PRIVATE RESEARCH universities draw heavily on grants from the deficit-ridden federal government, on donors who have competing claims on their generosity, and on tuition from families with less and less ability to afford it. Therefore, a corresponding sense of belt-tightening is needed on campus - starting with the paychecks of university presidents.
It’s symbolic, to be sure, but not irrelevant, considering that the presidents are the ones seeking federal funds, courting rich alumni, and setting tuition rates. And it’s disappointing to realize that in 2008, a bad year even before the credit collapse, the salaries of presidents at major research universities leaped by 15.5 percent.
That’s way out of line. Like some types of executive pay, presidential salaries can bear little relationship to the size or financial condition of the university. It isn’t saying much to acknowledge that, at an average of $627,750, the total pay package of the president of a major private research university isn’t quite as egregiously large as that of a corporate CEO.
Heads of local universities are near the top of the pay ladder. Harvard, where President Drew Faust’s $693,739 in salary and benefits was only sixth in the Boston area, deserves a little credit for restraint. In contrast, much smaller Suffolk was downright profligate - its president, David Sargent, was second in the nation at $1.5 million.
The top dogs at MIT, Brandeis, Northeastern, and Boston University were all in between - but still earned way too much considering the sacrifices borne by their donors and students in these tough financial times. The 2008 pay packages were set before the worst of the economic downturn was apparent. The 2009 numbers will be more telling. They will show whether universities are responsive to their own stresses and those of their communities, or if greed at the top is truly an epidemic.
