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By Bimal Rajkomar

Daily Bruin Contributor

Because many university employees are getting raises this year, most were more accepting of the $1.6 million being given to top administrators than they were in past years.

The UC Board of Regents approved salary increases for the third straight year during the Sept. 14 meeting at UC San Francisco, with only Student Regent Justin Fong voting against it.

To raise salaries that are above $168,000, a regents’ vote is required.

Chancellors and other officials earning above $168,000 were eligible for basic merit pay increases of about 3.5 percent, which are given to reward good work.

UC President Richard Atkinson received a $11,800 increase to $349,100 and UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale, who took a pay cut coming here from Harvard, received a $10,300 increase to $304,800.

“Salary has never been a major consideration about my excitement at being at UCLA. As with any employee, I think its important for people to be treated fairly. I took a decrease to come here and I’m very glad that I did,” Carnesale said.

UC Merced Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, whose campus is still being built, received the smallest raise out of all the chancellors, $10,000.

Frances A. Ridlehoover, Chief Operating Officer, Hospital Systems of the UCLA Medical Center received the largest raise at UCLA – $61,800.

“It is an effort to recognize the achievements of top leadership,” said UC spokesman Brad Hayward.

Last year, Regent Velma Montoya voted against such raises because she said there was concern over the reasoning behind some of the raises.

But she said this year during the closed session discussion of the raises, those same fears were raised. Montoya said it was brought to her attention that one of the regents said there was comparison data provided this year for people working in the UC Office of the President – though this later turned out to be false.

Comparison data is used to determine whether employees are underpaid for their position.

When asked if she would have voted differently knowing this, she said, “Right now, I think it’s more important to get the information.”

The action comes after the state allocated $19 million to the university to give raises for lower-paid employees.

“It is a broad program to make the university more competitive, but this year the real emphasis has been on lower-paid employees,” he continued.

But Howard Ryan, an organizer for University Professional and Technical Employees union, said he wishes the university could have shown more of a concern for lower-paid workers in the past few years.

“I think it should be pointed out that they have gotten raises over the last two years,” Ryan said. “They seem to have more of a concern for the top-level administrators than workers at the other end of the UC hierarchy.”

Unlike the past two years, this year there were no across-the-board equity raises, which are given to make salaries more competitive. Instead, top administrators were eligible for market-based merit raises which account for inflation.

According to an independent survey by William M. Mercer, Inc., the UC chancellors’ average September 2000 salary was 19.4 percent below the salary average at 26 comparable public and private universities.

This is even more than last year, when top administrators were 9.5 percent behind other universities, despite two years of equity raises, because the other universities had raised salaries as well.

Because UC administrators were being paid less than those with comparable jobs, some students did not have a problem with the pay increase.

“Its important for people to be paid what they are worth,” said Paul Killion, a first-year electrical engineering student. “It’s a lot of money, but its not more than what other people with similar jobs are making.”

TOP UC OFFICIALS GET RAISES Every year, the UC chancellors and other top level administrators receive raises to keep them at the university and equal their pay with other administrators at similar colleges. Name Position Title Current Salary Rate October 1, 2000 Salary Rate Richard Atkinson UC President $337,300 $349,100 Michael Bishop Chancellor-San Francisco $335,300 $346,700 Robert Berdhal Chancellor-Berkeley $294,500 $304,800 Albert Carnesale Chancellor-Los Angeles $294,500 $304,800 Ralph Cicerone Chancellor-Irvine $260,500 $271,200 Robert Dynes Chancellor-San Diego $262,000 $271,200 Larry Venderhoef Chancellor-Davis $262,000 $271,200 Henry Yang Chancellor-Santa Barbara $262,000 $271,200 M.R.C. Greenwood Chancellor-Santa Cruz $250,000 $260,000 Raymond Orbach Chancellor-Riverside $250,000 $260,000 Carol Tomlinson-Keasey Chancellor-Merced $235,000 $245,000 SOURCE: UC Office of the President Original by MAGGIE WOO Web Adaptation by AVISHAI SHRAGA/Daily Bruin Senior Staff