GW English prof Margaret Soltan approvingly cites Seattle Times reporter Nicole Brodeur‘s column chiding the University of Washington for paying its president and provost large salaries during a time of budget cuts and tuition hikes. She likes this line in particular:
We pay [UW president Mark Emmert] more than he could ever possibly need, while students are being priced out of the seats.
Emmert is paid $905,000 annually while provost Phyllis Wise earns $535,000 in “salary and deferred compensation.” Both also make substantial outside income from corporate boards – a practice that I find highly problematic but one that has no bearing on tuition costs. (If anything, the outside compensation arguably reduces what the state must pay.)
Now, these salaries are radically higher than anything I’m accustomed to in higher ed, with the notable exception of coaches in major revenue sports. But are they really coming at the cost of students being able to get an education?
According to its website, UW has 47,361 students on its main campus and about that many again on three satellite campuses in Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma. That’s a total of 94,722 students.
Let’s go ahead and cut Emmert and Wise to $1 each in state funds. Let them subsist on their outside fees, I say! And let’s divide the $1,434,998 savings equally among the students. Why, that’s $15.15 each!
Shoot, they could all get PhDs with that.
