Trustees Grant New Chancellor 8% Raise

Despite critics who say the reward is premature, trustees have given Chancellor Philip Westin a $10,000 raise seven months after he was hired to head the Ventura County Community College District.

Pete Tafoya, president of the board of trustees, said Westin deserved the 8% raise because he has made the district more efficient and put the college system in line to receive millions in state money to compensate for growth in student enrollment.

“In my opinion, he is probably one of the best chancellors in the state,” Tafoya said Thursday. “Whenever you get that kind of quality, it deserves a reward.”

Tafoya added that Westin’s new $135,000 salary still falls below the median state salary for community college chancellors, which he said is $142,000 a year.

The board at Tuesday’s meeting voted 4 to 0--with trustee Allan Jacobs absent--to grant the raise after extending Westin’s contract through next year.

Some community college officials and instructors, however, have questioned the raise, saying it is premature and inconsistent with district practices.

“I understand that his salary is below the median, but he has been a chancellor for all of seven months, and he got a raise,” said James Merrill, an English instructor at Oxnard College. “That doesn’t happen to anyone else in the district. I doubt that they will be offering us 8% this year.”

Merrill said the highest raise he has heard of for instructors and other district officials is a 5% raise over a several-year period.

Merrill is part of a group of instructors, employees and community members who have criticized the board for passing over finalists for the presidency of Oxnard College.

The board voted Tuesday to continue with a search for a president, leaving the college with interim head Judith Valles.

Tafoya said that until the hiring flap, Westin had received only high marks from members of the community college system.