A lesson in higher-education economics

Marisa O’Neil

The financial picture at the local community college district has

been severe and well publicized: More than 1,000 classes cut, the

sale of the KOCE television station for extra cash, offices and

campuses closed on Friday and on top of it all, managing to become

financially solvent enough to just get off a state fiscal watch list.

So this week’s decision to substantially raise the salaries of the

Coast Community College District’s highest-paid employees has caused

an uproar with students and some faculty.

“The timing is pretty insensitive,” said Madeline Levy, student

trustee for the district’s board. “[The raises] won’t push more

students out of classes, but we could have added more than we have

now.”

Trustees voted 4 to 1 to raise the salaries of its college

presidents and vice chancellors from the current range of $129,631 to

$131,805 up to $145,000 to $160,000.

The district has three vice chancellors and three presidents.

According to district reports, the raises will total $92,214.

A motion to raise the chancellor’s salary from $186,608 to

$190,000, plus $10,000 for travel and mileage expenses passed by the

same margin.

Those in favor argued that the higher salaries are needed to

attract the talent needed to effectively lead the district. Those

against question the timing of the move and the size of the increase.

“I think the increase is way too much,” said trustee Jerry

Patterson, the sole vote against the raises. “We have good people

here who do a good job, but nobody ever gets paid what they think

they should be paid.”

Patterson proposed merit-based raises after performance reviews,

rather than automatic step-ups and additional cost of living

increases, but his motion did not pass. As it stands, the salaries

will start at $145,000 and increase to $160,000.

Trustee George Brown agreed that the higher pay is necessary to

attract the quality of candidates they want to maintain or raise the

district’s standards. The sale of KOCE-TV, leasing of district-owned

land and passage of a school-improvement bond, he said, will mean

close to $4 million more for the district each year, which will cover

the raises.

“And good supervisors can go in and organize the school district,”

he said. “They can streamline things and get them in line and get

more money for faculty and teachers.”

ATTRACTIVE OFFERS

The money spent on the raises in the first year could go to

restore 28 classes for students, said Kristina Bruning, president of

the faculty union for the district.

“The rule of thumb is that a dean should earn 10% more than

faculty and top administrators should earn about 20% more,” Bruning

said. “It used to be that way. But the top of the salary range for

faculty is $82,000. [The chancellor’s salary] is more than 100%

[more] than [what] the faculty earns.”

But attracting and retaining quality candidates requires adequate

compensation, said John Renley, vice chancellor of human resources

for the district. A salary survey of similar districts taken before

the vote, he said, showed Coast Community College District eighth of

11 for chancellor salaries and second to last for presidents and vice

chancellors.

When OCC President Margaret Gratton left in 2002, Renley said, the

district could not find a suitable replacement. It named former vice

chancellor Gene Farrell as interim president, then named him

president when a second search didn’t net any suitable candidates.

Gratton was earning $123,995 when she retired and Farrell was

earning $132,270 before the board’s vote last week.

Both the president and vice chancellor positions have received the

same annual increases as the rest of the district’s management, staff

and faculty since 1988, district spokeswoman Erin Cohn said. The last

substantial raise was in 1980 when all management received a 10% to

12% increase.

TRYING TO COMPETE

The district will have to replace Farrell when he retires next

year and find a new president for Golden West College when Ken

Yglesias takes over as chancellor July 1. The recent search, Renley

said, didn’t attract as much interest as the district had hoped, and

he said the salary, listed as “negotiable,” was part of the reason.

“Our chancellor [position] should have got more candidates,”

Renley said. “We’re the fourth largest community college district in

the state and about seventh in the country and we had only 21

applicants. Several of them had presidency [on their resumes] but

others did not.”

After Wednesday’s vote, trustee Paul Berger said that the

increased salaries were still not competitive with those in other

districts.

According to the district’s survey, Rancho Santiago Community

College District in inland Orange County topped the list for

chancellors’ salaries with a total compensation of $220,167. San

Bernardino’s district came last at $170,340.

A 2001-02 survey of faculty salaries for the same schools placed

Coast in the middle of the pack. Faculty will get a cost of living

raise, which is written into their contracts. Renley expects it to be

in the range of the 1.8% given to school districts.

This year, district employees will likely not see the raises

promised for years the district experiences growth. Fewer classes

offered, Bruning said, equals less chance for a raise.

THE PRICE OF EDUCATION

In Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Supt. Rob Barbot earns a

base salary of $189,754. He earns an extra 4% for his doctorate

degree and annual merit-based increases of 8% plus $750 a month for

mileage.

Assistant superintendents in Newport-Mesa earn between $108,501

and $132,008 a year, plus 4% doctoral stipend and merit raises and

$500 for mileage.

According to University of California documents, Ralph Cicerone,

chancellor for UC Irvine, earns $280,000 a year. He also gets use of

the campus chancellor’s house, a car, a $30,600 administrative fund

and $84,900 annually for house maintenance, including utilities and

phone bill.

UC San Diego’s new chancellor, Marye Anne Fox, has a base salary

of $350,000, up from the previous chancellor’s salary of $281,000,

according to UC spokesman Trey Davis.

A 2003 survey in the Chronicle of Higher Education of salaries for

university presidents put the University of Pennsylvania at the top

with $580,357.

The raises at Coast will not mean that more classes will be taken

away from students, Renley said. But it does mean fewer new ones

could be added.

Some of the money for the raises will come from retirements in

administrative positions that will not be filled. Gov. Arnold

Schwarzenegger, however, is expecting community colleges to pick up

the slack from reduced freshman enrollment at the state universities.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.