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