CSU Trustees To Vote On Compensation For 7 Presidents - Central Coast News KION/KCBA

SEASIDE - The California State University Board of Trustees will vote on compensation packages for seven presidents. Three of them could be getting paid up to 10 percent more than their predecessors.

"Any new money that comes in should go to where a university is supposed to spend money," said professor Steven Levinson at California State University, Monterey Bay. "The money should be going into the classrooms serving students."

But Levinson said that's not happening.

He's been at the university for 16 years and said each year is worse for his students

"I have students telling me that they're not getting the classes they needed. I know students are staying one or two years longer because sections have been cut, teachers are going away. They don't have the stability in the classroom. Their tuition is going up," he said.

Now, the Trustees are looking at compensation packages for seven of the 23 campus presidents of about $20,000 or more.

But the CSU wants to clear something up.

It said the money isn't coming from your tax dollars; it's coming from private donations.

The university system said it needs to keep the market competitive when hiring and no standing president has received a raise since 2007.

But students, like Eric Dietrich, said it's not about where the money is coming from, but where it's going.

"I think even if money is coming from campus foundations the money should be applied to the students and not to the higher faculties," he said.  "They're getting paid way too much as it is."

The CSU Trustees will vote on the compensation packages for the seven campus presidents on Tuesday.