University President Dave Frohnmayer’s salary increased by nearly 80 percent during the last 10 years, as did the salaries of three other top University administrators.
That may seem like a hefty pay raise, but according to information released this week by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Frohnmayer’s total compensation package is slightly lower than the average of $360,000 for presidents of public universities.
This is no surprise to many in the administration.
Some administrators say their salaries are similar to the salaries of University professors and other faculty members in that all are much less than those at the institutions the University considers its comparators.
An examination of salaries and compensation packages shows Frohnmayer’s salary to be more in sync with the University’s comparator institutions than faculty salaries are.
Frohnmayer’s salary this academic year is $278,729, a 77 percent increase from the 1994-95 academic year. The UO Foundation, a private organization dedicated to fund raising for the University, contributes $90,000 to his salary.
The Chronicle listed Frohnmayer’s compensation package this year as $332,089, which includes $50,000 in deferred compensation and $3,360 in benefits.
The Emerald obtained administrative salary figures through a public records request with the University’s attorney, Melinda Grier. Salary figures had been available in the Knight Library, but University officials say the figures listed were inaccurate and that they are in the process of updating the information.
Grier said in an e-mail to the Emerald that the information submitted to The Chronicle included deferred compensation because the publication asked that the University do so.
“Deferred compensation would not normally be included in the current year’s salary because it is not paid until some later time,” Grier wrote.
The foundation is paying the $50,000 in deferred compensation, according to Grier’s e-mail.
Five of the University’s eight comparator institutions have reported to The Chronicle their presidents’ compensation packages for this academic year, and Frohnmayer’s is higher than three of them, if deferred compensation is included.
During 2004-05, the last year for which every university president’s compensation package is available, Frohnmayer’s compensation package of $280,424 was higher than one and within $25,000 of three.
The University’s comparator institutions include the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Washington.
Faculty compensation packages, which average $83,800 at the University, are lower than the average salary at each of the eight comparator institutions, according to an annual report by the American Association of University Professors.
Senior Vice President and Provost John Moseley said it’s difficult to compare administrative salary averages to faculty salary averages because faculty members don’t always stay with the University as long as administrators.
“If you look at an individual over a long period of time, then that’s not the same as looking at the whole group (of faculty) whose average period of time at the University – instead of being 27 years like me – might be 12 years,” Moseley said.
Frohnmayer has been University president since 1994 and was dean of the School of Law from 1992-94.
Frohnmayer’s salary is almost one-third more than anyone else currently at the University has ever been.
Moseley, the University’s second-in-command, made $210,884 during the 2003-04 academic year, according to Grier’s information, but his salary dropped to $109,112 this year after he went to part-time status pending his retirement in June 2006.
Vice President for Academic Affairs Lorraine Davis will also retire at the end of this academic year and saw her earnings drop from $167,120 to $86,467 when she went to part-time status.
Moseley and Davis still work full-time.
“You do the work you need to do to get the job done,” Davis said.
While former Vice President for Administration Dan Williams is no longer involved in day-to-day administrative duties and no longer has an office in Johnson Hall, he is contracted with the UO Alumni Association and is earning a $25,000 stipend for the completion of a project examining the relationship between the association and the Athletics Department.
He earned $162,800 during his final year as vice president for administration.
Williams’ contract with the Alumni Association, a private organization, ends Dec. 31, and he said he will be under contract with the University as a special assistant to the president for the Athletics Department beginning Jan. 1. He could not be employed by the University until 2006 because he had already worked the maximum number of hours for the University that were allowed during this year.
Moseley said he too will take on a quarter-time position after he retires from his senior vice president and provost position.
He is currently in discussion with Frohnmayer about the details of that position.
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