The "Extra" Money of University of California Employees

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

When the University of California hired David Kessler as dean of the UCSF School of Medicine two years ago, the university announced he would receive "total compensation" of $540,000 a year.

Turns out he actually got much more.

In addition to his salary, he received a one-time relocation allowance of $125,000, plus $30,000 for six months' rent and a low-interest home loan.

There was more. He was reimbursed for his actual moving costs from Connecticut, and his family received round-trip airline tickets to go house-hunting in the Bay Area.

Kessler is hardly unique. Despite UC's complaints that it has been squeezed by cuts in state funding and forced to raise student fees, many university faculty members and administrators get paid far more than is publicly reported.

In addition to salaries and overtime, payroll records obtained by The Chronicle show that 105,482 employees shared $871 million in bonuses, administrative stipends, relocation packages and other forms of cash compensation last year. That was more than enough to cover the 79 percent hike in student fees that UC has imposed over the past few years.

The bulk of the last year's extra compensation, roughly $599 million, went to about 8,500 employees who each got at least $20,000 over their regular salaries. And that doesn't include an impressive array of other perks for selected top administrators, ranging from free housing to concert tickets.

None of that was mentioned in a consultant's report the university released in September saying UC executives' salaries are 15 percent below those of their peers at other major universities. The report, by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, was part of a proposal to UC's Board of Regents to consider management, faculty and staff pay raises.

"Oh, my word," said Faith Raider, a research analyst for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, when told of The Chronicle's payroll findings. "I follow this stuff pretty closely, and I am astounded at some of these figures. I think it's been a closely held secret."

The "special class" is government workers.You do think Enron could get away with this.No wonder tuition keeps going up.