Category: executive pay

They’ve Got Plenty of Something

We continue our indirect coverage of the Regents.  Eventually – as promised – we will post the audio for posterity.  [The latest explanation I got for why the Regents post for only one year is that CSU does it that way.  Hard to see putting a QED after that.  As I have noted in past posts, my home city of Santa Monica posts indefinitely, so why not can’t the Regents do it that way?  Oh well!]

Anyway, from today’s LA Times:

The UC regents on Thursday hired an executive of a Canadian investment fund to be the chief manager of the university system’s $82 billion in endowment and pension investments and will pay him more than $1 million a year if he achieves good returns. Although that pay package triggered little public discussion, the salary for another new executive hire attracted more opposition at the regents meeting here. Some regents opposed the $450,000-a-year salary for Claude Steele, who is becoming UC Berkeley’s provost and second-in-command. They complained that the pay is higher than that of some chancellors. For the new investments chief, Jagdeep S. Bachher, the regents approved a $615,000 base salary and set a maximum total payout of $1.01 million if UC investments perform well. That would be slightly less than the $1.2 million that Marie N. Berggren was paid in 2012, her last year before she retired in July. The compensation comes mainly from investment returns, not tuition or tax revenues, officials said…

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-me-uc-investments-20140124,0,6627219.story
Official statement at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/30598
At least no one will call UC cheap, cheap…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSNSTerj2Kc?feature=player_detailpage]

Sacramento Bee Slams UC Pay & Perks

The Sacramento Bee has complaints about UC administrator pay and travel expenses.  (Of course, we never read in the Bee about pay and travel expenses of the Bee‘s employees or executives – or those of its parent company – which are not available online or through public records requests.)  You can read the Bee‘s editorial at http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/07/5629077/uc-cant-gripe-about-cuts-while.html

Well traveled

The San Diego Union-Tribune is running a story researched by the Center for Investigative Reporting on UCLA travel expenses for administrators:

Excerpt: Thirteen years ago, the University of California changed its ban on flying business or first class on the university’s dime, adding a special exception for employees with a medical need. What followed at UCLA was an acute outbreak of medical need. Over the past several years, six of 17 academic deans at the Westwood campus routinely have submitted doctors’ notes stating they have a medical need to fly in a class other than economy, costing the university $234,000 more than it would have for coach-class flights, expense records show…
None of the deans would comment about their expenses or medical waivers. UCLA Anderson spokeswoman Allison Holmes declined to identify (Dean) Olian’s medical condition but said it allows her to bike. “There are many medical conditions that enable individuals to do certain activities, but not others, (such as) fly in confined spaces for longer flights,” she said…

UCLA has issued a response at http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-response-to-story-247723.aspx

Excerpt: Although the article criticizes UCLA for spending $2 million in travel over a four-year period from 2008 to 2012, it neglects to point out that UCLA generated more than $2 billion in gifts during that same period and received nearly $1 billion annually in research funding. This is due in large part to travel by our campus leaders, which allows them to cultivate relationships and engage colleagues, donors and alumni around the globe to enhance research opportunities, recruit faculty and raise money. At a top-flight university with 17 deans and executive leadership managing partnerships and interests all across the world, $2 million in travel spending over a four-year period equates to less than $28,000 each year for each of those campus leaders. Travel by UCLA leadership was consistent with that of deans at most of our peer institutions, though UCLA has seen a more significant return on its investment than many of those other universities…

Anderson issued a response:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzVLYPK7QI_4X19fb2tZSGdfNnM/edit?usp=sharing

Excerpt: Dean Olian’s travel expenses are – without exception – approved according to university policy.  Due to her certified medical condition, Dean Olian is approved by university policy for business class travel, and chooses to travel a combination of coach and business class, depending on the travel duration. We are vigilant stewards of our budget, with an expectation of high return on every dollar spent.

Executive Pay in Higher Ed

Inside Higher Ed today has a summary of a 2013 survey of median executive and administrative pay in higher education.  It includes central and campus administrators by title as well as deans and certain support occupations. The survey was conducted by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR).  A more detailed description of the survey is available from the organization at:
http://www.cupahr.org/surveys/files/salary2013/AHE13-Executive-Summary.pdf
Many – not all – UC campuses were included, as was UCOP, and a complete listing of the institutions can be found at the link above.  Inside Higher Ed, however, has a handier summary table:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/25/survey-finds-pay-senior-administrators
[The relevant column is the one for doctoral degree granting institutions.]
A brief description of the survey from the CUPA-HR link above:
Results for this year’s redesigned survey reflect the salaries of 55,017 administrators in 190 senior-level administrative positions at 1,251 colleges and universities nationwide, making it a key resource for salary-related decisions in the higher education community. 
Note that while there is some description of perks and benefits, they are not converted into cash equivalents and added to salary in the study.  The figures presented are, as noted above, medians.  Means would surely be higher. CUPA-HR describes itself as follows:
Our Mission: CUPA-HR is higher ed HR. We serve higher education by providing the knowledge, resources, advocacy and connections to achieve organizational and workforce excellence.  As the association for HR professionals in higher education, CUPA-HR provides leadership on higher education workplace issues in the U.S. and abroad. We monitor trends, explore emerging workforce issues, conduct research, and promote strategic discussions among colleges and universities. Our members are CUPA-HR. We are more than 15,500 HR professionals and other campus leaders at over 1,900 member organizations, including: 91 percent of all U.S. doctoral institutions, 77 percent of all master’s institutions, 57 percent of all bachelor’s institutions, and 600 community colleges and specialized institutions.
Source: http://www.cupahr.org/about/index.aspx