What crisis? Cal State boosts pay for new presidents

Those incoming presidents to the Cal State system, including San Francisco State’s Leslie Wong, today were officially awarded pay increases of up to 10 percent above what their predecessors were making. Cal State’s trustees signed off on the increases despite the system’s hand-to-mouth finances and skyrocketing student tuitions.

The workaround was to give out the 10 percent pay lifts (9 percent in Wong’s case) by supplementing part of their salaries from foundation money. The pay hikes apply to four incoming and three interim presidents.

From the Los Angeles Times:

New Cal State Northridge President Dianne F. Harrison will receive $324,500, including $29,000 from the campus foundation; incoming Cal State San Bernardino President Tomas D. Morales will receive $319,000, including $29,000 from the campus foundation; Leslie D. Wong, incoming president of San Francisco State, will receive $325,000 including $26,251 from the campus foundation. Retired Admiral Thomas A. Cropper, the new president of the California Maritime Academy, will receive $250,000 with no extra foundation support.