SUNY Approves Raise Plan for University Presidents

The potential range of salaries for SUNY's university presidents was raised by the SUNY Board of Trustees Tuesday, four days after the plan was proposed.

The board withdrew a plan that could have raised the salary of Chancellor Robert King by up to 70 percent, but did not rule out the possibility of taking up the issue again in the future.

UB President John Simpson could see his salary increase from $225,000 to $339,000 annually, but that would only happen if King raised his pay. Tuesday's vote only gave King the power to raise it as high as $339,000.

Simpson said he agreed with the move because he believes it will help SUNY attract better talent in the future.

"I think there is increasingly an issue in the marketplace about compensating university presidents. It is the case SUNY lags way behind," Simpson said. "The capacity (to offer higher salaries) is probably, in the long run, a reasonable thing to do. SUNY wants to build excellence."

Simpson added he is satisfied with his current compensation, and does not expect an increase.

"I thought what I was offered was reasonable," said Simpson. "I think it would be a mistake right now to raise presidents' salaries."

Simpson added he was far more concerned with the quality of UB as a university when he was being considered for president, rather than the pay package.

There are four university presidents in the SUNY system, at Buffalo, Albany, Stony Brook and Binghamton. Simpson's salary, along with the Stony Brook president, is the highest in the system.

Simpson's compensation package, which includes benefits from the UB Foundation and a mansion in Amherst, totals $400,000.

According to 1999-2000 data from the College and University Personnel Association, Simpson's pay package is well above the national mean of $316,468 for state universities with medical schools. The association surveyed 47 such schools for "total income," a statistic that includes private sources of compensation like the UB Foundation.

However, compared to the schools surveyed by the association, Simpson's base pay ranks below the $281,806 average for similar schools.

Critics have blasted the plan for being unnecessary and unfair in light of recent tuition raises. At the same meeting on Tuesday, the board also approved a $300 per year tuition hike for five community colleges, after raising the tuition at SUNY's 25 other community colleges earlier this year.

"(The increases) are unacceptable while continuing to rely on tuition increases to make ends meet," Trustee Candace de Russy was quoted as saying in Newsday.

"It was a public relations debacle, so they had to back off the chancellor's increase," said Assembly Higher Education Committee Chairman Ronald Canestrari in Newsday. "I also think it is difficult under these times to think about increases in presidents' salaries, when students are shouldering the burden and colleges are cutting back ... The priorities are wrong."

Any raises would have to first be authorized by King and then approved by the Board of Trustees, which also has the exclusive power to raise King's salary. The board is controlled by appointees of Governor George Pataki, according to Newsday. King is also a Pataki appointee.