By Alex Graf
Staff Writer
The California State University Board of Trustees approved a 3 percent pay raise for CSU presidents and other executives ranging from $8,000 to $33,000 on July 24.
According to the board’s July 24 agenda meeting notes, California State University, Dominguez Hills’ President Thomas A. Parham received a raise of $9,721, bringing his salary up to $333,750 annually. This marks the fifth consecutive pay raise for CSU executives in the last five years.
“The 3 percent increase reflects similar increases authorized for other non-represented management and staff personnel, and keeps our executives from slipping back compared to peer market comparators,” said CSU Chancellor Timothy White during a board meeting in July.
Members of the California Faculty Association and the Students for Quality Education will attend the next Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 11 and 12 to protest the pay raise and salary
“With student fees increasing and the percentage of the president’s pay raise being significantly higher than faculty pay raises, the union obviously stands behind the students in terms of the weight they have to carry with student loans, working multiple jobs and ever-increasing fees,” said Cynthia Villanueva, a professor and member of the CFA chapter on campus.
Villanueva pointed out the benefits that CSU presidents receive, including allowances for housing and vehicle expenses among other things.
“That’s a pretty nice package,” Villanueva said. “That’s CEO stuff.”
Villanueva hopes that more funds can be allocated to reduce class sizes, raise salaries for faculty members, and reduce or freeze student fees as opposed to pay raises for executive and administrative staff.
The CSUDH SQE chapter has been a vocal opponent of the pay raise and advocates for many of the same policies as the CFA, including better pay for faculty, full-time positions for adjunct faculty, and reduction or elimination of fees for students.
“We definitely want to help out faculty,” said Kat Romo, a member of the CSUDH SQE. “I would say a decent wage for faculty is important. We have a saying at SQE that faculty working conditions.”
In an email sent to the Associated Students, Inc. representatives around the state, Student Trustee Emily Hinton suggested a “stronger systems of accountability” surrounding executive compensation.
“Students should be given the opportunity to be directly involved in the performance reviews of campus presidents so that the great ones can be rewarded for their positive impact on campus, and those doing poorly aren’t automatically given a raise,” Hinton said.
The CSUDH ASI has promised to address the pay raise.
“Currently, since this just happened over the summer, a lot of us are just hearing about this,” said ASI Director of Legislative Affairs Thomas Lobao. “We’re putting it on the agenda for the next meeting this Friday, Sept. 7, and it will definitely be a high priority.”
Lobao also said there will be a meeting of the California State Student Association on Sept. 21, where the pay raise will be a part of the discussion.
“We are advocating for the students,” Lobao said.
