CSU trustees up student fees
Campus
presidents' salaries raised in long-term plan
By Laban Pelz
The Collegian
The CSU Board of Trustees resolved
Thursday to raise student fees by 8 percent for the next academic year
and by 10 percent every year over the four following years.
Trustees must still vote on the fees annually, said the CSU Office of
the Chancellor, which put the dollar amount of next year’s increase
at $107 million.
This and other fiscal decisions were made as the board introduced a five-year
plan designed to close pay gaps between CSU faculty and staff and their
counterparts, and to make fee increases predictable.
“Trustees do not believe it is fair to students and their families
to be hit with a large fee increase with advance notice of only one or
two months,” Trustee Roberta Achtenberg said.
The chancellor’s office said the plan is tied to a five-year compact
between Governor Schwarzenegger and the CSU system and the University
of California detailing annual increases in state funding for the universities.
The chancellor’s office said the universities are to receive base
budget increases of 3 to 4 percent annually under the compact.
“It makes fees predictable and reasonable,” said CSU public
affairs director Colleen Bentley-Adler of the five-year plan. “Parents
can plan a budget and students can see what financial aid needs to be.”
The chancellor’s office said CSU student rates still remain relatively
low.
“CSU fees are among the lowest in the country for a high-quality,
affordable, accessible education,” the office said.
The trustees also determined one third of the fee increase will go toward
financial aid, and “the neediest students will receive State University
Grants that offset any increase in student fees.” Also, any students
on Cal Grants will have their grants increased to cover the fee raise,
the chancellor’s office said.
The Board of Trustees also raised the salaries of all campus presidents,
some by as much as 22 percent.
Formerly earning $224,232 annually, Fresno State President John Welty
now has a salary of $253,836 effective July 1 of this year.
“The trustees recognize compensation for system executives as a
key element in the CSU’s success,” a Personnel Committee document
read. “The ability to offer competitive compensation is critical
to the CSU’s ability to recruit and retain key executives.”
The document said CSU presidents’ compensation is well belowthe
national average, with some CSU executives’ pay “49.5 percent
lower” than that of their peers at other institutions. Thursday’s
action was a step at closing the pay gap.
Additionally, the chancellor’s office said campus presidents are
the last group of CSU employees to receive a raise this fiscal year.
CSU Chancellor Charles Reed’s salary was also raised, along with
those of other system officers. Reed’s annual pay will jump from
$316,692 to $362,500.
The Board of Trustees also agreed as part of the five-year plan to raise
the salaries of all CSU employees, which it said are also below the national
average. CSU faculty salaries lag 13.1 percent behind pay at “comparable
institutions,” the board said.
The plan consists of annually reviewing salaries from now until the 2010-2011
academic year. The 3.5 percent staff salary increase earlier this fall,
the first in three years for many employees, was the first step in this
plan, the chancellor’s office said.
All Board of Trustee decisions must be adopted by the 2006 California
state budget to take effect.
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