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Do College Presidents Make Too Much Money?



In a recent report of compensation of university presidents, it is reported that the average annual compensation (in all forms) is just over $428,000 in 2014, up 7% from a year earlier, according to an analysis of 238 chief executives at 220 public universities from the Chronicle of Higher Education, nearly four times what the average full professor makes.  See http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/07/pf/college/highest-paid-public-university-presidents/

That’s a lot of money.  But what is the true compensation?  They suffer universal contempt from the faculty* who think the job is mostly routine, something any (very careful) idiot can do.  They are also living at the whim of their boards that seem to reflect the general public opinion which is about the same as faculty.  Most of them have given up successful research careers, which is what brought them into the business in the first place.  They live in the money world, where all kinds of observation is made about great education, but where their principle task is money and getting more of it.  This is the criteria for their continued survival.

Why do they do it? For some, it is the perception of power, an attractive motivator for many.  For some it is the need to administrate or lead, seeming a primal goal of many humans. For some it is the compensation, pretty good in the minds of your average teacher.  However, overall most have little power, aside from making small changes to a highly rigid structure with inviolable entitlements.  Their pursuit of money for the campus leaves little time to actually lead.  This is deferred to lower level administrators, who often simply seek more money as well.  Travel and events?  Absolutely relentless requirements.

When their administrative tenure is ended, usually after only 5-10 years, most have nothing, and often no collegial respect.  Their research skills have attenuated after years of administrative pursuit.   What they have is still a very good salary in their home department that mostly hopes they will retire to free up a really generous faculty line to hire someone that actually can contribute intellectually. 

As I’ve learned about academic administration… First you learn how to do it, then you get used to it, and finally you get sick of it. :)

*Faculty do not suffer low self-esteem. Very few understand the subtleties of administration.
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