Hawaii senators want the University of Hawaii to shrink what they see as the bloated salaries of university officials.

Senators grilled officials about the salaries during an informational briefing Friday at the state Capitol.

Officials defended the university, saying that good salaries are necessary to retain competitive employees. They said reducing salaries would hurt the university.

The university’s finances came under scrutiny last year following the Stevie Wonder debacle in which university officials lost $200,000 in a scam.

Senate President Donna Mercado Kim says university officials are getting paid too much.

She says 11 years ago, the university president received $187,000 per year while also acting as university chancellor. She says now the university president and the chancellor are each being paid more than $400,000 a year.