CSU audit requested

Sacramento Bee 2/15/07

By Jim Sanders

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez joined with two other legislators Wednesday to request a comprehensive state audit of California State University system compensation and hiring practices.

"We have a fiduciary duty to the tuition-paying students at CSU and to the people of California to make sure those funds are being spent correctly and fairly," Núñez said in a written statement.

Paul Browning, a CSU spokesman, said late Wednesday that CSU would cooperate fully and "is completely open" to a review of its practices.

The formal request to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee responds to questions that have been raised the past year about extra compensation to various CSU administrators upon their retirement -- and policies regarding public disclosure of such perks, said Richard Stapler, Núñez's spokesman.

The audit would review all forms of CSU executive compensation; hiring practices; post-employment compensation and "special projects"; and lawsuit settlements involving claims of CSU employment discrimination based on race or gender.

Assembly members Lori Saldaña, D-San Diego, and Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, teamed with Núñez in submitting the request.

The joint committee will schedule a public hearing to decide whether to direct the state auditor to conduct the study.