It seems that the prevailing philosophy in the Chancellor’s Office–and by extension in his Board of Trustees–is that the CSU should be “run like a business.” This is a refrain often repeated over the last few decades when it comes to government.

As suspect as the idea that government be “run like a business” is, about now I wish the Chancellor was thinking of running the CSU like a business.

According to a recent survey, employees in the private sector should be looking forward to some modest pay raises:

After increasing salaries by 2.6 percent this year [2011] and last year, companies are planning a 2.8 percent bump in 2012, benefits and human resources consultancy Towers Watson reported Monday.

The California Faculty Association is currently bargaining with the Chancellor for a three year contract with faculty. CFA has proposed a 1% pay increase in the first year of the contract. It is a modest proposal–given the state’s financial difficulties–and a fraction of what private sector employees will see in the coming year.

The offer that is on the table from the Chancellor is a ZERO percent increase for year one of the contract. During years two and three the Chancellor wants language to reopen the wage and benefit clauses of the contract. One can only interpret this as a signal that wages and benefits would likely be CUT in the last two years of the contract.

This is the Chancellor’s offer at the same time that the Chancellor is lobbying the Board of Trustees to increase the pay of the campus presidents by as much as 25%.

At least in the private sector the near-pornographic pay raises for CEOs are coupled with modest pay raises for their employees. The Chancellor’s message to his faculty, to his workforce? “Take a flying *@#! at the Moon.”