Our attempt the other day to explain how Dan Fogel’s shadow faculty salary of $105,600 grew to $195,000 was flawed, as astute readers have pointed out. But the biggest flaw was our assumption that a formula could explain anything about this.
We asked the administration to account for how the $195,000 figure was arrived at, and here’s what we heard from Enrique Corredera, speaking for the trustees:
“In determining Daniel Mark Fogel’s professor’s salary, the Board used the original base salary, established salary increases for faculty positions (compounded over time), and the 20 percent premium as a general guideline. But this was not a strict formulaic calculation. As is the case at peer institutions the Board arrived at a final figure that also recognizes the value of his contributions to the institution during his 9-year tenure as president, and in the end the salary was negotiated as part of Dan’s arrangements to step down as President.”
In other words, the $195,000 includes a presidential premium. This is not unheard of for university presidents who return to the faculty, and for whom severance packages vary. Corredera went on to say:
“Some retain their full Presidential salaries and benefits until retirement. Others receive 10/12 or 80 percent of their salaries, which in President Fogel’s case would have been about $270,000 and $258,000, respectively.”
Let’s look at a few regional examples, capped by the University of Maine, where the president’s compensation and departure package were far less generous than at UVM. (Bear in mind that Fogel’s departure package includes 17 months at full presidential salary, and with presidential benefits that include house and car allowance.)
- Richard McCormick, president of Rutgers, announced that he’d step down at the end of the 2011-12 academic year. He’ll take a year’s paid leave, then return as a professor of history at salary no less than the faculty’s highest. That’s expected to be $335,000.
McCormick’s annual salary is now $550,000, but unlike Fogel, he won’t be getting his full presidential pay while he’s on sabbatical — just the $335,000.
- Jack M. Wilson, who stepped down as president of the University of Massachusetts, went on a one-year paid leave and will return as a professor at UMass Lowell.
Wilson gets his presidential salary during his sabbatical, $425,000, but unlike Fogel, he gets none of the presidential benefits, such as housing or car allowance.
When Wilson returns to the faculty, according to a UMass spokesman, “his salary will be reduced to a level commensurate with that of a senior faculty member at UMass Lowell.”
- Robert A. Kennedy stepped down as president of the University of Maine June 30, concluding a six-year tenure. His final annual salary of $210,405 (more than $100,000 less than Fogel’s) will continue through a one-year sabbatical (during which he no longer has use of a university car or the presidential residence).
When Kennedy comes back as a professor, his annual salary will be $127,000.