Opinion: Blah blah blah state school executives need to stop spending so much blah.
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It’s the same old story, though it’s not about the University of California. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the state auditor has just released a report saying the California State University system also needs to clean up its act:
The university ‘needs to strengthen its oversight and establish stricter policies for compensating current and former employees,’ California State Auditor Elaine Howle concluded in a 119-page report made public Tuesday. Among the cases highlighted by the auditor: -- A campus foundation gave more than $6,000 to a new athletic coach in San Diego to pay his tax liability in connection with his move to California. -- A former CSU management employee received a total of $102,000 over nearly seven years without performing any services for the university - an arrangement approved by the chancellor. -- A campus president received more than $27,000 to remodel his kitchen so that he could host university fundraising events.
It’s true. Everyone knows it’s true. In fact, that’s part of the problem — it’s kind of old news:
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, who is also a CSU ex-officio trustee, said that the auditor’s findings ‘confirm what we already knew - that CSU compensation policies are in need of thorough review and reform.
If change hasn’t come about by now, more than a year after the compensation scandals started breaking, then one more report isn’t going to do much now.
Here’s an idea: How about we start spending state resources on more pressing problems — say, like student fees and how both the state and university systems can help bring them back down to earth. Anyone? No? Guess not.