By now, you've likely seen this past weekend's San Francisco Chronicle articles criticizing UC's compensation practices and also received a letter from UC President Dynes on the matter.

In circumstances like this, the inclination may be to simply defend current policies and practices, given the very real challenges of recruiting and retaining people in UC's highly competitive job market.

But I believe the university would be well served to listen to the concerns that have been raised, and, in particular, to renew its commitment to bring all of UC's employees up to market-level salaries — a commitment that was to be discussed by the UC Board of Regents when it met this week.

At the heart of the San Francisco Chronicle's stories is whether the university makes wise and responsible choices in expending its funds, justifying the public's trust.

That's a responsibility I take very seriously as chancellor of the Davis campus, and a trust that's critically important to maintain.

As uncomfortable as the Chronicle's scrutiny may be, I believe it serves an organization well to be regularly reminded of its obligations.

While the Davis campus can be characterized as conservative by nature and very principled in its approach to the expenditure of funds, we'll also take advantage of this opportunity to review our policies and practices.

We work hard to be good stewards of our resources, conducting regular audits, convening a standing committee to investigate any charges of misuse of funds, and facilitating an independent whistleblower hot line at (877) 384-4272.

And we're always looking for opportunities to do more.

Preserving your trust and confidence — and, by extension, the trust and confidence of the citizens of California — requires no less.

Larry Vanderhoef is the chancellor of UC Davis.