said.
“Major change is required, and we need to begin
implementing that change immediately,” Dynes said in a
statement.
The Task Force on UC Compensation, Accountability and
Transparency was appointed by Regent Chairman Gerald Parsky last
December and outlined 21 major recommendations aimed at relieving
compensation problems, replace outdated policies and practices, and
put in place rigorous checks and balances.
Dynes said he agreed that “all relevant information about
compensation packages (should) be provided to the regents in
advance of approval and that all compensation information (should)
be disclosed to the public in a timely manner.”
By the end of the week, Dynes said, he intends to appoint a
public information practice coordinator, who will be responsible
for all requests made under the California Public Records Act,
which aims to provide the public with access to government
documents.
Plans are also underway to begin to use a human resources
information system and annual online reports of the base salaries
for UC employees to better sort and access compensation data.
The information system, which will focus on senior management
compensation starting next October, will allow compensation data to
be quickly analyzed, according to a press release.
In response to the task force recommendation, Dynes announced
that the UC Office of the President will continue to reveal
compensation reports for UC administrators to the Legislature, the
public and the media.
To avoid improper behavior by UC officials, mandatory ethics
training will be required for all employees, and training for
senior administrators will be expanded to focus on UC policies.
Dynes also announced the creation of the Implementation
Committee, which will report to the regents in May and analyze the
state of public accountability and find further outlets to improve
transparency. The committee will consist of regents, chancellors,
faculty and campus and system-wide staff.
The recent movement on accountability and compensation, starting
with the release of the report last week, shows the UC is
“heading the right way,” said Ruth Obel-Jorgensen,
organizing director of the UC Students Association.
She said the critical report from the task force
“solidifies that there is a problem and (that) this issue
needs to be taken much more seriously.”
State policy makers have applauded Dynes for his response.
Before Dynes presented his specific plans Monday, he released a
statement in which he said “the report represents a good road
map for getting where we need to go.”
As early as Thursday morning, immediately following the release
of the report, Dynes said he would provide both the regents and the
public with compensation information.
Also on Thursday, he referred to a human resource system and
procedures for reporting information, which he officially announced
Monday.
State senators said they were pleased with Dynes’ comments
on the report, but that the process is far from over.
Tom Kise, a spokesman for state Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa
Maria, who has been particularly vocal in his criticism of the UC
over the past several months, said the task force report “is
definitely a step in the right direction.”
“But it is not the final step,” he added. “We
look forward to increasing the exposure of public accountability in
the UC system.”
The initial actions Dynes has outlined will be supplemented by
actions from the legislature.
Aiming to prioritize disclosure within the state legislative
system, Maldanado has introduced two bills designed to increase
transparency and allow public access to compensation numbers.
In a statement following the task force report last week, Regent
Chairman Gerald Parksy said though the regents want to quickly
implement these policies, they will be cautious in adopting and
considering recommendations by the task force to be sure they are
effective.
In addition to the task force findings, the regents will
consider public opinion and comment, and recommendations from two
external audits from the Bureau of State Audits and
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, scheduled to be released next week after
having been delayed.
Though compensation transparency is a priority, Dynes said he is
pleased that the task force has considered another UC priority in
making their recommendations ““ attracting highly qualified
administrators and faculty members.
“Taking these steps is important, but so is remaining
competitive,” Dynes said in a statement Thursday.
He said though it may take years to ensure complete public
accountability, actions to increase transparency must be
immediate.
“The challenges laid out in (the task force’s)
report will require several years to complete. But the time to
start is now,” Dynes said.