Some Context for the Roth Salary Debate: Wesleyan’s Highest Paid Admins and Profs
So big dog Ryan Brill ’10 over at Wesleying has raised an interesting question during these financially difficult times by comparing President Michael Roth‘s salary to those of presidents at some of our peer institutions. All in all, compared to the presidents of Williams, Amherst, Sarah Lawrence, Vassar, Oberlin, Middlebury and Brown, Roth’s $564,000 annual salary is the second highest. Brown’s Ruth Simmons comes in first at $636,000.
The debate in the Wesleying comments section has been lively and surprisingly civil, raising some interesting questions about Roth’s salary in relation to his predecessors and his colleagues. I dug around on guidestar.org, which provides the 990 tax forms for nonprofit organizations, in order to give this conversation a little more context:
In 2006, his final year at Wesleyan, President Doug Bennet earned $412,974. The next year, his first at Wes, Roth earned $564,007–a $150,00 salary hike.
The 2008 form lists the salaries for top officers and administrators. A glance:
Thomas Kannam, VP & Chief Investment Officer: $460, 610
Barbara Jan Wilson, VP President for University Relations: $260, 334
John Meerts, VP for Finance and Administration: $240, 060
Joseph Bruno, VP for Academic Affairs and Provost, $221,120
Peter Patton, Interim Dean of College: $221, 339
Justin Harmon, VP Public Affairs: $197, 244
Nancy Hargrave Meislahn, Dean of Admissions: $167,149
It should be noted that Tom Kannam and Justin Harmon no longer work at Wesleyan and that Peter Patton is no longer the Interim Dean of the College. The 2008 form does not list top faculty salaries, but the 2007 form does:
Jeanine Basinger, Chair of the Film Studies Department: $213,420
David Beveridge, University Professor of the Sciences and Mathematics: $186,830
Anne duCille, Professor of English and African American Studies: $181,880
Nathanael Greene, Professor of History: $181,500
Ruth Striegel-Moore, University Professor of the Social Sciences: $180,467
Anyhow, the most interesting fact for me is that the president’s salary was raised by $150,000 when Roth arrived in 2007. Do what you like with the rest.
Well, that’s a lot of money but it’s a big responsibility too. If he does well, he’s worth it. If he doesn’t, a pay cut hardly makes up for the deficiency.
I infer from the fact that the Presidential salary went up by $150,000 that an increased amount was necessary to hire him. Wesleyan surely was not Mr. Roth’s only option.
You do get what you pay for in this world (sometimes.)
Good luck to President Roth. May he earn and deserve numerous raises during his tenure.
So what is the current salary for SLC’s president?
This conversation is also happening on WesChat (the alumni listserv) and someone said that it was possible that the numbers for Roth salary the first year might be a little inflated because of one-time payments/benefits made to him when he first came to Wes. I also think that it had something to do with the salary he was making at CCA when he left. That’s all unconfirmed though.
Any inside dope on why Tom Kamman got shitcanned? Must have been an interesting meeting.
“Any inside dope on why Tom Kamman got shitcanned? ”
Well, Wesleyan’s annual financial report, usually published in October, is not out yet this year. That should tell you something.
Yo, Fuck the Blargus!
Fuck Mytheos Holt! He smells!
…What? Everyone else is spouting irrelevant middle school insults.
“Well, Wesleyan’s annual financial report, usually published in October, is not out yet this year. That should tell you something.”
Guess that’s as good a reason as any to throw your chief investment officer in front of a bus, never mind that Harvard and Stanford suffered record losses same fiscal year.
The fact that he makes more money than the president of the United States absolutely disgusts me. This is a complete waste of student’s tuition.