UC Regents Act to Tighten Oversight of Managers' Pay
SAN DIEGO — University of California regents, stung by recent criticism from legislators and others for extravagance and inconsistencies in the university's executive compensation practices, took steps Wednesday to increase their oversight and begin to standardize salary levels for top UC managers.
As the regents began a two-day meeting at UC San Diego, they gave preliminary approval to a plan that would allow them to keep a closer eye on severance agreements given to departing executives. The new policy, if approved by the full board today, would require all such packages worth $100,000 or more to be approved by the regents.
Legislators this week authorized an audit of UC compensation practices after recent media reports that the public university has quietly spent millions on bonuses, moving expenses and stipends for top administrators, even as it has repeatedly raised student fees. Several legislative committees plan to hold hearings on the issue this spring.
The Board of Regents is also considering a plan to revise the salary structure for about 300 top UC employees. Under the current system, regents must approve salaries for those earning more than $168,000 a year. UC officials say that procedure is inefficient and cumbersome.
The new proposal would establish salary ranges, and the UC president would have the authority to approve pay increases within those ranges. In the highest category -- which UC officials said does not currently include any employee -- the annual salary would range from about $500,000 to a little less than $800,000.
Under the new policy, regents would still be required to approve salary increases that were considered above average or higher than the range for the position and would receive a report -- at least once a year -- on the nearly 300 executive salaries.
UC officials have largely defended their compensation practices, saying the spending is necessary to attract and keep the best administrators. They have said, however, that the university needs to do a better job of explaining the issue.
But union representatives and other critics say salaries for top UC officials are too high.
"It is deplorable that the regents show their lack of leadership and insensitivity to the needs of students and workers, the lower-paid workers," Amatullah Alaji-Sabrie, chief negotiator for the Coalition of University Employees, told the regents during a public comment period Wednesday. "On their backs, you're giving perks to the top-paid administrators."
