Your front-page story and editorial opinion on p. 12 of The Daily Reveille, Friday, Dec. 3, 2010, exposed unconscionable behavior by our LSU administrators. Why should they, such as our recent provost, keep enormous salaries that are more than twice that of other professors, when they step back into the faculty ranks?
Indeed, even failed administrators, who are asked to step down after a couple of years (“fired”), and who had no distinguished record earlier of research or teaching, and their superiors who make these decisions, seem blind to the abuse involved, which is no different from similar golden parachutes and other excesses of failed and discredited CEOs of an Enron.
Worse, while pleading lack of funds to continue 14 instructors until the end of the academic year, money is so easily found for themselves.
Up to just 10 years ago, deans, provosts and chancellors were faculty members who served in such positions for a few years before returning to their faculty jobs. A reasonable supplement in those years could be justified, but not a change in their base salary for the rest of their careers.
The rot set in with sudden, unjustified doubling of then-Chancellor Mark Emmert’s salary. Now, administrators down to the mid-level also get salaries out of proportion to that of faculty and staff. At the same time, they pretend also to be faculty, getting tenure even when undeserved, so that when fired and unable to get positions elsewhere, they stay on and keep these ridiculously large salaries.
There is no reason or logic here, only an abuse of power. Simply because they control the treasury, they give themselves privileges for perpetuity. Our past provost also gets an unjustified sabbatical, her dean justifying with: “She is also serving on the college’s promotion and tenure committee which is time consuming.” Faculty with decades of distinguished record in teaching and research who have served on countless committees as just part of their job or obligation should feel outraged at what would insult the intelligence of even a 5-year old.
Abuses at the top have consequences for the institution as a whole. Senior administrators abuse sabbaticals, tenure, salaries and perks, but the entire faculty and LSU get tarred in the eyes of the public, governor and legislators. Students and faculty at LSU must demand an end to these scandalous policies.
A.R.P. Rau
physics and astronomy professor
 
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