At a time of mass lay-offs and declining state aid, students need leaders who serve out of conviction. But minutes from past Cal State University Trustee meetings indicate that some may be in it for the money.
Throughout 2007, the CSU Board of Trustees increased executive salaries multiple times, arguing that the increases were critical in “recruiting and retaining key executives.” They also stated that their “executive compensation policy…addresses the need to maintain a competitive market position.”
Evidently, there was a need to keep CSU executives and presidents from resigning by sharply increasing their wages.
In January 2007, CSU Chancellor Charles Reed successfully proposed to increase executive salaries by 4 percent. The increase included his own salary.
But the most drastic increases occurred in September of the same year, in which Reed and other Trustees approved an 11.8 percent salary increase. This is where Reed’s salary jumped from $377,000 to $421,500.
For unclear reasons, one Trustee member vouched for increasing Reed’s pay. “Chair Roberta Achtenberg [recommended] that Chancellor Reed also receive a 4 percent salary increase,” the January minutes state. She issued the same request during the September meeting.
During the meetings, Reed and another chairperson presented their rationale for the proposals he would ultimately benefit from.
Reed referred to a study done by Mercer Human Resources Consulting Inc., which reportedly noted that the average CSU presidential salary lagged behind the salary of many university presidents. According to The New York Times, Mercer was implicated in a 2004 lawsuit for compiling an admittedly inaccurate report. The report had compelled Mercer’s client, the NYSE, to increase the multi-million dollar salary of its CEO, Richard Grasso.
If Trustees and campus presidents really cared about students, why should income become an issue? Why was there a need to increase salaries that were already well above upper-class status? Clearly, the Trustees were that insecure about the executive body’s commitment to serve students. And according to Reed’s logic, it seems as though we need to retain employees like Cal State Long Beach President F. King Alexander by increasing his pay and offering him free housing (other presidents enjoy housing allowance and complementary vehicles).
In the September meeting, the Trustees also updated their general compensation policy for future Trustee members. A major guideline was to continually increase executive salaries in the near future.
But the policy also considered all employees’ salaries: “It is the intent of the Board of Trustees to compensate CSU employees in a manner that is fair.” In midst of furloughs, both employees and executives sustained a 10 percent cut. The difference, however, is that executives still enjoyed high salaries and housing allowances.
If CSU executives are there to prove their commitment, all that is needed is another vote on salaries. But this time, the proposal should comprise a sliding scale cut, as has been done within the UC system. Nevertheless, sliding-scale cuts won’t threaten the luxuries that many executives enjoy, and they may not solve the budget crisis. But enacting such cuts would be a strong act of solidarity with students who ― in light of even more drastic cuts ― are struggling more and more to stay enrolled.
The minutes are available at calstate.edu.
Michael Lozano is an honors sociology student and guest columnist for the Daily 49er.
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