Salaries of university administrators have risen steadily across the nation, with this year seeing a record increase in raises given to public university officials.
Percent Increases in Median Administrator Salaries
Data gathered by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that the median salary of college administrators rose by 3.5 percent this academic year. Last year, the increase was 3.3 percent, compared to a 2.5-percent jump the year before that.
The report does not come as a surprise, as the trend of rising administrator wages has lasted for 15 years, according to CUPA-HR Director of Communications Gayle Kiser.
The latest survey is yet another example of universities’ skewed preference, according to Celine Perez, who represents the San Diego sector of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a union of blue-collar workers.
“The [UC system] has repeatedly told low-paid workers statewide that there is no money even for cost-of-living increases for the last three to four years where three different unions had to strike for some sort of increase,” Perez stated in an e-mail.
Perez said that, while unions were fighting for higher wages, the University of California gave its administrators salary bonuses. CUPA-HR’s survey found that the largest hikes in salary belonged to top campus and university-system leaders, with those executives receiving a 3.9 percent median wage increase.
The university has disputed claims that its administrators are overpaid, and presented an independent study released last year — which revealed top UC executives were 15 percent behind comparable market salaries — to state senators during a higher education subcommittee hearing. Senators, however, remained skeptical of the university’s report.
“This compensation practice is really kind of loosey-goosey,” state Sen. Jack Scott (D-Pasadena) said. “We have people getting paid for their sabbaticals and their board seats. After a while, we hear about a salary but that isn’t really the full thing.”
The report spurred the UC Board of Regents to approve a measure last November that would bring all salaries within comparable market levels in a decade.
While CUPA-HR did not categorize its findings by state, UCSD was one of six UC schools included in the survey.
Readers can contact Charles Nguyen at [email protected].
