Making more than $2.8 million, Cal football coach Jeff Tedford was the University of California's highest-paid employee last year, according to an annual compensation report the university released yesterday.

The report showed that the university spent almost $8.9 billion from 2006-07 on the salaries of its approximately 130,000 employees, which include professors, administrators, athletic coaches and service employees. Cumulative salaries grew by approximately 8.2 percent since the 2005-06 calendar year, making up almost half of the university's $18 billion operating budget.

The university workforce grew by 3.3 percent, or 4,200 employees, last year.

Tedford is at the top of the UC's compensation list, with other athletic coaches and health sciences faculty from UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco and UCLA making up the top ten paid in the system.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, who is not among the top ten-earners, made $430,116 last year.

The university spends the greatest amount of its compensation budget, 20 percent or approximately $1.78 billion, on health care and related employees. It spends almost $14 million for compensation of athletic coaches and related positions, and almost $70 million on academic administrative officers' compensation.

This year, the report combines base salary figures with the above base salary figures, or other compensation, such as faculty members' summer salaries or overtime for UC nurses. UC spokesperson Paul Schwartz said the figures were

combined to paint a more complete picture of compensation of university employees.

The report also cited calendar year figures as opposed to fiscal year figures for 2006-07, as part of a transition to release the report earlier in the year, Schwartz said. In the past, the report was released in the fall, but university officials are aiming to release the report in the spring when senior management compensation reports are also released, as well as to align the report with year-end tax reporting.

The state supplies 32.6 percent of the compensation funds.

Schwartz said in light of the state's projected budget cuts, the university hopes it can maintain the caliber of its employees by offering competitive salaries.

"It's an ongoing challenge and we're doing everything we can to ensure competitive compensation for all employees within our available resources," he said.

Tags: UC OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT