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SAN FRANCISCO — The UC Board of Regents moved to stop further “brain drain” of the university system’s senior leadership at its meeting Thursday, setting the framework for a November vote that would allow increases to the six-figure salaries that top officials currently make.

Proponents of the salary increase say such a raise is crucial in order to keep the University of California competitive in hiring and retaining capable high-ranking employees, while the measure’s opponents fear higher salaries would translate into higher student fees.

The outcome of the November vote may play an important role in deciding who will take the helm at UCLA when Chancellor Albert Carnesale leaves his post at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year.

Regents Chairman Gerald Parsky said augmenting salaries of top-level employees would be crucial if the UC hopes to recruit an able candidate to fill the chancellorship vacancy at UCLA.

Also on the day’s agenda was a look at the UC's willed body programs, which came under fire last year after employees at the UCLA cadaver program were accused of selling body parts that had been donated for research purposes.

UC officials say the program’s security is being improved. One new measure that is already being implemented is a Web-enabled database that would allow the UC Office of the President and officials at individual campuses to monitor the programs, said Cathryn Nation, executive director of academic health sciences.

Also in the works is a radio frequency identification device to help willed body employees keep track of cadavers, she said.

Thursday's meeting was more about discussion than action, but the regent finance committee did move unanimously to vote on the measure to increase some employee salaries when the regents reconvene at the UC Berkeley campus in November.

Some regents said the salary increase would be beneficial to the university, even though it may bring some dissent from across the state.

“We should pay whatever we have to pay and not play games about it,” said Regent Richard Blum. “If we’re going to have to take some heat to be competitive, then so be it.”

The UC – considered by many to be the nation’s top public university system – currently lags considerably behind comparable institutions in salaries for its high-level employees, though its health and retirement benefits surpass those of many other institutions.

The proposed salary increase would likely affect UC employees earning more than $168,000 – a group of about 800 people, many of whom work at the UC-run national labs.

While the decision to put the measure to a vote was a stepping stone for final action and does not necessarily indicate what the board's final decision would be, the measure seemed to irk some regents due to the effects a salary increase may have on UC students.

“I know where that funding will come from, and that’s from student fees,” said Student Regent Adam Rosenthal.

Another aspect of the measure – which would increase the salary of UC employees already making more than $350,000, a small group made up mostly of chancellors – was also tabled for consideration until November.

Some UC officials said they hoped that – if approved – raises for some of the university system’s highest paid employees would be funded by private donors, a condition the proposal’s opponents fear would encourage the state government to further cut UC funding.

The talk of salary increases for the university’s top officials comes amid a labor dispute between the university system and its nurses and four months after university service workers went on strike for higher pay.