Sacramento State President Luke Wood will receive a 6% increase to his base salary, raising it from $476,225 to $504,799, effective retroactively to July 1 of this year. Wood is among 13 California State University presidents receiving a pay raise, following the CSU Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 19.

This comes amid recent budget cuts to Sac State’s own programs and departments, including the University Library’s annual budget.

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In that same meeting, the CSU voted to eliminate the 10% limit on salary increases for first-time presidents versus their respective predecessors.

The CSU said this round of executive pay raises is intended to keep CSU presidents’ salaries competitive with market rates. According to CSU Chancellor Mildred García, the CSU aims to increase university presidents’ pay to between 80-110% of market rates.

“It is attentive to our budgetary resources and our long-term financial sustainability and reflects a sensitivity to the needs and perspectives of all employees,” Garcia said during a discussion on the proposed executive compensation updates.

The aforementioned market rates were from a study on executive compensation, conducted by Segal and presented to the board Wednesday. According to Segal’s Senior Vice President Jason Adwin, the study found all CSU presidents’ base pay to be below the “market median” rates, with 18 CSU presidents falling below the 25th percentile in market averages. It was not clear from Adwin’s presentation to the board which university presidents were included in the market observed.

The CSU also outlined other immediate changes to its executive compensation policy, which include: “performance-based” and “at-risk” pay, deferred compensation for those enrolled in the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act, increasing housing allowances “reflecting cost-of-living allowances in California” and more frequent market reviews to update pay for competitiveness.

The California Faculty Association, which represents over 29,000 CSU employees, has criticized this move as “shameful and a striking misuse of the funds we now have,” according to a press release Thursday.

It is unknown at time of publication whether Wood will see further raises in his pay package, such as an increased housing allowance.

Additional reporting by Omid Manavirad