Education Advocate Sees 'Corporate Emulation' as Bad for Universities
by Jim Brown
November 17, 2004
(AgapePress) - A new study finds the salaries of university presidents have reached record highs.Even though tuition is rising sharply and schools are facing budget cuts, the number of university presidents making more than half a million dollars annually spiked again this year. That is according to an executive compensation survey released by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
That survey reports 42 presidents of private colleges and 17 presidents of public universities and systems will make more than $500,000 this year. The Chronicle of Higher Education says the pay for those private-college heads has "attracted faculty resentment and the attention of the Internal Revenue Service."
Bob Atwell, president emeritus of the American Council on Education, believes the run-up in salaries is divisive in the institutions, which are quite different from for-profit corporations.
"Presidents of colleges and universities have a lot of responsibility, but they don't have the authority that goes with it, in most cases," Atwell says. "And I think this emulation of corporate America is all wrong because the jobs are different and because I think corporate America has indulged itself in a lot of greed -- and I don't think that higher education ought to go down the same road."
Atwell is concerned that the high salaries might attract some individuals whose main drive is not focused on higher education, ultimately having a negative influence on the college environment.
"I think some of these people [making the salary decision] genuinely see these university presidency jobs as very difficult jobs. They're 24/7; they are difficult jobs -- and there are many good people in them," he acknowledges. "It's just that I think one ought not to take these jobs for the money. Universities are a different kind of place, and they ought to continue to be."
The University of Washington's Mark Emmert tops the list of highest paid public university presidents, with a lucrative package that will total $762,000. Johns Hopkins University president William Brody's compensation package of nearly $900,000 is the highest among all college president.
