Posted on 05/19/2006 9:36:40 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO - University of California President Robert Dynes gets to keep his job, butthe Board of Regents pledged Thursday to watch him more closely after outrage about millions of dollars in overpayments to top administrators that prompted calls for his resignation.
The regents met in closed session for much of Thursday morning, discussing the situation with Dynes, before announcing their decision to allow him to stay. They pledged to increase their oversight of UC pay practices and policies.
Dynes has been under fire since last fall, when reports emerged saying that UC administrators withheld information from regents and the public about unauthorized housing and car allowances granted to university employees at the same time that student fees were being raised because of state budget cuts.
A subsequent state audit found the extra compensation accounted for $334 million out of $9.3 billion total compensation in 2004-05.
Regent Gerald Parsky, the board's chairman, said Dynes "is the appropriate leader to resolve these issues and guide the university through this difficult chapter in its history."
Dynes admitted making mistakes and said he had considered resigning but decided he was committed to UC.
"Yes, the regents are going to pay much more attention, and I welcome that. I need that. I need help," he said.
One UC Riverside student said Thursday that she doesn't believe Dynes is the right leader for the system.
"I think President Dynes made a mistake," said Lluvia Rodriguez, a UCR freshman. "I'm kind of skeptical to see what he's going to do to fix it and whether he's really going to keep his promise."
Rodriguez, 17, said that she has to work this summer to help pay off mounting student debt.
Dynes "has a lot of work ahead of him to get our trust back," she said.
State Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, was one of three state lawmakers who told the regents on Wednesday that Dynes should resign.
Maldonado said in a statement Thursday that he was dumbfounded by the regents' decision to keep Dynes.
"Where's the accountability? Where's the consequences?" Maldonado asked. "By supporting President Dynes, the Board of Regents are thumbing their nose at taxpayers and students of California.
"They're continuing to support a system that has bilked Californians for hundreds of millions of dollars and are sending a message that breaking rules is acceptable behavior at the University of California," he said.
Dynes has proposed a five-point plan to overhaul the UC pay system, including working closer with the regents, forming a committee that will ensure compliance with UC pay policy and disclosing all compensation to the Legislature, the news media and the public.
The release of a new audit of UC pay practices Wednesday identified six UCR administrators as having received unauthorized "exceptions" to UC pay policy involving housing and relocation allowances and other perks.
They were Reza Abbaschian, dean of the College of Engineering; Rajiv Banker, former business school dean; Bill Boldt, vice chancellor for university advancement; Steven Bossert, dean of the School of Education; Charles Louis, vice chancellor for research; and Ellen Wartella, executive vice chancellor.
UCR Chancellor France Córdova, who attended the regents meeting, said the improper inclusion of housing allowances in retirement packages was a coding error that has been fixed.
There was no financial impact on UCR, she said, and campus officials reported all compensation information to Dynes' office that they thought they should.
Córdova said she plans to appoint a campus coordinator to oversee executive compensation. She also pledged better training for employees who deal with compensation.
"We take all that incredibly seriously and we're going to do our part," she said Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Typical for CA!
Oh come on, what's a measley 334 million between friends?
I mean if I had to account for everytime I misappropriated a few million dollars....
Yeah -- committed to the UC to see how much more money he can steal.
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