This article corrects a quote from CSU spokesman Erik Fallis regarding the “legitimate concerns” of the Board of Trustees.
In light of financial challenges the Cal State University currently faces, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has called on the CSU to freeze any increase in executive compensation.
Torlakson addressed a letter to Chancellor Charles B. Reed and Chair of the Board of Trustees A. Robert Linscheid last Monday, expressing his opposition to the board’s decision in their March meeting to grant 10 percent pay hikes to two incoming CSU presidents.
At the meeting, the board also approved a plan to freeze enrollment at most campuses in Spring 2013 if the system is to face a $200 million cut this November.
“We face the very real potential of a 35 percent reduction in state funding to the CSU in just 18 months’ time,” Torlakson said in the letter.
In January, the board capped the pay of incoming campus presidents at no more than 10 percent above that of their predecessors, but Torlakson doesn’t think the policy has had much effect.
“This policy was designed to create a ceiling for compensation during a time of crisis,” Torlakson said. “Instead, it appears that it is also being used as a floor.”
According to CSU spokesman Erik Fallis, the Board adopted the policy in response to “legitimate concerns that balancing the need of higher quality leadership for the university needed to be done in the context of the financial realities the university system is in.”
These concerns were raised by the trustees’ approval last July of a $400,000 annual salary to San Diego State President Elliot Hirshman. The salary was $100,000 more than Hirshman’s predecessor, and at the same meeting of its approval, tuition was increased by 12 percent.
In response to the barrage of criticism they received for this, the trustees adopted a policy to cap incoming presidents’ pay, but they now face criticism for their recent approval of pay hikes for new Fullerton President Mildred Garcia ($324,500) and new East Bay President Leroy Morishita ($303,660).
According to the Los Angeles Times, Garcia’s predecessor, Willie Hagan, earned $295,000 while Morishita’s predecessor, Mohammad Qayoumi, earned $276,055.
However, Fallis claims that neither of these are pay hikes.
“We’re not talking about raises,” Fallis said. “We’re talking about the salary set for those employees upon entering the university system.”
Fallis said the setting of an incoming employee’s salary is based upon that individual’s qualifications.
With more qualifications, an incoming president could be paid a higher rate.
Torlakson is urging his executive salary freeze proposal as the CSU system searches for five more campus presidents to fill positions at San Bernardino, California Maritime, San Francisco, Stanislaus and Monterey Bay.
He suggests that the open positions be filled with incoming presidents willing to accept the base pay amount of their predecessors, with no increase promised for a specified minimum period of time.
Whether or not Torlakson’s proposed salary freeze will take effect depends upon the board, Fallis said.
“The students we serve and the public that supports our system enjoy no immunity from the consequences of the Great Recession, which has left millions without work and millions more working harder for less,” Torlakson said. “Why should those we select to lead our campuses be any different?”