Despite recent scrutiny over its pay practices, the UC Board of Regents has decided to vote on a proposal on Jan. 18 that would give UC President Robert C. Dynes the power to boost executive salaries by as much as $296,000 over the next three years.

The university’s goal is to “establish salary ranges that are aligned with the rates paid in the competitive markets within which UC competes,” the proposal reads.

University officials said the proposal is part of a plan approved by the regents last year to make the pay of the university’s top officials comparable to that of other institutions. Under the plan, Dynes would not need approval from the regents to grant pay raises and would only need to report employee raises to the regents once per year.

The university has faced criticism recently for not disclosing its pay practices to the public. In November, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the university awarded nearly $871 million to top employees last year, on top of their base salaries and overtime.

The report also revealed that the number of employees making more than $300,000 has grown by 50 percent in the last year while UC mandatory student fees have faced a 79-percent increase over the last four years.

“While we understand they need salary raises to maintain staff qality, those increases are coming on the backs of students,” UC Students Association Chair Felicia Cruz said.

In response, both the state Senate and Assembly have called for investigations into the university’s compensation policies. State Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Merced) has also introduced legislation that threatens to strip the university of its constitutional autonomy if it fails to release pay information to the Legislature.

However, the university has defended its plan to raise executive salaries.

“These are personnel-related decisions that the regents need, and are entitled to, discuss first in private committee,” UC spokesman Paul Schwartz told the Chronicle.

University officials have also described the current method of increasing executive compensation, which requires the regents’ approval for annual salaries greater than $168,000, as an inefficient practice.

Under the new proposal, the university would assign employees to broad salary ranges, with the top salary range capped at $791,600.

The UC president would then have the power to increase employees’ salaries within each range by any amount up to the midpoint of that range and up to 15 percent annually afterward without approval.