LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — California State University has approved a significant pay increase for the president of San Diego State University despite opposition from students and Gov. Jerry Brown.
The CSU Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a $400,000 compensation package for Elliot Hirshman, San Diego State's new president. That's about $100,000 more than his predecessor's pay.
The move comes the same day the board approved an additional 12 percent tuition increase for undergraduates.
In a letter to the board, Brown questioned whether the cash-strapped CSU system could afford to pay its administrators so much.
CSU officials defended the move, saying the university needs to provide competitive compensation to recruit and retain talented administrators.
Board Chairman Herbert Carter plans to create a taskforce to evaluate CSU's policies on administrator pay and selection.
This is a story update. The previous story is below.
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown is criticizing a plan to increase the salary of a California State University president when deep budget cuts are prompting the 23-campus system to raise tuition.
By a 4-2 vote, a committee of the CSU Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a $400,000 compensation package for the Elliot Hirshman, the incoming president of San Diego State University. That's $100,000 more than his predecessor.
The full board is scheduled to vote on Hirshman's pay Tuesday afternoon.
In a letter to the board, Brown questioned whether Hirshman needed to be paid twice as much of the nation's Chief Justice. He asked the board to re-evaluate how it sets administrator salaries.
CSU officials defended the move, saying the university needs to provide competitive compensation to recruit and retain top administrators.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
