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To me this issue is basically the same as most other pay discrepancy issues in other fields. It all boils down to directly attributable results. If a college en

To me this issue is basically the same as most other pay discrepancy issues in other fields. It all boils down to directly attributable results. If a college endowment increases by 800 million under a presidents stewardship he can point to that as directly attributable to him. It doesn't mean others didn't assist but it's a very public win for him. It's hard to argue that he doesn't deserve 1% of that. With professors it's hard for them to argue that they are the reason why the college has X number of dollars with any clarity. Unless some alum donates a lot of money and says specifically this is because of this or that teacher it's impossible for them to quantify their worth to the school. Thus admin staff who can do that see their salaries increase commiserate with what they can argue they bring to the school, while the professors who should be more important are left behind. Schools are a business today and that's reflected in their priorities of money > education.

ataturk 9y ago
Then they need to start using tuition, room & board, and book prices as a measure of success and not fundraising that never trickles down.
ihsw2 9y ago
How do you reconcile that with external effects? Surely a college endowment increases for reasons outside of the college presidents' actions and it is not directly attributable to him/her. If all college endowments grow in lockstep with demographic/economic growth then surely it stands to reason that college endowment growth can be attributed to this. While is foolish to assert that demographic/economic growth is 100% responsible, it is equally foolish to assert that college presidents are 100% responsible for endowment growth.
- dcole2929 9y ago
  Absolutely, but it's up to the board or whatever functions similarly at a university to make that decision. I'm not laying out an algorithm for president's inflated salary just explaining what i see to be the reasoning behind it. Like most things, compensation isn't a reflection of absolute truth but of what one can argue to be reasonable. I'd imagine you could take the increase in endowment and compare to the average schools increase across the same time period or some other such metrics, if one were so inclined.
Shivetya 9y ago
At private colleges I really could care less what they pay administrators. I do take offense at high salaries at state schools to include their athletic departments. These salaries are on top of their guaranteed retirements and related provisions let alone all the ancillary benefits they receive while in office. Their endowments should be taxed. Any school accepting government money for student educations, whether loans or grants, should be subject to increased scrutiny. We are holding medical providers to high standards of scrutiny because of their costs to the public, education should face the same. Again, I could care less what a private school pays provided they are not receiving government money in the form of grants or assistance to students.

ataturk 9y ago

Then they need to start using tuition, room & board, and book prices as a measure of success and not fundraising that never trickles down.

ihsw2 9y ago

How do you reconcile that with external effects? Surely a college endowment increases for reasons outside of the college presidents' actions and it is not directly attributable to him/her. If all college endowments grow in lockstep with demographic/economic growth then surely it stands to reason that college endowment growth can be attributed to this. While is foolish to assert that demographic/economic growth is 100% responsible, it is equally foolish to assert that college presidents are 100% responsible for endowment growth.

dcole2929 9y ago
Absolutely, but it's up to the board or whatever functions similarly at a university to make that decision. I'm not laying out an algorithm for president's inflated salary just explaining what i see to be the reasoning behind it. Like most things, compensation isn't a reflection of absolute truth but of what one can argue to be reasonable. I'd imagine you could take the increase in endowment and compare to the average schools increase across the same time period or some other such metrics, if one were so inclined.

Shivetya 9y ago

At private colleges I really could care less what they pay administrators. I do take offense at high salaries at state schools to include their athletic departments. These salaries are on top of their guaranteed retirements and related provisions let alone all the ancillary benefits they receive while in office. Their endowments should be taxed. Any school accepting government money for student educations, whether loans or grants, should be subject to increased scrutiny. We are holding medical providers to high standards of scrutiny because of their costs to the public, education should face the same. Again, I could care less what a private school pays provided they are not receiving government money in the form of grants or assistance to students.