California State University Executive Packages Out of Whack When Compared With Professors' Compensation

By Matt Davidson
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
California State University, San Bernardino

The California State University system, with 23 campuses, 405,000 students, and 44,000 faculty and staff, is the largest and most diverse university system in the country.

However, with steep student fee increases, stagnating and very low wages for faculty, and executive perks that members of the California Legislature have called an instance of "fraud", the system is in deep trouble. The CSU produces more than 50% of the public school teachers in the state. This makes the disintegration of the CSU all the more troubling.

Here is a link showing executive salaries and perks (including keeping their salaries even after they leave the CSU). It is truly amazing to behold the amount of the taxpayers' money that goes to these executives, especially when one compares the salaries and perks to the compensation for a full professor who has been in the CSU for
25 years--roughly $87,000.

Here is the San Francisco Chronicle article that first called public attention to the economic malfeasance in the CSU.

On Nov. 15th, 1,500 faculty and staff descended on the CSU Board of Trustees meeting to protest the dire conditions in the CSU. Here is very powerful footage of the event, including a widely-covered speech to the Trustees by State Senator Gloria Romero:

Part 1
Part 2

We all need to speak out for this university system; it is critical for the future of the state of California.

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