CSU Regents to Vote on Controversial Presidential Pay Hike

Elsewhere in the Golden State, the California State University Board of Trustees will vote today on a proposal that would raise the salaries of Chancellor Charles Reed, his four chief deputies, and 23 campus presidents by an average of nearly 12 percent, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

A university spokeswoman told the reporter, Jim Doyle, that higher salaries are needed for the system to stay competitive as chief-executive pay continues to increase at universities nationwide. But some state legislators, CSU faculty members, and students have called the plan excessive and ill-timed, as it comes as “CSU negotiators have turned down a proposed 3.6 percent pay increase for nonteaching staff” and tuition is on the rise, Doyle writes.

If approved, the raises would take effect retroactively on July 1, and Reed and other top administrators would receive lump-sum checks, Doyle writes. “The average salary increase for CSU’s top 28 executives would be 11.8 percent – ranging between 9 and 18 percent. For example, the salary of Robert Corrigan, president of San Francisco State, would rise 10 percent from $271,590 to $298,749,” Doyle concludes.