The expectations placed on university presidents are rising along with their salaries, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education's latest report on executive compensation.
The median compensation for presidents of private universities has increased 37 percent since 2001, the Chronicle reported, reaching just above $528,000 and creating a large gap between the salaries of presidents and university faculty. The Chronicle found that 81 presidents of private universities earned more than $500,000 in 2006 - a 200-percent increase from five years earlier.
In the 2005-2006 fiscal year - the most recent with data available - three university presidents had salaries over $1 million, and many more took home more than $1 million after receiving deferred compensation upon leaving their posts.
For the two previous years, only one university leader - Vanderbilt University's Gordon Gee - received a yearly compensation package of over $1 million. Gee, who was president of Brown from 1998 to 2000, resigned as chancellor of Vanderbilt in July to take the presidency of the Ohio State University.
In 2005-2006, President Ruth Simmons received $500,000 in salary and $189,007 in benefits for a total compensation package of $689,007, according to the Chronicle. Four years earlier - in her first year on College Hill - Simmons' total compensation was $432,900.
Elizabeth Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration, said the Corporation sets Simmons' compensation package and that her salary "reflects their confidence and support of Simmons as a terrific leader of Brown."
Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006, made $611,226 in 2005-2006, up from $487,687 in 2001-2002. Dartmouth College President James Wright received $527,088 in 2005-2006, compared to $444,894 in 2001-2002.
Salaries are also on the rise at public universities. Almost one-third of the higher-end public research universities surveyed by the Chronicle paid presidents at least $450,000 last year, and eight paid their presidents at least $700,000.
Still, at most public universities, executive compensation rates are significantly lower than they are for presidents of private institutions. University of Rhode Island President Robert Carothers made $239,326 last year, up from $218,552 in 2004-2005.
The rise in compensation for university presidents is in large part due to rising expectations, according to Stephen Nelson, assistant professor of educational leadership at Bridgewater State College. Nelson said though the "enormous" number of duties of university leaders might not have increased, the expectations have "certainly increased qualitatively."
"The bar has raised," he said. "If it's getting along with alumni, it's getting along with alumni better. If it's tending to the morale of staff, it's doing it better. If it's improving campus life and the satisfaction of students, it's doing it better."
Compensation rates reflect the heavy burden of university presidents, who often work as many as 85 hours per week, Nelson said.
"University presidents are not paid near what Fortune 500 CEOs are paid, but their jobs are much harder," he said. "Fortune 500 CEOs go home on the weekends and play golf. Ask Ruth Simmons the last time she had a long weekend. Ruth Simmons doesn't have weekends."
Still, Nelson said universities must consider the opportunity cost of such high compensation packages, noting that the money that goes to a university leader could alternatively be used for things like hiring faculty, expanding academic opportunities and improving campus life.
Though presidents' salaries may be escalating rapidly, the salaries of university faculty have not been growing nearly as fast. There is a "clear growing gap," Nelson said, between the salaries of presidents and others at the university, including members of the president's senior cabinet. At Dartmouth, he said, faculty members used to make one-third of what the president made. Now, they probably make less than one-sixth, he said.
Nelson acknowledged the "high-pressure, high-stress work" of university presidents, but he added that this gap is cause for concern.
"At some point," he said, "it's going to get out of control."
