Calif. Governor Blasts Pay for Incoming University Leader

Amid a public outcry over the $400,000 salary San Diego State University will pay its new president, California Gov. Jerry Brown criticized state university systems for profligate hiring practices, writes the Los Angeles Times.

Governor Brown said California State University and University of California officials favored national searches to recruit highly paid “hired guns” over qualified but potentially less costly executives from within the state.

Trustees of the Cal State system, which includes San Diego State, agreed this month to pay its incoming prsident, Elliot Hirshman, 33 percent more than his predecessor while also voting to increase tuition at the school by 12 percent.

Cal State officials defended Mr. Hirshman’s pay by citing a salary study that found its campus presidents receive just over half the base pay of peers at comparable public and private institutions. The report found that generous benefits at the California schools reduced the compensation gap to 26 percent.

Both university systems have raised student fees as the state’s budget deficit prompted deep cuts in government aid for higher education. The San Diego State case has already prompted a state senator to propose legislation to limit university executives’ raises at 10 percent in years when the institutions also increase tuition.

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