BERKELEY “”mdash; The UC Board of Regents voted Thursday to
approve salary increases averaging 2.5 percent for top UC
administrators, including President Robert Dynes, campus
chancellors and other executives.
The salary increases, which UC officials describe as regular
annual merit increases, were approved by the full board today
without discussion after being proposed in a closed session
Wednesday.
With the increases, UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale will be
earning $323,600 a year, up from $315,600.
Compared to chancellors across the UC, Carnesale’s salary
falls about halfway down the list, with UC Berkeley Chancellor
Robert Birgeneau now making $400,000 a year, compared to his
previous salary of $390,000.
The salary increase also brings Dynes’ salary up from
$395,000 to $405,000 a year.
Much of the discussion about salaries focused on university
procedures for public disclosure regarding employee compensation as
a response to an article in Sunday’s edition of the San
Francisco Chronicle, which said top UC employees received millions
of dollars more in bonuses and compensation than Mercer Human
Resources Consulting, a New York-based firm, reported in
September.
But UC officials maintain that the salaries of many UC managers
fall significantly below market rate, even with the increases that
were approved today.
The top administrator pay raises came a day after the regents
approved the establishment of goals to increase all UC salaries to
competitive market values within the next 10 years.
“It is crucial to our ability to attract and retain people
at all levels of the university,” Dynes said of the
proposal.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the regents emphasized the
importance of retaining quality faculty and staff.
“We must remain competitive,” Dynes said.
The board also voted Wednesday to establish goals to bring
salaries up to market value over the next 10 years for all UC
employees.
Regent Judith Hopkinson, who spearheaded the proposal, said the
university would actively pursue funds to address shortfalls in
compensation.
According to the resolution, the amount of funds available for
increasing salaries, and where they should be used first, would be
determined by the regents.
But many employees who attended Wednesday’s meeting said
10 years is too long to wait.
UC employee Stephanie Dortham said it is appalling that as a UC
employee she cannot afford to send her child to a UC school.
“I have a child in junior college. … I make less than
$40,000 a year and I cannot as a UC employee send her to a UC
institution where I work 40 hours a week,” she said.
Dynes said though the Chronicle report omitted or misrepresented
some important facts, it highlighted the necessity of adopting
better public-disclosure policies.
Though officials stand by their claim that UC employees are
underpaid, Dynes also admitted the university could improve the way
information is given to the public.
“We may be able to do a better job,” he said.
Regent Gerald Parsky said transparency of university procedures
is important to both the public and to the regents. The regents
need to understand what is going on in order to support the
university, he said.
“(The issue of transparency) needs to be addressed fully
and carefully,” he added.
Dynes said the university will immediately be making several
reforms, including posting closed-session salary actions of the
regents publicly on the UC’s Web site, providing people with
the total compensation proposed before regents take salary action.
It will also perform regular random audits of administrative funds
and reimbursements for UC executives.
The board also voted Wednesday to adopt clear and comprehensible
procedures for setting salaries for senior leadership in an effort
to establish more transparent policies.