Chancellor Michael Martin said University salaries at every level will need to be examined as budget cuts of about $219 million are expected to hit state higher education next fiscal year.   Some — including members of the Faculty Senate — deem administrative salaries as “unreasonable” and “extravagant.”
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“I think it’s a fair question to ask about anyone if the public is getting their money’s worth,” Martin said.  Administrative salaries at the University are generally below those at peer institutions, he said. Martin makes a base salary of $400,000 a year, while LSU System President John Lombardi makes $550,000 annually. “I don’t want to defend my salary,” Martin said. “That’s for those who assess productivity and the market.”Martin said he has been on both sides of the issue — as a faculty member and later as an administrator — and knows there’s always debate. Physics professor A.R.P. Rau, former Faculty Senate member and active member of the American Association of University Professors, wrote a letter to The Chronicle of Higher Education in February, expressing why he thinks a salary cap is needed at all universities, especially public institutions like LSU. “When secretaries of state and defense, four-star generals and governors — all of whom handle weightier responsibilities and budgets — earn under $200,000, there is no call for any ‘public servant’ to be placed much higher,” Rau said in the letter printed Feb. 27.According to a study released by The Chronicle of Higher Education in November, more than one-third of public research university presidents earn more than $500,000, and 15 earned at least $700,000 between 2007 and 2008. Following national trends, LSU administrative salaries have increased in past years. Even before former chancellor Mark Emmert received a pay increase from $205,000 to $490,000 a year in 2002, Rau argued for more “reasonable” pay at LSU. Emmert’s pay increase was financed by private foundations that supported the University. Emmert is now the second highest-paid public university president, according to the Chronicle study. He makes nearly $900,000 at the University of Washington. E. Gordon Gee, Ohio State University president, takes the No. 1 spot with an annual salary of $1,346,225. The mean salary for public university presidents is $427,400, greater than Martin’s annual salary, according to the Chronicle study. Bob Kuhn, associate vice chancellor of Budget and Planning, said it’s difficult to compare LSU salaries to other institutions because each campus has a different role, scope and mission. Kuhn said faculty salaries at the University vary between disciplines. For example, an accounting professor makes less than an art professor because there’s a larger, more lucrative private market the University has to compete with. Faculty salaries are purely market-driven, he said. The same goes for University administrators. “We know [the administrative market] is competitive and they do too,” Kuhn said. “Hopefully, that’s how we get great leadership to move the campus forward.”Rau said there are too many administrators — chancellors, vice chancellors, deans, presidents, provosts — making too much money at the top. He said this paints the University as a wealthy business corporation rather than a place of teaching and research, severely impacting public perception.But the University actually employs fewer administrators than its peers, according to a 2009 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System report released by the National Center for Education Statistics. According to the study, LSU has 114 executive, administrative and managerial employees — compared to an average of 326 at peer institutions. The study, comparing LSU to 12 peer institutions, used data from fall 2007. Kuhn said hiring and retaining top-notch administrators and faculty is key in fostering excellence at any university. And the market for administrators is extremely competitive.  “We’re trying to move the University forward,” Kuhn said. “Why wouldn’t we want to hire the best?” Kuhn said the University has offered faculty an average pay increase of 3.8 percent during the last nine years, a number comparable to universities around the country. The main focus of the University’s Flagship Agenda is the recruitment and retention of quality faculty, he said.A recent Faculty Senate resolution “For a Rational Pay Scale at LSU,” outlines the Faculty Senate’s plan for the University’s upper administrators to be “brought in line with other public salaries in the state and nation and be tied to a particular ratio of the salaries of the faculty and staff.” The resolution cites the economic recession and inevitable budget-tightening as additional reasoning for the measure, although some college boards argue retaining talented administrators is even more critical during a financial crisis. “In my view, the real problem is not the excessive salaries per se — it’s rather a matter of proportions,” said Kevin Cope, English professor and Faculty Senate president. Faculty Sen. Dominique Homberger, a sponsor for the resolution, said she likes Martin, and the resolution is nothing personal. Homberger said she is confident the chancellor will consider the resolution when making budget cut decisions. “The University should re-evaluate excessive salaries on their own and not wait for the public to demand it,” Homberger said. The Faculty Senate, which regularly makes recommendations to the chancellor, will vote on the resolution at their next meeting on March 17. —-Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]