

Rensselaer President Leads List of Highest-Paid Private College Leaders - johnny99
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/08/education/rensselaer-president-leads-list-of-highest-paid-private-college-leaders.html

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abat
She's not really the highest paid. Most of it was a 10 year grant that finally
vested. If you amortize the money over the 10 years, she's not paid more than
other presidents. If anything having the pay as a retention package was
probably smart and a better deal for the university.

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sigmar
The Chronicle of Higher Ed has a more detailed story
[http://chronicle.com/article/Behind-RPIs-Highly-
Paid/150441/](http://chronicle.com/article/Behind-RPIs-Highly-Paid/150441/)

Of interest:

 _" Most of the former top-level administrators at RPI who spoke with The
Chronicle would do so only on the condition of anonymity, saying they still
feared retaliation from Ms. Jackson because of her broad influence not only in
higher education but also in politics and business. "_

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johnny99
That's warped. Not that I have illusions about academic collegiality (I've
worked in higher education), but that sounds more like the behavior of a
certain car service's execs, not a university president.

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danso
Looking at the underlying app/data from the Chronicle, it's surprising to me
that the presidents of Stanford, Harvard, and CalTech receive comparatively
low pay (under $1M): [http://chronicle.com/factfile/private-
ec-2014#id=13995_24374...](http://chronicle.com/factfile/private-
ec-2014#id=13995_243744)

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mathattack
I suspect that it's a trade of prestige for cash. If you're the president of
any of those schools, the prestige follows you for life. You can always trade
down on reputation for an increase in pay later. They will always have capable
people willing to do the job, and universities are institutions where the head
really doesn't have much power. (View it as the managing partner in a law
firm, rather than the CEO of an industrial company. The managing partner works
on the good graces of the governed. University presidents can only do what the
tenured faculty allows.)

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akgerber
Especially when being a college president generally already includes use of a
mansion and a ton of free food and travel, so the college president can pretty
much bank their entire salary.

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noblethrasher
I'm more impressed that she makes _almost_ as much as the highest paid NCAA
coach[1].

[1]
[http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/](http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/)

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throw7
It doesn't say what she's done for the college, other than she's been
"fantastic". I suppose she's brought in a lot of money from fund raising and
contacts she has.

I wonder if she's liked by the faculty and students? Boards will often
overlook a lot if the president brings home the bacon.

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CWuestefeld
I'm an alum and no longer have any association myself (I've even managed to
lose myself so they can't call asking for donations). But I have friends still
around, including at least one still on the staff.

My impression is that the school, including staff and student body, has a
pretty positive view of her.

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sigmar
2011 alum here. When I was a student ('07-'11), Jackson was dislike by many
(not all) students, and by some staff (hard to say how much). I was working
for the student newspaper when Jackson unilaterally suspended the faculty
senate, which created a ton of animosity.

My understanding is that the student opinion of her got better after I
graduated.

(Info about the faculty senate if anyone is interested:
[https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/02/aaup_blasts_r...](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/02/aaup_blasts_rensselaer_polytechnic_institute_for_icing_shared_governance))

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hga
Whoa.

I note that "shared academic governance" is a requirement for accreditation;
one wonders if RPI is too big to not be accredited?

