Faster pay rises at public varsities in US

NEW YORK: Professor David Sargent, the 77- year-old president of Suffolk University in Boston, received a US$2.8 million (S$4.3 million) pay package in 2006-07.

That package included a US$436,000 longevity bonus and more than US$1 million in deferred compensation - after the board of trustees, eager to delay his retirement, decided he had long been underpaid.

Prof Sargent was the nation's highest- compensated university president in the annual survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education, released yesterday.

Among others who also received more than US$2 million was Dr David Roselle, who resigned as president of the University of Delaware in June last year. He had a package of US$2.4 million, including deferred compensation.

And Dr E. Gordon Gee, who forfeited more than half of his US$2 million compensation package when he resigned from Vanderbilt University last year to become president of Ohio State University, is the highest-paid public university president, the survey found. Dr Gee's Ohio State package was raised just this month to more than US$1.3 million.

While seven-figure pay packages had been limited mostly to prominent private research universities, some presidents of public institutions such as Ohio State and Delaware, or private universities like Suffolk that offer few doctoral degrees, are topping US$1 million in pay and benefits.

In fact, compensation for public research university presidents is growing faster than for those who head private institutions, the survey found.

'The public universities are still behind, but by only about US$100,000,' said Mr Jeffrey Selingo, editor of The Chronicle.

Median pay and benefits for presidents of public institutions rose 7.6 per cent in 2007-08 to US$427,400, The Chronicle said. Over a five- year period, the public universities' median compensation rose 36 per cent, compared with 19 per cent at private institutions.

'It's surprising that many public universities are raising their presidents' salaries,' said Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, who has been prodding universities for more accountability in spending and greater commitment to affordability. 'In these hard economic times, apparently belt-tightening is for families and students, not university presidents.'

Among the public university presidents, The Chronicle found, 59 received more than US$500,000 in 2007-08, compared with 43 the previous year. At private institutions, 89 received at least US$500,000, compared with 81 the previous year.

The highest-earning presidents at private research universities, the survey found, were Dr Henry Bienen of Northwestern (with US$1,742,560 in total compensation); Mr Lee Bollinger of Columbia (US$1,411,894); and Dr Shirley Ann Jackson of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (US$1,326,774).

Mr Selingo pointed out that these compensation packages were negotiated long before the current economic downturn.

'The more interesting comparison is faculty salaries, because that's where there's more tension,' he said.

The gap in faculty salaries between private and public institutions is growing. Median faculty pay at a public doctoral institution is about US$109,000, compared with about US$149,000 at a private research university, he added.