The University of California Board of Regents on Thursday approved more stringent moonlighting rules regarding executives' external corporate board positions, according to SF Gate.
Under the newly approved rules, UC senior executives who want to sit on corporate boards, consult for companies or engage in other external corporate activities must first make the case for how UC would benefit from their work. The revised conflict-of-interest regulations only apply to executives who are seeking outside corporate work from now on. Currently, about 50 out of 165 UC senior executives hold such positions and are exempt from the new rules, according to the report.
Twelve executives are working with for-profit companies, including UCSF Medical Center CEO Mark Laret, whose pay recently came under scrutiny. Mr. Laret has received payments totaling more than $5 million in stock awards and cash since 2007 for his role on the boards of two companies that do millions of dollars of business with the hospital: Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian Medical Systems and Burlington, Mass.-based Nuance Communications.
During the meeting Thursday, the regents also approved 3 percent raises for the top UC executives, one day after several UC employees staged a protest over wages they said are so low that many have had to cut back on spending on food and move out of city apartments, according to the report.