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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