|
Ran
in the 11/27/04 edition
Letter
to the editor of The Virginian-Pilot:
In the editorial headlined "Pay and perceptions for U.Va.'s
president" in the Nov. 17 edition of The Virginian-Pilot,
the amounts used to illustrate the compensation of Virginia's public
university presidents were not comparable figures. This oversight
leads readers to believe that University of Virginia President
John T. Casteen III's compensation is dramatically out of sync
with his peers.
The figure presented for President Casteen
($549,783), which
comes from both private and public sources, includes his base
salary,
deferred compensation, an annual bonus, salary from his endowed
chair in the Department of English, and additional benefits
often given a university
president, including
an automobile stipend.
Where the editorial misleads is in its
presentation of
only the base salaries
for William & Mary President Timothy J. Sullivan
(reported as $275,000) and Old Dominion President Roseann O. Runte
(mistakenly reported as $220,000, but which is actually $287,500).
These salaries do not include deferred
compensation --
$80,000 in Mr.
Sullivan's case
and $50,000 in
Ms. Runte's case.
Nor
do they include additional benefits afforded each president,
again
as were included for Mr. Casteen.
Mr. Sullivan's total annual compensation
is not available,
but according to a recent Chronicle of Higher Education
survey on
presidential compensation, Ms. Runte's is $351,875.
If you look further at the compensation
of other university
presidents in Virginia, as reported in an Oct. 4 Virginian-Pilot
story,
you will see that Virginia Tech President Charles W.
Steger receives an annual compensation of $468,713,
and Virginia
Commonwealth University
President Eugene P. Trani, $383,000.
These women and men have led Virginia's
institutions of
higher education
to rank among the
best and most
respected in the
nation. They are deeply committed to public higher
education, and their
long service to the Commonwealth, coupled with their
visionary
leadership, justify the compensation they receive.
Spend a week with any one of them and you will know
this is
true.
I write to set the record straight -- and
to draw attention
to a more accurate
comparison between
Mr.
Casteen's
compensation and that of his esteemed colleagues.
Carol
Wood
assistant vice president / University Relations
University of Virginia
|
