Top presidential compensation of Big Ten in 2007-08
Northwestern University Henry S. Bienen: $1,742,560*
Ohio State University E. Gordon Gee: $1,346,225
University of Michigan Mary Sue Coleman: $760,196
University of Minnesota Robert H. Bruininks: $733,421
Penn State University Graham B. Spanier: $611,367
Iowa State University Sally Mason: $583,000
MSU Lou Anna K. Simon: $572,000
*Number represents the 2006-07 fiscal year. Northwestern University also is the only private institution in the conference.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education
Possibly related:
Director of School of Journalism asked to resign
Federal grant given to MSU plant ecologist
MSU students frightened for family in Iran
E.L. traffic code channels funding to city
2010 census to tally same-sex marriages
Federal grant given to MSU plant ecologist
MSU students frightened for family in Iran
E.L. traffic code channels funding to city
2010 census to tally same-sex marriages
E.L. traffic code channels funding to city
2010 census to tally same-sex marriages
Simon's pay in middle of Big Ten compensation
Even after a raise of $124,750, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon remains in the lower half of Big Ten university president salaries, according to a survey released Monday by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Simon’s 2007-08 salary of $572,000 represents the seventh-highest salary among the 11 Big Ten institutions. The president’s salary is decided upon by MSU’s eight-member Board of Trustees.
“The salaries for the president were low for a long time,” Trustee chairman Joel Ferguson said. “(The raise was) to catch up. If you’re way behind somebody, you got to run faster.”
Simon’s pay raise reflects a nationwide trend of increasing college presidential salaries. In 2007-08, public university compensation increased 7.6 percent to an average salary of $427,400.
Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee’s salary of $1,346,225 is the highest of the public universities in the Big Ten. Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman is second, earning $760,196.
Ferguson said the board agreed Simon deserved a higher salary and performed as well as other Big Ten leaders.
“We’re as good as those, and our people are just as good, if not better, so why should they be paid less?” he said.
MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said Simon was unavailable for comment Monday.
Although Simon’s salary remains in the lower half of the conference, some students were unsure why she received a raise when tuition and fees increased this fall and will increase on student bills again in the summer.
“I can understand (the raise), I guess if she’s in the middle,” no-preference sophomore Erik Gudding said. “It makes a little bit of sense, but at the same time, taking it out of students pockets is kind of wrong too.”
However, MSU Trustee Donald Nugent said tuition increases and presidential raises aren’t comparable.
“It’s not the same,” he said. “If you took the actual dollars, that’s really not a good comparison at all. If you’re going to have quality people, you need to be competitive in the pay.”
Although some students might see a presidential raise as unfair, global and area studies senior Maranda Clark said she understands why Simon’s salary increased.
“To get her to stay, unfortunately, that’s the way you get people to do what you want,” Clark said. “You give them more money.”
Published on Monday, November 17, 2008
Comments
Uhh...
11/17/08 @ 11:43pm
Re: the graphic in the top right of this page with the listing of Big Ten president salaries….
Iowa State is not a member of the Big Ten.
nnn
11/17/08 @ 11:53pm
Let’s keep giving our tuition dollars to our presidents, as if they are not paid well enough.
typical
11/17/08 @ 11:57pm
Sally Mason is the president of the University of Iowa though…just another typical State News mistake
LansingTrucker
11/18/08 @ 2:17am
Let’s keep giving our tuition dollars to our president, Simon is no experience at the wheel just the liberal side. She is just showing the US what it can look for out of Obama another no experience at the wheel. Freguson is out to take more money from the Students her at State and the State of Michigan Taxpayers….
tgl
11/18/08 @ 7:33am
Lansing Trucker,
Do you post while driving? It sure reads as if you are.
fay
11/18/08 @ 9:22am
nnn & trucker:
um, if you divided it among the students, we each pay $13 for the President’s paycheck. That’s only up $3 from last year. I pay $3 for the radio station too, I think I can handle it.
student
11/18/08 @ 11:56am
STOP COMPLAINING.
You pay what you pay to maintain and improve the standards of MSU. If you study hard and you graduate in 4 years it will not be a burden in your pocket. Scholarships or other assistance will come. I will graduate in 4 years and I want MSU to improve. So, if you don’t know giving money is the way you improve something, like a University. Good professors, good scholars, good individuals, and leaders ask for more money, not more bananas or apples. Its logic.
Or, when you go to the work force, are you going to stop asking for money if the company is in bad shape? Ask that to the UAW.
Plus, public money is not a huge part of the budget anymore. MSU would be better if it goes private. We could increase standards more easily and don’t have to respond to public policies that are approved by the morons in the trailer parks of this State.
MSU, right now, is transforming itself. Academics are improving, slowly, but getting better. The students admitted to MSU are coming with better credential. We still have some John L. Smith among our student body but they will leave, sooner o later. Facilities are improving with technology and renovations on campus. MSU is introducing itself into national and international competitions for elite grants and programs. I don’t know who would not want to be a Spartan now. I mean, “its now or never”.
Think about this. Research facts about your school and, then, talk.
Thank you. Have a good day.
Townsend
11/18/08 @ 12:37pm
^Very well said, student.
Alum
11/18/08 @ 3:23pm
I’m sure that Dr. Simon is worthy of the pay increase, but haven’t the Board of Trustees heard about the state of the economy. It is going to be hard for some people to understand when the economy in Michigan is so bad and so many people are struggling to get by. Good things are happening at MSU, but the timing of this raise is bad.
Different Alum
11/18/08 @ 4:26pm
I think the raise was actually approved a while back, but the study comparing the whole Big Ten just came out.
That could have been made more clear in the article
MartyMo
11/18/08 @ 6:12pm
I pointed out earlier that Iowa State is not a Big ten school, and SN deleted my message.
Terry
11/18/08 @ 8:13pm
What is the meaning of this stupid “president salary rank”? It means we have good academic programs? Or it means we have good professors? Or it means we have good athelatic programs? Can this rank attract more good students? Can this rank attract more five star players? Or can this rank attract a Nobel price winner working for MSU? If it can, I want Dr. Simon to have the No.1 salary in the country and then we are the best university. Ranking the 7th is not enough? Look at our rank in other fields. Do not tell me footbal(they are good, though), but I do not pay tuition to watch football. I have paid more than a super bowl ticket. I finally know where those 9%,1.2% tuition rising go.
student
11/18/08 @ 9:32pm
Terry, is nice that you try to make a comeback.
But it didn’t work…
This articles examines if Pres. Simon deserves this salary. This article does not examine how much academic talent you can attract by the salary the president of the university has.
The academic talent you attract depends on the respect the students have for the professors, the atmosphere there is on campus regarding academics, the ability to do research, the money available to do research, the salary professors have, the facilities in which they would work, the grants they could earn at that institutions, and the prominence of their academic field in that university, among others…
So, Pres. Simon (Dr. Simon, because she has a PHD from MSU) is trying to improve all this aspects that can attract better faculty, scholars, and students.
When you go to work, you don’t care how much the president of your company makes. On other hand, you care about the possibilities you have for professional advancement, health care, salary, among others…
Thank you. Have a good night.
Alumni
11/19/08 @ 8:49am
Well said again, Student. And the raise happened quite some time ago, not recently. Tuition hikes follow a lack of state funding, not an increase in a president’s salary. Dr. Simon is awesome, she’s much more qualified than that ass McPherson and I don’t think she will follow in his footsteps by selling our graduate schools to Grand Rapids.
Vince Baker
11/19/08 @ 10:51am
Iowa State is not in the Big Ten, nice work Justin.
Lauren
11/19/08 @ 12:22pm
WHAT? We can throw $500K at our president but we have to raise tuition between semesters? This is absolutely disgusting, and I can’t believe our university is concerned with poor Ms. Simon’s salary being in the lower half of other Big 10 presidents’.
annoyed
11/19/08 @ 3:22pm
The presidents of these universities make more than the President of the United States! It’s time for taxpayers to wake up and put an end to this nonsense.
The argument for Simon’s pay is that it “attracts talent.” I recall her being hired from within MSU. She would have given anything for that job. This “attracting talent” argument is enough to make me ill.
KC
11/19/08 @ 3:47pm
While I understand that my tuition may not be affected in a big way because of this pay increase it still pisses me off. It is the principle of the matter. I have seen several profs and faculty members get pay raises at this tuition at the same time my tuition is going up. Let’s be honest most of the profs that teach here DO NOT deserve a pay increase (in fact most of the ones that I have had should not continue to teach) and I see no reason that Pres. Simon deserves one. She has done nothing remarkable for the university.. has she? I do not think it is fair to compare the salaries of employees at MSU to employees of other schools without taking into account school performance, ranks of programs, university advancement, qualification, and the million other factors that decide the value of a person’s job.
student
11/19/08 @ 5:11pm
Has Pres. Simon done anything remarkable for the University???
OF COURSE!
That argument demonstrate the complete ignorance of some students for what is going on at MSU.
She has done remarkable things since she became the President of MSU. Also, before being the President, she was the Provost. So, she is pretty knowledgable about the issues at MSU. (Plus, she got her PHD from MSU)
It is the same thing as with professors. Most of the professors at MSU do some kind of research during their tenure. But, does it appear in The State News every day? No! So, there are some things in the administration of MSU, as with research, that don’t go public because of different reasons.
For example, did anyone knew about MSU Dubai before last year? Of course no. No one had information about it because it was not concrete, but once MSU started working with buildings and more concrete aspects of MSU Dubai it started to come up in the press.
As this, there are numerous things that the President and her staff do that do not affect the student everyday but do affect the quality of MSU in the long run.
AYS
11/19/08 @ 5:34pm
The SN might have also mentioned the tens of thousands of dollars (probably more) that the Simons have donated back to the university over the years. A big part of that raise will probably come back to MSU…