Legislators question salary hikes for top university administrators

Friday, Jan. 22, 1999 | 10:22 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Salaries for some top executives at the University and Community College System of Nevada have shot up by 60-70 percent in the last decade and that concerns some state legislators.

And lawmakers also don't think the top executives are entitled to annual merit increases.

Those were among the issues raised by members of the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees Thursday, which conducted their first of many reviews of the proposed $867.9 million two-year system budget.

Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, asked university officials to provide a list of salary increases in the past 10 years.

According to legislative research, the salary of chancellor has risen from $114,000 to $208,871 in the past 10 years, a 79 percent increase. Chancellor Richard Jarvis has been in the position only six years.

Pay for Mary Lou Mosley, secretary to the board of regents, rose from $56,000 to $91,635, a 63.5 percent increase in the past ten years, according to legislative figures.

At the same time pay for administrators in state government in the last decade has gone up 20-30 percent. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said these were hefty pay raises for university officials compared to state executives.

"When they (the university) are asking students to kick in more money, that isn't going to send a great message to recruiting kids," she said.

She also complained that deans and above in the university system were getting yearly merit pay raises when the Legislature intended this for faculty members.

"There's been some disparity, and it's created ill will," Giunchigliani said.

But Joseph Crowley, president of the University of Nevada, Reno, told Giunchigliani there was no prohibition against administrators being given permit pay raises. The merit pay, he said does not come from the money allocated for faculty salary increases. It comes from separate funds.

"We have never touched the faculty merit pool," Crowley said. In addition, he said the faculty senates at all the campuses and the Nevada Faculty Alliance have all supported merit pay for top administrators. The alliance is an organization of faculty that lobbies for better pay and other benefits.

Administrators don't get more merit pay than faculty, Crowley said. "The most you can get is $4,500, and the least you can get is $500 at our place," Crowley said, adding that this year 47 faculty members received the highest award, compared to only one administrator.

He questioned, "Why would you want to deny meritorious performers meritorious pay? Where is the sense in that?"

Giunchigliani said later merit pay was initially ticketed for faculty, not administrators. "Administrators traditionally are given salaries, not bonuses based on their meritorious service on the classroom or instructional field.

"That's how most university systems are set up," she said.

"My point is that if you are an administrator you are entitled to your salary. That was the agreement you came in under the contract."

She said the whole point of the pool was to award instructors. The Legislature, she said made it clear twice in the past that administrators were not entitled to merit. But Crowley said the legislative restriction was against using money from the faculty pool to pay for administrators. And that hasn't been done, he said.

On another topic, Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, expressed concern there was a "disproportionate share" of out-of-state students at the university campuses in Las Vegas and Reno. But Jarvis said generally 22-24 percent of the students of other universities are from out of state. Nevada's schools, he said, "are not out of line."

But Jarvis conceded, as he did five years ago, that Nevada was last in the nation in attracting its high school students to go on to college. Only 38.7 percent of high school graduates in this state go on to a Nevada university or community college. The national average is 58.5 percent.

Dini said the community colleges have "reached out" to attract Nevada high school graduates, but the universities have not.

Jarvis said a system study showed 82 percent of seniors and 79 percent of juniors want to go to college, but "69 percent believe it costs too much." This perception, Jarvis said exists in spite of efforts to hold down tuition costs.

Nevada universities, he said have the 14th lowest tuition and fees among 16 state universities in the west. And the community colleges in Nevada are ninth lowest of 14 similar institutions in the west.

It's only in recent years that the state provided additional scholarship money to help the students afford college. He said the system must break "the barrier" that college is too expensive for Nevada students.

While university officials acknowledged the state's budget crunch, they presented a list for an additional $57.9 million in state revenues.

UNLV President Carol Harter said an error may have occurred in the budget because there's no money for maintenance and operation of the new Lied Library, which is nearing completion. The new library, she said is three times larger than the present facility and additional staff is also needed.

UNLV, she said asked for $2.9 million for next fiscal year for such things as heating and maintenance at the new library, music hall and gaming building. But the school received only $200,000. She thinks it's a clerical error that needs to be corrected.

Harter also made a pitch to the money committees for an additional $3 million above the budget of Gov. Kenny Guinn to carry out the program to produce more teachers for the Clark County School District. UNLV will turn out 600 teachers this year, but the goal is to graduate 1,200 by the year 2003.

She said she needs $1 million a year extra, and the Community College of Southern Nevada needs an annual $500,000 to carry out the work. And the Clark County School District will be asking for $3 million to provide financial aid to older people who want to change careers and get their degrees in teaching.

Harter said Brigham Young University was the top school in the nation at turnout out teachers -- 1,200 a year. And UNLV wants to match that figure.