St. Mary’s College Considers Basing President’s Salary Off That of Cleaning Staff
February 22nd, 2014My position on this is here.
Via: Washington Post:
How much should a college president make compared to the worker who cleans his office?
According to a proposal put forward by students and faculty at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, the answer is: no more than 10 times as much.
On Thursday afternoon, the faculty senate will review this proposal to tie the president’s salary to that of the school’s lowest-paid employees. Such workers at the public liberal arts college currently make $24,500 a year, which would translate into a $245,000 salary cap for the president — roughly $80,000 less than Ian Newbould, the college’s interim president, presently makes.
The move comes at a time of budget difficulties for the college, which lost roughly $3.5 million in expected tuition this academic year when it failed to fill enrollment numbers for its freshman class. It also comes at a time when higher-ed costs are ballooning across the United States and when executive pay is under increased scrutiny. This fall, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to propose a rule requiring companies to disclose the ratio of CEO pay compared to their median worker’s. In 2012, according to the Economic Policy Institute, that ratio was 273-1.
