As teachers fight for pay increases and better benefits, a number of former California State University presidents and administrators receive additional compensation long after leaving the CSU system.

Among those administrators is former Sacramento State President Donald Gerth, who held the position of president from 1984-2003, the longest term in Sac State history, and one-third of the total life of the campus, according to the CSU website.

“One key aspect of Gerth’s presidency was his efforts to stabilize the campus and the administration,” said David Wagner, vice president for human resources. “He was the one president who really began to position us, in terms of understanding that we were located in the state capital.”

Gerth positioned the campus to take a more prominent role in the happenings of the state, Wagner said. The Center for California Studies one example of the links Gerth made for the university, he added.

Gerth, who signed a five-year contract with the chancellor’s office, will continue to receive $54,372 per year until 2008, said Paul Browning, media relations specialist at the chancellor’s office. He will also collect an additional $36,000 per year for undefined expenses.

The Sacramento Bee reported that published reports state this figure is on top of Gerth’s annual pension of nearly $268,000 per year.

This idea of additional compensation for retired presidents and administrators does not sit well with a number of people.

Freshman Thomas Herburger said it doesn’t seem fair.

“I mean the former president and others like him have left their positions; what are they being paid for?” he asked.

While many question the facts, claiming the partnership between Gerth and the chancellor’s office was kept secret from the public, Browning assures everyone that the work being done is important and well worth the money.

“Former President Gerth is serving as a special assistant to the chancellor and was assigned to write the history of the California State University system as well as public policy concerning higher education,” Browning said. “The amount of work and research President Gerth and others like him are doing is substantial and, in my opinion, the university is getting quite a bargain.”

According to Gerth, the CSU system has a program for its faculty whereby individual faculty members eligible for retirement may retire and also continue for a maximum of five years on a part-time basis.

“The size of my pension is substantial, but so were my monthly payments into the Public Employees’ Retirement System. – Pensions are not gifts. They are earned and paid for,” Gerth said. “There was nothing secret about the circumstances of my retirement plans. The campus faculty and staff knew, the (CSU) trustees knew, students, on and off campus, knew, anybody within hearing distance knew.”

The current CSU executive compensation policy for departing campus presidents and other executives was adopted by the CSU Board of Trustees in 1992 and modified in 1997.

As part of the executive’s employment agreement, an executive is entitled to one paid transition year after he or she leaves office.

At the conclusion of the transition year, the executive may elect to exercise his or her faculty retreat and will be paid according to campus policy, Browning said.

No other Sac State executives are receiving special salaries or other forms of compensation. Browning said there are 22 executives who are eligible for this program and another six who have a right to participate in the program pursuant to their original employment agreement.

Some faculty members feel Gerth should be doing more to deserve his pay.

“If he’s doing it as part of his Faculty Early Retirement Program, then that’s fine. My only concern is that most other faculty members would not be given a special agreement or opportunity like this,” said Cecil Canton, Sac State chapter president of the California Faculty Association. “His retirement pay is far more than ours and I feel that if he is going to participate in the program then he should be teaching in the classroom like the rest of us.”

However, President Alexander Gonzalez said Gerth deserves the additional compensation, although it is not something that he would consider unless the work was particularly interesting.

“He earned it,” Gonzalez said. “He put 44 years into this system, that’s what he’s supposed to get. Personally, I wouldn’t do it unless it was something really interesting. When I retire, I retire.”

Ashley Evans can be reached at [email protected]