The California State Student Association has not taken a stance on executive compensation and is not recommending that student governments take a stance either.
Ever since San Diego State President Elliot Hirshman was awarded $400,000 salary, $100,000 more than his predecessor, the topic of executive compensation has become controversial.
CSSA President Gregory Washington said, because there are about five bills currently in California Legislature tackling executive compensation, it is too soon to see if issues will be resolved by Legislature or the Cal State University. CSSA has not expressed support for any of the bills.
“Right now, we are watching the bills because they are subject to change,” Washington said.
Numerous bills were written during the extraordinary session that was designed by Gov. Jerry Brown to address the fiscal emergency. Most of them would prohibit the Trustees from approving higher compensation for CSU executive officers in a year where tuition has been increased. One bill, AB 39 x1, would cap campus presidents’ salaries at $300,000 a year.
Washington said it is likely the bills will consolidate into one bill.
For the moment, Washington said he would not recommend the Associated Students Inc. Senate to take a stance on executive compensation because “the process itself and where it’s going to go is kind of up in the air.”
Washington said the Hirshman incident was responsible for bringing forth a public discussion about how campus executives were chosen as well as how they were compensated for their efforts.
While CSSA has not publicly announced a stance on the issue of compensation, it has, according to Washington, taken solid ground on the issue of procedure.
On Sept. 21, the Board of Trustees voted that presidential candidates would no longer be required to visit their prospective campus. Instead, the task would be optional.
“We took the stance that we wanted to have it as open to students as possible,” Washington said.
CSSA and ASI are concerned that making the campus visit optional would reduce the amount of student representation in choosing the campus president.
ASI has not drafted any resolutions regarding executive compensation or policy yet, according to ASI President Lucy Nguyen.
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