<p>The football coaches who get paid a ton of money are under pressure to perform and generally are at schools where the football team is a big revenue generator.</p>
<p>As for the other stuff, making everyone stand seems stuffy.</p>
<p>Making a VP (instead of service staff) clear her plate seems outlandishly uncouth, even if they owe their job to her. Has anyone here heard of such behavior anywhere else in the corporate/academic/political world (outside of tinpot dictatorships)?</p>
<p>And yes, keeping people waiting is rude. The president of RPI is not the President of the USA. If RPI desires a board of strong and capable individuals (who would also have important stuff to deal with), this type of behavior would not induce them to serve.</p>
<p>@QuantMech, why are you so insistent on defending this type of behavior? If you truly find no fault with them, then I hope that you never rise to a supervisory position.</p>
<p>Could this type of story perhaps focus on the role played by a College President. Dr. Jackson did wonders for RPI and build her fame on landing a 310 MM private donation at a time the school was at crossroads. Her successes are undeniable. But that might not be the point at all. </p>
<p>Should Presidents who have become almost exclusively fundraising machine be compensated based on the money they raise? Are they not turning into “commissioned” salespeople who pretty much delegate the running of the school to less illustrious CAO? </p>
<p>The issue of retention bonus is offensive as it intimates that the moneyraising (which appears to the basic yardstick) is the result of one person’s contribution and not based on the school in general. Regardless of this, the issue of retaining a person who is inching toward 60 years ole is simply preposterous, and a real sign of the changing times in the age of the college Presidents. </p>
<p>All in all, it is pretty simple: should any college administrator earn loaded salaries in excess of 2,000,000 per year, and should we focus on retaining older and older Presidents? </p>
<p>Lastly, the competition between the world of academia and the private sector is a canard. There is a world of difference with a life that is measured on quarterly results. </p>
<p>Path of least resistance comes to mind for many stale, aging, and BOT mostly composed on insiders and friends. The biggest problem, however, is the reliance of compensation specialists and recruiters that are none other than mercenaries “hired” by the college officials. </p>
<p>How much flak would the RPI BOT get if they were to “replace” Shirley with a younger white President? </p>
<h1>How much flak would the RPI BOT get if they were to “replace” Shirley with a younger white President?</h1>
<p>How much flak do other universities get for replacing a president? I imagine about the same amount but IF the issue is not race, but personality and staleness, then why white? Why not Asian? Another African American? </p>
<p>“Path of least resistance comes to mind for many stale, aging, and BOT mostly composed on insiders and friends. The biggest problem, however, is the reliance of compensation specialists and recruiters that are none other than mercenaries “hired” by the college officials.”</p>
<p>How much flak would the RPI BOT get if they were to “replace” Shirley with a younger white President? </p>
<p>^ But if they didn’t give her another contract with deferred comp she could easily leave on her own. I’m sure another college would snap her up in a minute. Seems like that would be a win-win for RPI if she is so horrid as portrayed in the article. </p>
<p>I live in the area and know several faculty (and one of my neighbors is Chair of a dept. there.) I’ve never even heard a whisper of this “appalling” behavior, but, tbh, we don’t talk about what is going on at the uni (or at SUNY Albany where I know faculty, too.) </p>
<p>I do recall hearing some criticism about the remodeling of the President’s house a few years ago - but that is about it. </p>
<p>]quote]^ But if they didn’t give her another contract with deferred comp she could easily leave on her own. I’m sure another college would snap her up in a minute. Seems like that would be a win-win for RPI if she is so horrid as portrayed in the article.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This does not address any of the points I’ve made in this thread. She received this contract years ago and it is what is. My point was twofold: such contracts should not be buried in the fine print and pushed down the line and the compensation should be paid annually as earned. </p>
<p>As far as losing her, that might have been a consideration a decade ago, but that notion has been eroded by the fact that no school should be beating on her door to hire a close to 70 years old administrator. Her market value is not as large as it used to be.</p>
<p>Lastly, please note that I have discussed her achievements (which are impressive) and discredited her career in any way, shape, or form. My point is generic in nature: I do not think that college presidents deserve such salaries and that the business of burying compensation in deferred contracts is highly suspect. </p>
<p>“such contracts should not be buried in the fine print and pushed down the line and the compensation should be paid annually as earned.”</p>
<p>Why not? She is employed by a private entity. It’s no one else’s business what is in her contract. Why should it be paid annually? Many CEO’s in the private sector have contracts with deferred compensation. Why should the President of a private university contract be any different? </p>
<p>Who are you to decide how much a university President is worth or how their contract is structured? </p>
<p>If you don’t like what a certain college pays their President don’t send your kids there (if/when you have them.) </p>
<p>And who are you to decide I should not have an … opinion on the subject of the finances of education? Obviously, RPI pays its officials as it pleases. Unfortunately, and perhaps if you had paid attention to what I wrote about compensation experts, what a school does has an impact on others, as slotting comes into play. This is exactly the same issue that has plagued the public K-12 and caused obscene salaries for supers and principals. When a school establishes its salaries based on comparisons and illusory fears of losing XYZ, the results are an overall increase. </p>
<p>You are right that I will have to deal with this issue is another 20 years, but in the meantime, forgive me if I do not happen to like what has happened in the past 20 years in terms of the cost of education. But, fwiw, I do not ask for forgiveness in finding the salaries paid to college administrators bordering on the obscene. And like it or not, those salaries are impacting the cost that students ultimately pay. </p>
<p>So, what are you doing about all these issues with our K-12 school system and our higher education system that you have identified besides opining on a message board filled with parents of kid in college? </p>
<p>Is there a reason why you should ask such a question? Had I never done anything about those issues, would that mean I’d have no right to formulate an educated opinion about them? Would my opinion be enhanced by attending the school board meetings at my current place of residence? </p>
<p>What we do in our real life should have no impact on our participation here. I believe this is addressed somehow in the TOS. To answer your question in part, I’d like to think that I could compare my resume and contributions against plenty who graduated from HS ten years ago and have no children. </p>
<p>I’ve observed the behavior of quite a few university presidents at my institution (not Rensselaer & the vast majority have been white males), and I don’t find anything that President Jackson has reportedly done to be outside the norm.</p>
<p>I like the Ben & Jerry’s original model of compensation: no one earns more than 7 times the compensation of the lowest-paid person in the company. That’s not how universities currently operate, though, and I am not going to call on an African-American woman to lead the charge toward lower executive compensation.</p>
<p>Looking at it another way (mathematically), nearly 3% of each student’s annual tuition ($1,354) goes directly to pay for one person’s salary (5,380 students at $46,700 tuition each). It would be interesting to see a model of university president’s compensation to student’s tuition for all universities. </p>
<p>That’s based on the deferred compensation “balloon” that went up this year, though, and not the actual annual salary, even if you annualize the “balloon.” </p>
<p>Rensselaer is #1, and Quinnipiac is #2. Maybe these presidents got huge contracts because they were the only candidates for the job who could correctly spell the college’s name.</p>