College Presidents With the Heftiest Salaries Pay Adjuncts the Least

University presidents earn salaries that dwarf the pay of adjuncts. However, an interesting trend emerges when examining the salaries paid the ten highest earning university presidents, and the average per course stipends paid to adjuncts at their institutions. Generally, the less a president earns, the higher the average per course stipendpaid to the college’s adjuncts.

In fiscal year 2000, George Roche III, president of Hillsdale College, in Michigan, earned the most among private college and university presidents at $1.2 million in salary and benefits. Adjuncts at the college earn $1,000 per credit hour or $3,000 per course in most cases. Adjuncts who teach a full load or nearly a full load can earn a salary at the provost’s discretion.

The second highest-paid president of a private college or university was Richard Rubenstein of the University of Bridgeport, in Connecticut, who earned $832,492 in 2000. The college’s adjuncts earn an average of $2,700 per course, says one professor on condition of anonymity.

Third was Victor Meskill, president of Dowling College, in New York, who earned $788,430 in 2000. The adjuncts, by contrast, earned the least among part-time faculty, with one exception, at the 10 private colleges and universities surveyed. They earn between $1,800 and $2,355 per course.

Behind Meskill was Judith Rodin, who took home $698,325 as president of the University of Pennsylvania. The university will not divulge its pay for adjuncts, says Lori Doyle, director of university communications, though one adjunct in the law school puts the figure at $8,000 for teaching Criminal Defense Clinical; a second earned $4,000 per course; and a third, $2,000 for teaching a writing seminar with a colleague.

Fifth was L. Jay Oliva, president of New York University, at $650,746. Adjuncts in the English department earned $4,000 per course, while those in the education department earned $2,500 for a 15-week course that met two hours per week.

Trailing Oliva was William Brody, who snagged $623,240 as president of Johns Hopkins University. Pay varies widely for adjuncts, says Michael Purdy, senior media relations representative at the university. Part-time instructors in anthropology, for example, are often visitors with full-time appointments in other departments, and earn between $5,000 and $8,500 per course. At the other extreme, an adjunct assistant professor in the department of embryology receives no pay from the university but instead supports himself on federal grants and a Carnegie endowment.

“We teach voluntarily with no additional pay — at least that is my
understanding,” he says.

Seventh was George Rupp, president of Columbia University, at
$562,610. Its School of Journalism lists more than 100 adjuncts, and, as is the case at Hopkins, pay varies.

“I am told that some of my adjunct colleagues are paid more for
their services, and some are paid less,” says one adjunct on condition of anonymity.

For example, one Hopkins adjunct received $6,000 per course, a
premium he attributes to the fact that he teaches Investigative Techniques, a course requiring advanced computer research skills that few journalists have. Another received $4,500. Four others earned $4,000 per course, one of whom says that he does not teach for the money but for enjoyment. A seventh earned $2,100 for co-teaching a course with a colleague.

Eighth on the list was Richard Levin, who received $561,709 as
president of Yale University. There, adjuncts earned $6,200 per course plus a few hundred dollars more for those with a Ph.D., according to an official at the Graduate Employees and Students Organization, a union of graduate students.

Behind Levin was Joseph Wyatt, president of Vanderbilt University, earning $549,741. Adjuncts at its law school were paid $4,000 per course regardless of the numbers of contact hours, which may vary between two and five per week.

Tenth was Benjamin Ladner at $543,676 as president of American
University. Its English Language Institute paid adjuncts $4,072 for a five-hour per-week course. One computer-science adjunct interviewed received $3,300 per course, a second just under $3,000 per course, and a third $2,500 for teaching a course with a colleague.