June 19, 2000 Staff salaries top list of concerns at lunch meeting with Greenwood By Jennifer McNulty Increasing staff salaries is among the "top priorities" for the University of California in the coming year, Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood told a gathering of about 200 people during her third brown-bag lunch of the year with staff. "We are collecting comparative salary data, and the Office of the President is doing it, too, so that we will be able to present a compelling case about these lags in UC staff salaries," said Greenwood, acknowledging that there is a problem and the administration needs to develop a plan to address it. "We need this information to be able to get the political support to move forward." Preliminary research has identified lags of 4.5 percent to 10 percent in UCSC staff salaries when compared to similar private-sector jobs in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties. Salary data for nonprofit and public-sector employers is "tough to get," but the effort to gather it continues, said Greenwood. For some jobs, staff salaries at UCSC are lagging up to 30 percent behind salaries paid for comparable jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to Greenwood. There is considerable variability in job classifications and ranges in both the San Francisco Bay Area and in Santa Clara County, but the salary gap was persistent. Compared with other UC campuses in northern California, salaries at UCSC are "somewhat lower" in some categories but not in others, said Greenwood, noting that differences were of "a couple hundred dollars." "It is not as big a discrepancy, as I understand it, as some rumors would have it," she said. "But on average, our salaries appear to be somewhat lower." Greenwood told those in attendance that the administration will respond to the problem, but noted that, "It will take some time before we have a good explanation for you of how we are planning to address the lag in your particular job category." Depending on developments in Sacramento, Greenwood announced that UC staff appear to be in line to receive 4 percent cost-of-living adjustments and 1.5 percent merit increases, but she noted that any increase for represented employees is subject to bargaining negotiations. "That's a pretty decent increase compared to where we were in the fall," she said, referring to the early stages of budget negotiations. Julia Armstrong-Zwart noted that human resources has expanded salary ranges from 50 percent to 80 percent for some classifications, but she emphasized that the challenge remains for managers to find the money to actually fund the higher ranges. "I'm not trying to pretend that expanding the ranges solves the salary problem," she said. Following up on a topic raised at a previous meeting, Armstrong-Zwart clarified that more than half of the 287 reclasses approved last year were for clerical employees, 5 percent of whom were promoted out of the clerical bargaining unit. "That means that more than 20 percent of clerical employees on campus were reclassed last year," she added. Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor John Simpson reiterated that he has instructed deans, vice chancellors, and unit managers to include "staffing plans" in budget proposals submitted to his office. One idea the campus is exploring with members of the Santa Cruz City Council is a collaborative effort to build subsidized housing that would be "appropriate for staff, and some new faculty perhaps, and graduate students," said Greenwood. Administrators also intend to include staff housing in development proposals for the north end of campus, but occupancy is "five or six years" off, she said. On other topics, Greenwood endorsed plans to draft a campus "civility statement" and said she has received a proposal from human resources and the Academic Senate Committee on Faculty Welfare to appoint a committee of faculty and staff to look at "work/life" issues on campus, including child care resources and physical fitness facilities. "One charge of that committee will be to develop a civility statement," said Greenwood. "We have to return to a place where people are unfailingly civil to each other." On the fitness front, the East Field House hours have been expanded, with the facility now open to staff at 6 a.m., said Dan Wood, director of physical education, recreation, and sports, who noted that expanding offerings at the West Field House is more problematic but is still under consideration. Administrators also touted the success of the new bicycle shuttle system, which is transporting about 50 bikes a day, according to TAPS director Wes Scott. "I won't be satisfied until we reach 300 a day," he said. Return to Front Page