CLARIFICATION
An article in Monday's editions about pay for university presidents included an incorrect statement from the Chronicle of Higher Education that William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, turned down $100,000 in deferred compensation for 2008-2009. Though Kirwan did not receive the money in 2008-2009, it was converted into a multiyear fund that could be awarded to the chancellor at the end of his contract, based on evaluation of his performance by the system's Board of Regents. The Sun regrets the error. The presidents of Maryland's leading public universities are modestly compensated compared to peers in other states, according to a survey being released today by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
C.D. "Dan" Mote Jr., president of the University of Maryland, College Park, made $498,284 in salary and retirement benefits, according to the survey of the 2008-2009 school year. But Mote ranked 60th among 186 public university presidents across the nation.
William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the university system, made $490,000, almost $60,000 less than the previous year, and turned down $100,000 in deferred salary. He ranked 65th in the survey.
Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, made $467,900 in total compensation and finished 70th in the rankings. No other Maryland presidents were included.
Overall, presidential pay leveled off after years of increases, with one-third of those surveyed seeing no increase in base pay in 2008-2009.
"The pay is really stagnating," said Chronicle editor Jeff Selingo. "I think we're finally seeing the impact of the economy on presidential pay."
College presidents are often among the highest-paid public employees in their states and thus receive plenty of scrutiny in tough economic times.
Mote received a raise of about $35,000 and Hrabowski a raise of about $23,000 in 2008-2009. But Selingo said Kirwan was hardly the only president to refuse part of his compensation in 2008-2009.
"Presidents don't want to be seen as taking big pay increases and boards don't want to be seen as giving them," Selingo said.
As a result, public university presidents often make less than their peers at private institutions. Only one public president made more than $1 million in 2008-2009 while 23 private college presidents made more than $1 million, according to the Chronicle's 2007-2008 survey (the private college survey for 2008-2009 won't be released until the fall).
Ohio State University President Gordon Gee earned total compensation of $1.58 million. But some of the highest-paid officials work in Maryland's neighboring states. The presidents of the University of Delaware, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech all made more than $730,000 in 2008-2009 and ranked in the top 10 in the survey.