The faculty of UCSC receives the lowest salaries of any faculty in the University of California undergraduate network.
The faculty of UCSC receives the lowest salaries of any faculty in the University of California undergraduate network. In general, professors of all ranks receive 7 percent less than their colleagues at other schools, but the differences become even more apparent among the faculty members who earn more than $200,000 per year. For example, Chancellor George Blumenthal is the highest paid faculty member at UCSC, with a total salary of $318,915 in 2008. Though the salary may seem significant, it is still 40 percent less than that of Robert Birgeneau, Chancellor of UC Berkeley, who received $445,000 that year. On the other end of the spectrum, an assistant professor at UCSC receives a median salary of $64,100.
Blumenthal has expressed concern about the disparity between UCSC salaries and salaries in other schools, calling it “the nightmare in the closet.” He worries that this will lead many top academics to seek positions in other schools.
On the other hand, councilmember Mike Rotkin commented on how much the highest-paid administrators and senior faculty members are earning by saying, “The person who runs the city of Santa Cruz doesn’t make that much money.”
Read More at the Santa Cruz Sentinel
