Eating Well in Academe
In an era when college tuition increases outpace the rate of inflation and universities continue to rely heavily on the part-time professors who routinely make up 40 percent or more of their collective faculties, it’s alarming, if not surprising, to discover that the ten top-earning presidents of our public universities are raking in, on average, $648,233 a year (not including compensation from other sources, such as corporate board memberships and the use of presidential housing and transportation).
Meanwhile, adjuncts who enjoy eating regular meals are still boiling water for ramen. Given their present per-course rates of pay, they’d better. Based on data obtained by the Adjunct Advocate, part-time faculty at the ten public universities where presidential salaries top the hit parade are still grossing approximately $3,000 to $10,000 per course, often without benefits.
At the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan, for example, President Mary Sue Coleman, the highest-paid public university president in the country, earns $724,604 each year, all of it derived from the university’s own budget. What seems unlikely, however, is that Coleman has to worry about the high cost of living in Ann Arbor. In a November 18, 2005 article, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Coleman also receives approximately $130,000 each year as a board member of Johnson & Johnson and Meredith Corporation. She also has the use of a house and car. Meanwhile, her Level I/II Lecturers earn $31,000 per year, or $7,750 per course, plus benefits. Some Ann Arbor lecturers actually earn less than parking attendants employed at the college.
The second highest-paid president of a public university is David P. Roselle, of the University of Delaware, with an annual 2003-2004 salary of $720,522. (As explained by the Chronicle in its November 18, 2005 article, the university did not provide current salary information.) An adjunct at Delaware’s College of Arts and Sciences told the Adjunct Advocate, on condition of anonymity, that he/she is paid $3,500 per course. The same adjunct, however, reported a high level of satisfaction with non-monetary perquisites, such as “a beautiful office…use of the pool and whatever facilities I need…[and being] treated with great respect and kindness as an adjunct.”
Other adjuncts at Delaware reported similarly modest per-course salaries. An adjunct in the English department with a master’s degree advised of a per-course salary of $3,540; another in the same department reported being paid $4,230 per semester, but without benefits.
The third highest-paid public university president is Mark G. Yudoff, of the University of Texas system, who earns $693,677 per year, enough to buy about a half million burritos at an Austin-area fast-food joint. According to an administrator at the university, though, a temporary lecturer in the math department is paid between $5,940 and $6,270 per course. Pass the ramen, please!
Coming in a close fourth is President Carl V. Patton, of Georgia State University, who earns $688,406 annually. An administrator at the university who wished to remain anonymous told the Adjunct Advocate that part-time instructors earn between $2,500 and $3,000 per course and receive no benefits.
A current part-time faculty member at GSU’s College of Arts and Sciences confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that he/she is paid $3,200 per course. A former adjunct in the GSU philosophy department, Michael Hollifield, reported $2,000 as his 1999 per-course salary. Hollifield described his 1999 teaching experience at GSU as “mixed,” with his classes overloaded (up to 60 to 70 students) and his benefits nonexistent. Hollifield said that, although “I very much enjoyed teaching [at GSU]…the low salary, the lack of benefits, the lack of representation or input as an adjunct made my experience at Georgia State…less than satisfying overall.”
Fifth on the list of the ten highest-paid public university presidents is John T. Casteen, III, of the University of Virginia. On his yearly salary of $659,670, Casteen can easily dine on steamed mussels in a light wine sauce. (Heck, why not have some foie gras with that, too!) Casteen’s adjuncts don’t fare quite as well. Teaching a course in the interdisciplinary studies program earns one adjunct only $5,500, without benefits. That adjunct reported, however, that she/he is paid “several hundred dollars” extra each year for advising students.
The sixth highest-paid public university president is Rutgers University’s Richard L. McCormick, with an annual salary of $625,000, all of it funded by the university’s budget. Meanwhile, an adjunct in the media and journalism department at Rutgers described being paid $3,300 to teach an 80-minute class with more than 200 students (and no teaching assistant). An adjunct in the MBA program at Rutgers’ Newark campus reported earning $4,200, without benefits, to teach a 13-week course. And an adjunct teaching chemistry (a notoriously rigorous subject requiring highly specialized knowledge and significant talent in the sciences) told the Adjunct Advocate he/she earns $1,595 per course. The adjunct pointed out: “I don’t just work three hours a week. I give tests on Sundays, grade exams, enter grades, write letters of recommendation, answer students’ questions by e-mail and prepare for my recitations. I work 60-70 hours per week, and receive a salary of only about $9,500 per year. This is a travesty.”
Trailing behind McCormick is Charles W. Steger, president of Virginia Tech. Steger earns $602,951 annually. According to Associate Provost, Dr. Sandra Hyer, the university hires both wage and salaried part-time faculty, with compensation “all over the map.” The numbers Dr. Hyer provided, however, show a clear gap between the compensation to wage adjuncts in the humanities and those in the sciences. For example, a wage adjunct in the humanities receives $3,500 per course, whereas a wage adjunct in engineering or computer science teaching off-campus in Washington D.C. may receive up to $10,000 per course. Wage adjuncts at the university do not receive benefits. Dr. Hyer further confirmed that, for salaried part-time faculty, the minimum base salary is $31,000. Salaried part-timers receive sick leave and retirement benefits, but no medical insurance unless they teach an 80 percent load, in which case they receive full medical benefits.
University of Washington’s Mark A. Emmert, with a yearly salary of $602,000, is the eighth highest-paid public university president. According to his profile on the university’s website, Emmert, who holds a doctorate in public administration from Syracuse, has as his “top goal” the “[expansion] of the University’s stellar national and international standing.” Whether the attempted expansion of the university’s standing will involve a raise in part-time faculty salaries, however, is unclear.
According to an official in the university’s human resources department, part-timers’ salaries at Washington are negotiated on a department-by-department basis. In English, for example, an administrator confirmed that postdoctoral instructors earn between $5,826 to $6,500 per course.
The ninth highest-paid university president is G. Wayne Clough, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, who earns a comparatively paltry $587,106 each year. According to an official in the business office at the College of Architecture, per-course compensation for part-time architecture faculty ranges from $4,000 to $6,700. Once part-timers have taught a 50 percent load for one year, they become eligible for the Georgia Defined Contribution Plan, as well as medical insurance, with the college paying 75 percent of the premium for the insurance.
The poorest of the top-ten presidents is Arizona State University’s Michael M. Crow, who has to buy all of his poblano peppers on an annual salary of just $578,394. An adjunct in the College of Design, who preferred to remain anonymous, told us he/she earns $1,000 per credit hour, for courses ranging from three to five credits. Because the adjunct teaches only one class, he/she is ineligible for benefits. The adjunct noted that “I am not aware of an instance where an adjunct faculty member has taught more than a single class per semester. This minimizes the budget for the school, surely.”
