One state lawmaker said Monday that Rutgers University’s president should step down from his lucrative side work. Another said Robert Barchi’s paid positions on advisory boards of two corporations that do business with Rutgers are “a terrible message to students” facing a recently approved tuition hike. MARKO GEORGIEV/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Rutgers University President Robert Barchi
Those were among the reactions to a report in The Record on Monday that revealed Barchi was paid more than $300,000 last year to privately advise two corporations that have done millions of dollars’ worth of business with the state’s flagship university. The extra pay — from a firm that distributes lab supplies and another that specializes in drug research — boosts Barchi’s overall compensation to more than $1 million, including $747,000 he was eligible to make from Rutgers.
Experts called it conflict of interest, and some lawmakers agreed, while criticizing the university’s board of governors for permitting the additional work and questioning how Barchi has the time.
