Monday, September 20, 2010

UK Rankings down, Lee Todd's salary up

My friend Bob the Economist (Robert Martin, emeritus Boles Professor of Economics at Centre College) slamming the ridiculous salary raise for outgoing University of Kentucky President Lee Todd:
In a tone-deaf moment, the UK governing board, on the occasion of President Lee T. Todd Jr.'s retirement, decided to increase his total compensation for his last year to $825,000.

A firestorm of anger and outrage has been burning over excessive executive compensation for the last two years, and here is the UK board shoveling Kentucky coal on to the fire. Further, can it be true that board members have not read nor heard about the Goldwater Institute's report? If not, why are they serving on UK's board?

The Herald-Leader quotes trustees who say they cannot hire a new president unless they significantly increase compensation. Interim board chairman Billy Joe Miles said the president's job is more important than the governor's job (apparently not more important than the basketball coach's, however).

Since this new compensation is about double what the U.S. president makes, it means being UK president is more important than being president of the United States.
See this is how it works: you head a university that says it is going to become a "top 20" research university but instead goes down in the rankings, and then increase the presidents salary by 50 percent.

Can Todd take the trustees with him when he leaves? Please?
at

1 comment:

  1. Singring10:48 AM

    800,000 for a year??? That's insane money. University Deans in Europe typically get paid 100,000 to 200,000 Euros a year (which would be about 300,000 US dollars) and I think that's more than plenty.

    In this case I understand your outrage.

    ReplyDelete

You are welcome to post at this blog. You are asked, however, to refrain from the following:

1. Name-calling;
2. Questioning the motives or integrity of people you have never met just because you disagree with them;
3. Using obscenities or other expressions not appropriate or necessary to civilized discussion;
4. Taking disagreement personally;
5. Demeaning or insulting remarks.

The host will attempt to abide by the same rules and only asks that you not provide him with the temptation to do so in return by violating them.

Failure to comply with these rules can result (depending solely on the arbitrary and inscrutable will of the host) in the deletion of offending posts and suspension of posting privileges. Such measures are more likely if you post anonymously.