Chronicle of Higher Education
11-21-06
Brain Drain in Iowa
State board studies how to keep its college presidents for longer stints
By ANNIE SHUPPY
Iowa's top exports include pork, machinery, and, increasingly, college presidents.
The state has developed a reputation as a training ground for hotshot college
chiefs who leave the state to run major research universities elsewhere. With the
recent departure of yet another popular president at the University of Iowa,
members of the state's Board of Regents, the news media, and even faculty
members are arguing that the state should pay its college executives better.
David J. Skorton left the University of Iowa this summer after three years as
president to take the same job, but at more than twice his previous salary, at
Cornell University. Dr. Skorton's three predecessors also left their posts for
higher-paying positions at other major research universities: Cornell, Dartmouth
College, and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, between 1987 and 2002.
Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa have each lost two
presidents since 1990.
The national marketplace for university presidents was once divided between
private and public institutions, said Raymond D. Cotton, a Washington-based
lawyer who advises university boards on contracts and compensation issues. But
now presidents often leave public universities to run private institutions, which
typically pay more. Despite the increasing number of presidents crossing over,
other public-university systems have been more successful than Iowa in keeping
their executives, Mr. Cotton said.
The University of Maryland system's compensation package has made the state
an attractive destination for outstanding college presidents, he said. And within
the Midwest, Kansas has enjoyed stability in its university leadership.
But presidential-search consultants look at Iowa as fertile recruiting ground
because it grows good leaders who are paid relatively low salaries, said Mr.
Cotton. Nationally there is a short supply of administrators who can manage
complex public universities, and the competition for successful presidents is stiff.
"Boards of trustees around the country are willing to get out their checkbooks and
start writing," Mr. Cotton said.
Iowa's public universities are "large and complicated institutions," Mr. Cotton
said. "The thinking is people who can do those jobs well can repeat that
performance at another institution."
Dr. Skorton said that money was not the primary reason for his departure. But
the loss of eight presidents at the state's universities in 19 years has prompted
the state's Board of Regents, which also oversees Iowa State University and the
University of Northern Iowa, to study how presidents' salaries compared with
those at similar institutions.
A report presented to the regents in August ranked Iowa State seventh for
presidential compensation among the 11 institutions in its peer group, while the
University of Iowa ranked second to last among the 12 universities in its peer
group.
Jenny Connolly, a three-year member of the Board of Regents, said the panel
does not yet have a specific goal for where they would like the salary of the
president of the University of Iowa to rank among peer institutions.
"What we really want to do is be competitive," she said. "We have to figure out
how."
Outdone by Peers
The University of Iowa president's total compensation for 2005-6 was $309,250,
just 43 percent of the $724,604 compensation package paid to the president of
the University of Michigan system, Mary Sue Coleman. Among peer institutions,
only the University of North Carolina, at $295,022, doled out a smaller
compensation than Iowa. Iowa also ranked last in presidential compensation
among the public universities in the Big Ten, which was topped by Michigan.
Ms. Coleman went to the University of Michigan in 2002 after seven years as
president at Iowa. She succeeded, at Iowa, Hunter R. Rawlings III, who left in
1995 to become Cornell's president. James O. Freedman left Iowa in 1987 and
served as president of Dartmouth College until 1998.
To keep a president from jumping ship, Mr. Cotton advises boards to develop
compensation policies that take into account what peer institutions are paying
their leaders. It is desirable, he said, for an incoming president's salary to be at
the median or slightly above.
"The University of Iowa has had a problem for a long time," Mr. Cotton said, "and
the board would be well-advised to address that now."
The news media in the state have also taken an interest in presidential salaries.
The Des Moines Register has published several articles and editorials
suggesting that the University of Iowa president is paid too little. After Dr. Skorton
announced his resignation, The Daily Iowan, the campus newspaper, said in an
editorial that the regents should pay the next president a salary that would
motivate him to stay.
Ms. Connolly, a graduate student at the University of Northern Iowa, said the
regents hope to settle the issue before a search committee chooses the new
University of Iowa president.
While the board is focusing most of its efforts on presidential compensation at the
University of Iowa because the institution is in the middle of a search, they are
also studying pay at the peer institutions of Iowa's other universities.
The regents recently finished a search for a president at the University of
Northern Iowa. In April the board selected Benjamin J. Allen to replace Robert D.
Koob, who stepped down to rejoin the faculty. Mr. Koob's salary was $242,610;
Mr. Allen's salary is $275,000.
Iowa State's former president Martin C. Jischke left in 2000 for Purdue University,
which in 2005-6 ranked fourth in their peer group in presidential compensation
compared with Iowa State University's seventh place.
Staying Competitive
The quest to retain the next president at the University of Iowa has piqued the
interest of faculty members, who are typically critical of highly paid college
presidents. Surveys show that presidential pay has usually grown faster in recent
years than that of faculty. In informal discussions, members of the Faculty
Senate have expressed support for paying a competitive salary that will allow the
University of Iowa to both recruit and retain a high-quality president, said Sheldon
F. Kurtz, a law professor and president of the Faculty Senate.
"We don't like losing our presidents after every five years," Mr. Kurtz said.
Although Mr. Skorton was a "much beloved" figure on the University of Iowa
campus, Mr. Kurtz said, there is a sense of pride that comes with the caliber of
universities that court its presidents.
"It's a real compliment to the University of Iowa that those great institutions
recognize the quality of our leadership," Mr. Kurtz said.
While the Board of Regents may pursue a higher salary for the University of Iowa
president with the support of the faculty, board members are not as certain about
how much support they will have from state lawmakers. The relationship between
the Board of Regents and the state legislature has been contentious over the
past few years as they fought over budgets and the lawmakers' concerns that the
regents were micromanaging the state institutions.
"I think that we will have to make a tough sell of it," said Ms. Connolly. "I hope
people in the state understand why we're doing this."
State Sen. Paul McKinley, a Republican who is co-chairman of that chamber's
education committee, said "top talent is critical to the mission of any
organization," but he does not think an additional appropriation from the state
legislature is needed to pay for higher presidential salaries. He said lawmakers
want to see results from the money the state has already invested in higher
education.
"They have the wherewithal to find the kind of talent they need without going
back to the taxpayers," Mr. McKinley said.