As Chancellor Albert Carnesale rounds out the final year of his
stint as head of UCLA, a key talking point in the search for the
campus’ ninth chancellor will circle around a nationwide
trend of ever-increasing paychecks for university executives.
Higher-education policy experts and researchers are finding that
within the past five years there has been a substantial increase in
the pay and incentives provided for university heads ““ a
phenomenon that has many worried a corporate model in setting
presidential pay awaits the academic world.
And with the University of California expecting no change in its
ever-decreasing funding from the state, the implication that it may
not be able to compete with other higher-education institutions may
be warranted.
“(Salaries) are growing. They’re increased out of
necessity to attract people to those positions,” said Noel
Van Nyhuis, a spokesman for the UC Office of the President.
Of university presidents across the nation, 42 surpassed the
half-million-dollar mark in 2004, and the highest-paid president of
a private institution ““ William R. Brody of Johns Hopkins
University ““ earned $897,786 in the 2003 fiscal year,
according to an executive compensation report published by The
Chronicle of Higher Education in 2004.
Carnesale, in contrast, makes $222,700 per year.
The salaries for heads at higher-education institutions are also
often supplemented with deferred compensation and incentive
packages. In fact, over half of university presidents report
receiving pension or retirement benefits, an automobile, and life
insurance, while more than a third say they receive an
entertainment budget, relocation expenses, and merit-based salary
increases, according to the American Council on Education.
Higher-education policy experts are saying these compensation
packages for top administrators are being driven by a handful of
factors, including competition for those with executive experience
and the ability of private universities to supplement pay with
private donations.
One palpable outcome of the price creep on executive pay is that
a number of heads at public institutions are leaving to work at
private universities.
The way in which that facet is playing out when it comes to
hiring chancellors has some faculty and staff within the UC system
worried that UCLA may not be able to attract the most qualified
candidate.
“With the budget problems we’ve had in recent years,
it’s really hampered our ability to bring our salaries of our
chancellors up to competitive levels,” Van Nyhuis said.
Among the heads of over 100 public universities, 17 will earn
more than $500,000, while 42 presidents of private institutions
will have earned that much in 2003, according to the Chronicle. In
addition, the median compensation for presidents at public
institution is $328,400 while private-college heads routinely make
more than $500,000.
This gap between public and private universities is not
anticipated to close anytime soon either. Thus, higher-education
researchers say that with the number of qualified candidates
limited, university boards are simply subjected to the rules of
market economics.
Such factors put the UC Board of Regents in an even more
precarious position when it comes to hiring UCLA’s next
chancellor.
According to the Chronicle, presidents of public universities in
the western region have the lowest median compensation nationwide
““ at $303,651 ““ still far above the UCLA
chancellor’s $222,700.
In fact, when Carnesale was hired he did not receive the
standard salary increase from what his predecessor, Charles E.
Young, earned, though he did obtain a car allowance and university
housing ““ a 10,600-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa at
the north end of campus.
Across the spectrum, salaries for UC staff have been below the
market, Van Nyhuis said, with what the UC can offer for chancellors
“lagging behind our comparative universities.”
But the recent hiring of new chancellor at other UCs revealed
that when pressed, the university can offer what it takes to get
qualified leaders.
The new chancellor at UC San Diego, who was hired last spring
and solicited from her post as chancellor at North Carolina
University, also a public institution, will be earning
$350,000.
The salary is a substantial increase from the $248,225 she made
at her previous position and above average for public higher
education.
From one chancellor to the next, salaries have been increasing
at schools within the UC system, and the same is expected to happen
when UCLA hires its next head.
Though Carnesale’s salary was not increased from what his
predecessor received, trends at higher education institutions
nationwide reveal that incoming chancellors usually obtain a 25
percent increase.
UC San Diego’s Mary Ann Fox was able to bargain for a 30
percent increase in her salary.
Faculty and staff at UCLA are hopeful that the university will
be able to attract a well-qualified candidate capable of promoting
social and economic progress, wrote Sylvia Hurtado, professor and
director at the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, in an
e-mail.