SACRAMENTO: University of California President Robert Dynes apologized Wednesday for not being more open about executive compensation practices and promised changes.

But his contrition did little to appease a panel of state senators who demanded to know why the university has handed out lucrative pay packages, sometimes in apparent contravention to internal policies.

Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, questioned whether "heads need to roll" for the payouts and suggested the university should be the subject of a criminal investigation for excessive gifting of public funds.

"I hope we go beyond the mea culpas and we begin to extract responsibility for what has occurred," Romero said.

The comments came during a Senate Education Committee hearing on UC compensation, the first of several reviews into university pay sparked by a report by the San Francisco Chronicle that found the system handed out as much as $871 million last fiscal year in bonuses, relocation expenses and other compensation while raising student fees and cutting services.

An additional hearing is pending in the state Assembly, and the state auditor is also reviewing UC's pay practices, with a report expected in May. UC officials have also begun a number of reviews, including an external audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Senate committee will hold a second hearing Feb. 22, when it expects to hear from Gerald Parsky, chairman of UC's Board of Regents.

Meanwhile, details continue to emerge on other pay packages, including a $301,836, one-year sabbatical for former Provost M.R.C. Greenwood, who resigned Nov. 4 in the midst of an investigation into hiring practices. The investigation later found that Greenwood violated conflict-of-interest policies when she hired her business partner for a $192,000 administrative post, yet Greenwood continues to receive her sabbatical pay and will soon join the faculty at UC Davis at $163,800 a year.

Senators also questioned the recent disclosure of an agreement with UC Davis Vice Chancellor Celeste Rose, who threatened to sue when she was asked to resign. Rose was given a new, two-year post making $205,000 a year but has yet to complete any duties.

"Who took it in the shorts here?" asked Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria. "At the end of the day, the taxpayers are the ones who end up paying."

While Dynes said he takes full responsibility for the university compensation, he said some of the problem stemmed from policies he called overlapping, confusing and contradictory.

"I've heard of things I didn't know were going on, quite frankly," Dynes said, adding that the current controversy has "tilted" his "moral compass."

"My ethics are upset, as yours are," Dynes told the committee. "I'm pretty upset by this. ... It's time for us together to straighten the course."

Policies will be tightened and changed, Dynes promised, and a special task force is already working on the issue.

Still, senators reminded Dynes that UC has been in a similar position before - most recently in 1992 when a compensation controversy prompted a state report that blasted UC for lack of openness and an arrogance around pay matters and issued a list of recommendations for change, only some of which were later adopted by the university.

"What makes us think you will follow them now?" Maldonado asked.

"Let me be clear: I intend to put things in place that will stick," Dynes said, promising a periodic review to ensure policies are being followed.

Earlier Wednesday, David Longanecker, a national expert on university compensation, said UC's packages are consistent with those found in other institutions but that a public institution has a responsibility to conduct its business "in the sunshine."

"American higher education by and large has lost its way," said Longanecker, executive director of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. "We are spending an awful lot on executive compensation compared with what we used to spend."

Contact Michelle Maitre at mmaitre@angnewspapers.com
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