Iowa City Press Citizen, IA
08-07-07
Presidents' effectiveness tough to judge
Recent pay raises aren't tied to performance
By Brian Morelli
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Although they may be among the top paid employees in the state, it can be
difficult for taxpayers to know whether Iowa's university presidents are pulling
their weight.
"It can be difficult for the public to evaluate a college president," said Tim
McDonough, assistant vice president for public affairs at the American Council on
Education. "Salaries are high, but expectations and responsibilities are high."
The Iowa state Board of Regents recently approved substantial raises for the
system's three university presidents. Last week, Iowa State University and
University of Northern Iowa presidents received 18 percent boosts, and six
weeks earlier, new UI President Sally Mason received an 81 percent raise from
what her predecessor, David Skorton, made. Mason will be paid a total of
$560,000 at Iowa.
The rationale for the increases was a changing marketplace and the desire for
them not to bolt for higher paying jobs. Regents moved the presidents into the
top half of their universities' peer groups. However, there was little in the way of
calling for increased productivity or even stated benchmarks.
"My expectation for their performance wouldn't change. I expect them to provide
leadership and direction to the public universities. They are large, complex
positions," Regent President Pro Tem David Miles said.
Miles declined to specify what the benchmarks are for the presidents, but he said
one way taxpayers can assess their performance is to read the strategic plans for
each university. UI has a 28-page plan called the Iowa Promise.
Raymond Cotton, an attorney for Mintz Levin in Washington D.C., said the
responsibility and complexity of the position is greater than ever. Cotton, who
negotiates presidents' contracts and serves as a consultant for university boards,
said the presidency shifted from a "super academic" in the 1980s to a position
with top demands being fundraising, administrating and credibility with faculty.
"The only one way to know (their effectiveness) is to rely on the executive
committee," Cotton said, which in Iowa are the regents.
Iowa traditionally has been at the bottom of the marketplace, Cotton said, and the
Iowa regents wisely changed their pay philosophy to land Mason.
The median salary for public research university presidents in 2005-06 was
$374,000, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Skorton left a Big Ten
low $309,000 salary for nearly double that at Cornell University. That was after
just three years on the job.
UI Faculty Senate vice president Michael O'Hara said he doesn't believe there
needs to be increased expectations on the presidents despite the extra salary.
"It is hard to imagine expectations for our university president could be any
higher than they already are," the psychology professor said.
O'Hara said there are ways to evaluate, such as looking at the quality of the
faculty, the ability to bring in external funding and private fundraising, but the key
is having the president stay longer.
"Having stable, outstanding leadership is very important in communicating our
message to the state, to the nation, and to the world. We've been blessed with
really good presidents, but, man, I would like to keep these presidents for a
longer time. Certainly, that far outweighs higher compensation," O'Hara said.