September 18, 2000 Regents approve salary increases for chancellors, other officials By Brad Hayward UC Office of the President The University of California Board of Regents has approved salary increases effective Oct. 1 for President Richard C. Atkinson, the 10 chancellors and other senior UC officials. Atkinson received a 3.5 percent pay increase, from $337,300 to $349,100 per year. Six of the 10 chancellors also received 3.5 percent increases; four others received raises of up to 4.3 percent. The average increase for the chancellors was 3.74 percent. Unlike the past two years, UC is not providing across-the-board, market-based equity increases for senior administrators this year. Senior administrators are eligible for basic merit-based salary increases from a 3.5 percent pool, the same funding level as for UC staff employees. In some cases, administrators were given additional increases beyond the basic merit-based increase to promote retention, improve a position's salary in the higher education market, or correct an internal pay misalignment. Many UC staff employees also will receive increases beyond the normal 3.5 percent pool this year, thanks to a special $19 million augmentation included in the state budget. Staff employees making $40,000 or less per year will receive an additional 2 percent increase, and those making between $40,000 and $80,000 will receive an additional 1 percent increase. (These increases are subject to collective bargaining requirements for union-represented employees.) The $19 million augmentation will not be used to increase salaries of employees making $80,000 or more. "We are focusing this year on improving compensation for lower-paid staff employees," said Judith W. Boyette, UC associate vice president for human resources and benefits. "Providing competitive compensation for our employees faculty, staff, and management will continue to be an important priority in the coming years because it has such a critical impact on the quality of our programs." UC, the legislature and Gov. Gray Davis are placing an emphasis on salary increases for lower-paid university employees this year for several reasons, Boyette said. Among them: Some UC positions currently pay less than comparable positions elsewhere, putting the university at a competitive disadvantage in recruitment and retention; housing prices have increased sharply in the strong California economy; and UC employees did not receive cost-of-living increases for three years during the recession of the early 1990s. For faculty, meanwhile, this year's state budget provides funding for the standard 2 percent range adjustment plus normal merit increases, along with a 1 percent parity adjustment to keep faculty pay competitive with that of comparable universities. UC undertook a major effort in the late 1990s to bring faculty pay up to market-competitive levels. Regents took action on management salaries today because Regental approval is needed to set salaries above the $168,000 level. By agreement with the California Postsecondary Education Commission, UC uses a market-based methodology to help set salaries for senior administrators. In this process, UC salaries are compared with those of 26 comparable public and private universities across the nation. The UC chancellors' average September 2000 salary of $270,500 lags the comparison group average by 19.4 percent, according to an independent survey by William M. Mercer, Inc. Two years of market-based equity adjustments had reduced the lag to an estimated 9.5 percent last year, but the gap has increased as other universities have increased compensation for top leadership. Beyond chancellors and the president, the Regents' action affects salaries for a range of senior administrators earning above $168,000, including certain vice presidents, officers of the Regents, medical center officials, vice chancellors, vice provosts, academic deans and other senior officials. They were eligible for basic merit-based salary increases averaging 3.5 percent, and some were given additional increases for purposes of retention, promotion, market competitiveness or internal pay alignment. Individual salaries affected by the Regental action are available upon request from UC Strategic Communications. Return to Front Page