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Paying the president
What do Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Suffolk University, and Franklin & Marshall College all have in common? Each pays its president more than any other similar institution in the country -- private research universities, master's institutions, and baccalaureate institutions respectively. These presidents all received more than $1,000,000 in salary and benefits during the 2007-08 fiscal year.
The Chronicle of Higher Education released today its annual report on presidential compensation packages at private colleges and universities. George Washington University led the nation in presidential pay for the 2007-08 fiscal year with $3.7 million. The median pay is $358,746, a 6.5 percent increase from the previous year.
In a time of rising unemployment, financial instability, and spiraling tuition rates, what do students and parents think when they hear these types of figures?
Trustees need to demonstrate to the public that they are striving to use the funds entrusted to them wisely and that presidential pay is not exempt from close scrutiny. They need to be transparent about how presidential compensation is determined and how raises are tied to specific performance measures. In short, trustees need to show that they have carefully considered how to spend tuition dollars in order to provide students with the greatest value -- especially as it relates to their president.
The dollar amounts and, more importantly, the higher-than-inflation increases in median presidential compensation ought to give all trustees pause.
Posted by Heather Lakemacher on November 02, 2009 at November 2, 2009 06:08 PM
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