Not for Profit

                                            

I have long been struck by the animus in certain sectors of our society against profits. Commentators often complain about obscene profits in the private sector. Left-wing advocates of universal health care want to reduce payments to doctors and cut or even eliminate drug company profits. Many students today graduate from college with no desire to work for a profit making company. Working for a non-profit appeals to their moral sensibility.

The aversion to profit making comes from a long indoctrination that begins in the earliest days of school but becomes especially pronounced after four years at most colleges and universities even while they turn out an increasing number of business majors.

The other day I came across a website that listed the top 20 wage earners in 2015 at Syracuse University, one of the largest private universities in the country. It is a tax-exempt or so-called non-profit institution.

At the bottom of the list was a senior vice-president whose base salary was only $282000 but whose total compensation came to $324000. She was stepping down from Syracuse after 30 years of service but did manage to get a gig as President of the Foundation of a public university.

Three more vice-presidents followed but # 16 was an academic, the newly appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest school in the university.  Her base salary is $311000 but total compensation is around $360000. Her predecessor was #15 on the list. In his last year his salary was $366000 but total comp was around $393000. He returned to a faculty position and although a faculty salary will not land him in the top twenty, I suppose his pension will more than make up the difference. Five more vice presidents round out the bottom 10 with Number 10 being a senior vice president whose total comp is over $500000.

There are some even more interesting cases as the salaries get higher. Number 9 is the Dean of the school of Citizenship and Public Affairs whose total compensation was $560000. However, he stepped down as Dean that year to become a mere Professor at the University. Incidentally, he had formerly been an under-Secretary of State during Hillary Clinton’s tenure at the State Department.

Number 8 on the list of top wage earners was a former Provost, the top academic position at the University. He left the University in 2014 but still collected his full salary during 2015. His base salary was $482000 but benefits brought his total comp to $565000.

Number 7 was the Woman’s basketball coach who finally made the top 20 list after his team had a very successful 2014 season. I wonder if anyone complains that the $565000 the women’s coach makes is only a quarter of what the men’s basketball coach makes at Syracuse. Of course, he still makes considerably more than any full professor or any of the minimum wage adjuncts who teach many courses at the University.

If we skip to number 4 we find the former head of the University’s athletic depart who resigned his post in 2015. He insisted that his resignation had nothing to do with an NCAA investigation of the practices of the athletic department. The University found another position for him as a special assistant to the President. His base compensation was $757000 with total comp of $846000.

The Chancellor/ President of the University made the top three but his compensation in excess of $900000 was dwarfed by that of the two most prestigious and powerful members of the University.  The head football coach made in excess of $1.5 Million and the Men’s basketball coach, the legendary Jim Boeheim, made over $2 Million.

Syracuse is a private institution and it can pay its high-ranking employees whatever it wants. However, I imagine that the salary structure is much the same at public institutions all over the country. It is obvious that most of these people are part of the well-educated administrative class that profits greatly from its not-for-profit status.  I suppose that like Syracuse most of the people actually doing the teaching do not make the list of top-salaried employees. Isn’t it ironic that while liberals make up more than 90% of college faculties, they seem to ignore the income inequality under their own roof? 

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