Is UC spending too little on teaching, too much on administration?

Kim Christensen

Fifty years ago, the University of California basked in a golden moment: With the state booming, the system opened two new campuses in 1965, one on the old Irvine Ranch in the middle of Orange County, the other in the hills above Santa Cruz and the Pacific Ocean.

It was a crowning achievement for then-Gov. Pat Brown, who made expanding the system a top priority.

Today, UC has 10 campuses across the state and a $27-billion budget. But there is a persistent debate about how the university spends that money and whether students are being shortchanged.

Weeks after an announced increase in state funding staved off a tuition hike, the Board of Regents riled spending critics this summer by handing 3% raises to some of UC’s highest-paid employees. The number of those making at least $500,000 annually grew by 14% in the last year, to 445, and the system’s administrative ranks have swelled by 60% over the last decade — far outpacing tenure-track faculty.

Administrative growth and executive compensation are perennial hot-button issues for students, labor leaders and fiscal watchdogs, who say they are emblematic of the system’s free-spending ways. UC officials counter that the costs are necessary to compete with other world-class institutions and keep up with advancing technology and growing enrollment.

They also say the budget numbers can give the wrong impression.

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[Source]: LA Times