University of California faces scandal over chancellors
In the midst of massive budget cuts, the University of California regents are coming under fire for hiring new chancellors with exorbitant salaries, one of whom is in the middle of a scandal at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
In early May, on the same day that the UC regents decided to raise student fees by 9.3 percent (or $693, for a total of $8,720 per year for in-state undergraduates), they also hired two new chancellors.
Susan Desmond-Hellman was named the new chancellor of UC San Francisco with a salary of $450,000, a nearly 12 percent increase over her predecessor. Earlier this month, she informed students and staff that the budget crisis in the state would force sharp cuts in university programs and services.
Linda Katehi, who has been hired to be the next chancellor of UC Davis starting on August 17, with a salary of $400,000, will earn $85,000 more than her predecessor, Larry Vanderhoef. This will be an increase from her current salary of $356,000 as the provost of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. (Katehi is currently the provost at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (where) it is alleged that under-qualified students were admitted due to political patronage.)
Katehi will also be provided a generous compensation package that includes a $100,000 relocation allowance, free housing, a $9,000 annual automobile allowance, a generous health and pension package, a low-interest home loan and a faculty position when she ends her service as chancellor.
The pay increases for the UC chancellors were defended by UC President Mark Yudof, arguing that their pay is in fact low in comparison to the salaries of chancellors at similar universities.
“I felt like I got a pretty good discount, as a matter of fact,” Yudof stated. Yudof’s salary runs at about $900,000 a year.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/ucda-j24.shtmlGene D. Block, Chancellor for UCLA, announced furloughs and salary cuts for all UCLA employees...The cuts amount to an 8 percent pay reduction for people making more than $46,000 and a 4 percent cut for people making less than $46,000. There are three options available, depending on how one prefers to absorb the loss (cut, furlough or a combination thereof).
The whole announcement here:
http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/document/FurloughReductionOptions.pdfClout goes to college
Rezko relative is among those admitted to U. of I. in shadow system influenced by trustees and other insiders
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-college-clout-29-may29,0,2769925.storyUS: University presidents’ pay rises to record levels
Salaries for university presidents rose by 7.6 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to an annual survey released by the Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this month. Much like their Wall Street counterparts, presidents of both public and private colleges and universities have enjoyed years of pay increases in sharp contrast to the deteriorating conditions of workers and students.
The latest data available from the College Board shows that tuition for public university students in the US increased by 6.3 percent from 2006 to 2007, another year in which tuition rose much faster than inflation. As the economic crisis intensifies, public universities nationwide are trimming workers’ wages and raising tuition, while top-earning presidents rake in millions.
While pay for public university presidents has increased an astonishing 35.6 percent in the last five years, US Census Bureau figures show median US household income fell by $1,043 from 1999 through 2006, the last year for which figures are available. Labor Department statistics suggests that real wages have fallen a further 2.4 percent in the past year alone.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/pres-n24.shtml