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UC Draws Fire For Giving VP Big Raise Amid Budget Crunch




Joseph Mullinix


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By ELANA FISKE
Contributing Writer
Friday, June 20, 2003

Although UC faces $300 million in budget cuts, the UC Board of Regents approved a 20 percent pay increase for Senior Vice President Joseph Mullinix May 1.

Mullinix's salary will increase from $291,000 to $370,000, which includes a $20,000 annual bonus.

The pay raise comes at a time when the university is wrangling with budget troubles. UC has raised fees and cut programs across its 10 campuses.

Mullinix received a competing offer from the University of Michigan, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The regents cited the possibility of losing Mullinix to another institution as the reason for the salary hike.

Mullinix, who heads the Division of Business and Finance, is especially important in light of the current budget difficulties, said UC spokesperson Paul Schwartz.

"He is the university's chief operating officer, and we can ill afford to lose someone in that position," Schwartz said.

Mullinix oversees UC's financial investments, information technology, human resources and benefit programs.

UC President Richard Atkinson wrote in a December letter that salary increases would be inappropriate considering the state of UC's finances, according the the San Francisco Chronicle.

But the letter included a caveat for administrators who receive competitive job offers.

"It's shocking," said Judy Shattuck, a member of the Coalition of University Employees. "It's obscene in the context of the layoffs that are going on throughout the UC system."

Mullinix's pay raise is more than twice what many clerical workers—many of whom start at $20,000—make in a year, Shattuck said.

Some students also expressed disdain at Mullinix's pay hike.

"I think it's total •••••••• that they're giving raises to themselves while they're cutting jobs at the university and raising tuition dramatically," said ASUC senator-elect Mo Kashmiri.

The situation was unavoidable—any vice president of comparable experience to Mullinix would require the same salary, said Student Regent-Designate Matt Murray.

"In the grand scheme of things it was a reasonable choice," Murray said. "Very unfortunate, but the alternative is no better."