HARTFORD — State legislative leaders are lambasting University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst’s decision to approve multiyear salary increases for four senior staffers in the midst of the state’s economic struggles, employee layoffs, and rising tuition costs at the university.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, however, said today that he’s confident the university’s leaders are “doing their best to live within their means.”
“Really? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Senate President Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said Thursday after learning of the raises..
Looney said that with “disastrous mistakes” made by former UConn Chief Financial Officer Richard Gray and former President Michael Hogan, he would have hoped the new administration would take into account the state’s current financial crisis when determining salary increases.
“At a time when painful reductions are being imposed throughout state government, UConn should not see itself as an isolated and privileged exception,” he said. “I urge President Herbst to reconsider and rescind these untimely raises.”
Herbst reportedly received a $29,500 raise in January, a $230,000 bonus in May, and will receive another $40,000 bonus this summer.
She also approved pay increases beginning in 2014, which included a $55,000 salary increase and annual bonus of $25,000 for the university’s general counsel whose annual salary will increase to $275,000, and a $58,000 increase for the university’s chief architect whose annual salary will now be $283,000.
Herbst’s deputy chief of staff and athletic staff also received increases.
“It’s extremely troubling to see such huge raises and bonuses being handed out at UConn at a time when people in other state jobs are being laid off,” Senate Minority Leader Leonard Fasano, R-North Haven, said. “It shows that the administration is not properly monitoring what is going on behind the scenes at our state university.”
Following the decision to grant the pay increases, Fasano said, “the university is in desperate need of additional oversight,” and placed blame on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat.
“Where is the governor on this decision to give special treatment to a few? Where is the UConn Board of Trustees? The decision to hand out these raises should not be left to one individual,” Fasano said, noting that students are being asked to make up for budget cuts with rising tuition fees and that there are added constraints on faculty hiring.
“It’s disturbing to say the least that the administration would allow a such blatant disregard for statewide cost-saving measures to occur,” Fasano said.
UConn brass ‘tone deaf’
“UConn’s administration continues to be tone deaf to the economic realities facing our state,” House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, said. “Handing out exorbitant raises to their highest paid staffers while at the same time increasing tuition for hard-working families is the height of arrogance.
“As state employee layoffs approach the 1,000 mark, and virtually every state agency is dealing with severe budget cuts, the leadership in Storrs has shown once again they just don’t get it,” Sharkey added.
House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said that while the state is laying off hundreds of employees and budget cuts are adversely impacting government services for those in need, “to give well-paid senior staff members at UConn big raises defies logic. I cannot understand the reasoning behind this.”
But Lawrence McHugh, chairman of UConn’s Board of Trustees, justified the raises by saying the staff members were underpaid compared to those in similar positions at comparable schools.
“The president has the authority to set pay for nonunion staff,” McHugh said. “The board’s policy is that the university needs to utilize national benchmarking data when determining pay for senior leaders to ensure that pay at UConn does not fall well below or well above what other large research universities pay employees in similar positions.
“The university followed that policy appropriately with respect to these employment agreements, which date to 2013 and 2014,” he added. “There is a market for most senior positions in higher education — both public and private — and the market largely drives compensation.”
Klarides said that while she doesn’t know what the national benchmark is for similar positions in higher education, but “nor do I care.”
“Ask a laid-off state worker if he or she cares,” she said.
Governor defends Herbst
Malloy, however, issued a statement today defending Herbst from the bipartisan legislative onslaught.
“Just like any agency in state government, UConn must adapt to a new economic reality and accomplish more with less,” a Malloy spokeswoman said. “They are already working to do just that making the difficult decisions to live within their budget.
“Pay for these employees was set in 2013 and 2014,” UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said. “They are responsible for helping to run a $2.3 billion enterprise with 3,000 students, 9,000 employees, seven campuses, and a hospital.”
Reitz added: “This small number of leadership salaries have no meaningful impact on UConn’s overall budget, workforce, and tuition rates.”
