By Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger
Despite state funding cuts and slashed campus budgets, pay for leaders of public colleges continued to climb nationwide last year as some presidential salaries topped $1 million, according to a new study.
Presidential compensation was up 4.7 percent during the 2011-2012 school year, according to an analysis of nearly 200 state colleges and universities released last night by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Penn State President Graham Spanier — who was forced to resign in 2011 as a result of a child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky — was the nation’s highest paid public university president that year with a total compensation package of more than $2.9 million.
He was followed by Auburn University President Jay Gogue ($2.5 million), Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee ($1.9 million) and former George Mason University President Alan Merten ($1.9 million).
Rutgers University President Richard McCormick, in his final year as president of the state university, ranked No. 58 on the national list with total compensation of $572,500. However, that number did not include the $66,667 bonus McCormick was awarded in December by the Rutgers Board of Governors for meeting certain goals during his final months in office.
Presidential pay at public colleges has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years as states have cut funding to colleges and universities and tuition has continued to increase.
Rutgers’ president has been slipping on the salary list in recent years. In 2003, McCormick ranked as the third-highest public college president in the nation. But his rank fell when he declined some bonuses and was not given raises during the remainder of his tenure.
“Anecdotally, presidents and boards are sensitive to the perception that presidents appear to be doing quite well while their campuses are struggling,” said Jack Stripling, one of the authors of the Chronicle of Higher Education study. “So, we certainly see presidents here and there declining a pay raise. In California, where the budget cuts have been terrible, Timothy White asked for a pay cut when he became chancellor of California State University.”
Robert Barchi, who took over as Rutgers president in September, was not included in this year’s survey. He earns a base salary of $650,000 a year and is eligible for $97,500 in bonus money his first year, according to his contract.
If he were included in this year’s survey, Barchi’s base pay would place him around 35th on the list of public college presidential salaries.
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