1:45pm | In what critics are calling sad irony and supporters are calling a “need to keep executive talent top notch,” the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees simultaneously gave two CSU presidents the maximum pay increase in their salaries while also shutting its doors for spring enrollment — on the same day. The Board also warned voters that if Governor Brown’s tax initiative is not passed, the CSU could face “face [$200 million more in cuts], and that will mean slashing enrollment, laying off employees, reducing classes[,] and the elimination of academic programs.”
A similar situation of eyebrow-raising occurred earlier last year with the Board, when they simultaneously increased student tuition while giving the newly appointed President of San Diego State Elliot Hirshman a whopping $400,000 annual salary, including $50,000 from the university foundation; it was $100,000 more than his predecessor’s salary. In response to the outrage over the decision from both the media and the public, the Board approved in January a new executive compensation policy in which salary increases could be no more than 10% of the predecessor’s salary.
In a pay package approved at the Board of Trustees meeting this week, newly appointed Cal State Fullerton President Mildred Garcia, former president of Cal State Dominguez Hills, will get $324,500 in base pay, plus housing and a $12,000 annual car allowance; it is exactly 10% higher than Fullerton’s previous president Milton Gordon’s salary.
The new president at Cal Staet East Bay, Leroy Morishita, will get $303,660 bas pay as well as $60,000 per year for housing and a $12,000 annual car allowance; this is also 10% higher than the previous president of Cal State Easy Bay.
All the while tuition is expected to rise 9.1% CSU-wide, leaving students outraged.
Since the 2002-03 academic year, state spending for the CSU has fallen by a staggering 42% while tuition has tripled — and yet lawmakers rejected yesterday a bill put forth by Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco that would make such salary hikes illegal during times of economic constraint. Balked at by the Senate Education Committee, the bill only received four of the six votes needed for approval.
The salary increases sparked criticism from Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who held a news conference with reporters this morning stating dryly, “The CSU folks are tone deaf.”