SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; UC Regent Chairman Gerald Parsky announced
last week that all votes made by the board regarding executive
compensation will be made in open session.
Last Thursday’s UC Board of Regents meeting was the first
time the board had voted on a compensation issue in an open
meeting.
The announcement comes after nearly a year of controversy
surrounding compensation for some of the University of
California’s top executives, in which the UC was accused of
doling out millions of dollars in unreported bonuses.
One of the major demands from educators and legislators has been
that the UC should hold its compensation meetings in open session,
but until Tuesday the UC had firmly maintained that such
discussions and decisions must remain private.
In addition to committing to make the votes in open session, UC
President Robert Dynes has decided that some information about
employees will be released upon request, including annual salary,
bonuses and job description.
A compensation committee has finished all corrective actions and
approvals for executive compensation packages, but has yet to issue
corrective action for those who approved the expenses originally,
Regent Judith Hopkinson said.
But several final steps still need to be taken to fully resolve
the compensation scandal, including a comprehensive analysis of the
way executives are compensated and training for those who have the
authority to approve expenses.
“What I don’t want to have happen here is a
piecemeal examination of (the process) we have today. We have
already done that,” Hopkinson said. “The next step in
the process is the comprehensive review, which I hear is coming in
November.”
The trouble for the UC started last November, when the San
Francisco Chronicle reported that some high-ranking officials
received extra benefits, stipends, travel expenses and loans that
were not approved by the regents. At a meeting in July, the board
retroactively approved almost all the benefits.
Currently Bruce Darling, executive vice president for university
affairs, and Anne Boone, university vice president of financial
management, are reviewing recommendations made by the task force on
executive compensation and will give their opinion to the
regents.
Darling and Boone said their efforts, which include finalizing
compensation review processes and disciplinary practices, should be
done by early 2007.
“I’m very pleased to see the beginning of a culture
change. … It is critical for us to be effective in monitoring
(compensation),” Hopkinson said, referring to more openness
among the top executives at the UC and cooperation between the UC
Office of the President and the regents.