Higher-ed heads raking it in

CSU executives’ salaries are growing by leaps and bounds, leaving other employees’ compensation in the dust, according to a state audit released Tuesday (Nov. 6).

The audit, which was critical of the payroll policies across the CSU system, compared numbers from 2002 and 2007. In those five years, executive compensation increased more than 25 percent, while professors—tenure-track and not—received a meager 6 percent raise on average.

Chico State President Paul Zingg’s paycheck comes in at $279,500—plus $50,000 for housing and $12,000 for a car—for the 2007-08 school year. Unlike other CSU presidents, when Zingg receives his annual raise, he allocates 10 percent of it back to the school.

In addition to being critical of executive pay, the audit also found flaws in the system’s post-employment compensation policies. In general, the audit states, the CSU system needs to “create a centralized information structure to catalog university compensation by individual, payment type, and funding source.” With such information, the Board of Trustees can make better-informed decisions on raises and other compensation issues.