CSU can learn accountability

Pasadena Star News 1/15/07

When trustees of the California State University system concocted a pay package for a former chancellor, Barry Munitz, they didn't have taxpayers in mind. But at least they didn't break the law.

A Superior Court judge ruled last week that trustees were entitled to meet behind closed doors to discuss compensation for Munitz because the law prohibiting secret meetings of state bodies (the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act) makes an exception for such personnel matters as hiring and firing. The lawsuit was filed by the California Faculty Association.

Obviously, the faculty union wanted to embarrass the trustees. Well, they deserved to be embarrassed. The deal they came up with was $163,776 for the first year as a university professor, followed by the highest possible salary as a regular professor, $112,548.

The reason for discussing all this behind closed doors, according to the faculty union's lead lawyer, Glenn Rothner, was to avoid a public relations fallout rather than any sensitivity about personnel matters. He got that right.

Of course, that doesn't make it illegal. But neither does the ruling stop the faculty union from appealing, which, Rothner told the L.A. Times, he plans to do. If the CFA does indeed do that, there could be more embarrassment to follow. We could also consider that a waste of time and money.

There are other sides to this story. Although those fat salaries are offensive to many students, faculty members and taxpayers, they aren't great shakes to Munitz. In his most recent employment, as head of the J. Paul Getty Trust, he was accustomed not only to big paychecks but to extravagant perks - so extravagant they provoked an investigation by the state attorney general's office and finally his forced resignation.

Munitz's return to the university system as a "trustee professor" at Cal State Los Angeles isn't being treated as a rehiring. Officially, he is classified as having been on leave of absence for eight years. (He served as CSU chancellor from 1991-98 before leaving to work for the Getty Trust).

None of this will make most taxpayers happy.

But to be fair, Munitz has real potential in his new job. More and more, the university system depends on private financial support, and part of Munitz's assignment will be to help with fundraising. When it comes to identifying potential contributors, few have a better Rolodex than Munitz.

The CSUs are in particular need these days, as they absorb a large enrollment impact of Tidal WaveII. Nearby Cal State Fullerton, for example, has surpassed all CSU and UC schools in student enrollment.

So, in the end, taxpayers could get more than their money's worth. But they also are entitled to know all the details about how those in positions of trust make their decisions about how it gets spent.