Coast colleges’ administrative salaries fall flat in state

rankings

Deirdre Newman

The decision this week by the Coast Community College District

Board Of Trustees not to vote on a 14% raise for its top

administrators leaves the district near the bottom of the

administrative pay barrel statewide.

Compared to 12 other California community college districts, the

Coast Community College District is next to last in terms of how much

its presidents are paid.

Presidents in the Ventura Community College District -- the best

paid in the 13 districts -- can make up to $180,000, while the

highest a Coast district president can aspire to is about $127,000,

said John Renley, vice chancellor of human resources for Coast

colleges.

This week, Coast administrators tried to position themselves more

competitively by proposing that the seven top administrators’

salaries be raised to about $145,000. But the proposal was jettisoned

Wednesday before the board was to to approve it, after intense

pressure from the teachers’ union.

Renley said he had mixed feelings about the proposal being

shelved.

“The state budget is not good, and I said, ‘This is probably not

the time to do it.’ But we need to do it for our particular needs,”

Renley said.

Those needs include finding a president for Orange Coast College,

Renley said. Margaret Gratton retired last spring and Gene Farrell

has been interim president during the search for her replacement.

Renley and other administrators proposed the salary increase to

entice more high-quality candidates to apply for the OCC position, he

said. The search stalled last spring when the district couldn’t find

one applicant it was interested in interviewing, Renley said.

The raise would have also benefited the three vice chancellors,

including Renley, and the president of KOCE-TV.

To be more competitive, Renley also recommends that Coast transfer

to a five- or six-step salary schedule for its top officials. At

Coast, a $127,000 salary is the only option and only increases with

annual cost-of-living adjustments.

Rancho Santiago and North Orange County are just two of the local

districts that have salary ranges for their top administrators. The

most a president in the Rancho Santiago district -- consisting of

Santa Ana and Santiago Canyon colleges -- can make is about $166,000.

In North Orange County-- Cypress and Fullerton colleges -- it’s about

$162,000. The San Bernardino Community College District fell last in

the comparison at $124,000.

Renley said the 14% raise will probably return to the board’s

agenda.