By admin 
In an effort to make itself a more competitive recruiter, the California State University raised salaries in the last year for several executive leaders and campus presidents. For the higher education system’s largest labor groups, this has become a point of great frustration as they negotiate with the CSU over new contracts.
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While executive salary hikes were approved by the Board of Trustees in November and January, the labor groups say they have so far only received disappointing offers — especially for pay hikes — over the last few months of bargaining.
Now, the California Faculty Association has declared impasse in its negotiations with the CSU and moved to a state-mediated process, the CSU Employees Union said it is “ready to strike.” Teamsters, which represents skilled trades workers, has planned rallies across CSU campuses over the next month. CSU officials maintained they were committed to the bargaining process and would negotiate in good faith with the aim of reaching fair and responsible agreements.
Channelizing this growing anger, Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, D-Sunnyvale, authored a bill to “rein in out-of-control” management pay within the CSU system. Despite strong union support, that bill died in the Legislature last week. If it had become law, it would have blocked the system from increasing executive compensation in years when student tuition was hiked or staff wages kept stagnant. The system is currently in the middle of a multi-year systemwide tuition hike to raise more revenue.
Amid ongoing tense negotiations between the CSU and its labor groups, here’s a look at how much money the system’s top executives make on an annual basis after the recent raises.
CSU system officers’ pay
In January, the Board of Trustees approved salary raises for the vice chancellor and chief audit officer; vice chancellor of external relations and communications; vice chancellor of academic affairs; and vice chancellor of human resources. The hikes ranged between 4% and 17%.
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On top of her base salary, García also receives $96,000 per year in housing allowance and $80,000 deferred compensation. Gonzales and Marinescu also receive a little more than $60,000 in deferred compensation.
CSU campus presidents’ pay, highest to lowest
In November, the Board of Trustees approved salary raises for 13 of the CSU’s system 22 campus presidents. This included the presidents of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, San Diego State, San Jose State, Cal State Northridge, Sacramento State, Cal State Fullerton, Fresno State, San Francisco State, Cal State LA, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State San Marcos, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Monterey Bay. The raises ranged from 5% to 20% — with Cal Poly SLO President Jeffrey Armstrong receiving the largest bump at over $100,000.
In addition to base pay, all campus presidents are either provided housing or get an annual housing allowance between $60,000 and $80,000. Six of them also get about $60,000 in deferred compensation, and several are eligible for annual performance incentives of 5% to 15% per year.
Since the November raises, Cal State East Bay President Cathy Sandeen has announced her resignation and a handful of other campuses are looking to replace their current interim leaders with permanent chiefs, suggesting the system’s goal of stabilizing leadership remains yet unfulfilled.