The University’s executive officers and deans received a larger average merit-based salary increase than the average salary increases of University faculty and staff for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Executive officers and deans experienced an average merit-based wage increase of 3 percent, while University faculty and staff — excluding those in a union — received a salary increase averaging 2.6 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, during the 2010-2011 year, according to a Dec. 20, 2010 University press release.
Last year, top executive officers and deans declined merit-based salary increases. At the time, faculty wages increased on average by 2.3 percent and staff wages increased by 0.7 percent, which was reported by a 2009 University press release on the salary report as one of the lowest increases in the past decade. However, from 2008-2009, faculty and staff not belonging to a union earned wages that increased by 4.4 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.
The increases are detailed in the University’s Faculty and Staff Disclosure Report, which is released on a yearly basis, and was made public for the 2010-2011 academic year on Dec. 20, 2010.
The University’s salary report listed Ora Pescovitz, executive vice president for medical affairs at the University, as having the highest base compensation for the second year in a row. Pescovitz will earn $721,000 for 2010-2011, which is a 3-percent increase from her previous year’s salary of $700,000. She could also receive $100,000 in deferred compensation each year, in addition to a performance bonus, according to a Dec. 24, 2009 Michigan Daily article.
Douglas Strong, chief executive officer of the University’s Hospitals and Health Centers, now holds the second highest base salary at the University. Strong received a raise of 9.8 percent over his salary last year to earn $600,000, according to the salary report.
Staff at the University of Michigan Health System — a financially independent institution — received a 3.3-percent salary increase in 2010-2011, according to the press release. The year before, they didn’t receive a base salary increase.
“These staff have helped us maintain stable financial health despite a highly challenging health care environment over the past two years,” Strong wrote in the press release.
Erik Lundberg, the University’s chief investment officer, formerly earned the second-highest base salary but lost the position this year after a 0.7-percent decline in his base salary. He is currently the fourth-highest paid at the University with a salary of $575,000. Last year Lundberg had the largest salary increase at 18 percent, according to the Daily article.
Royster Harper, the University’s vice president for student affairs, is the executive officer with the highest salary increase for 2010-2011 with a 16.2-percent raise — 2.8 percent of this increase is based on merit. The difference represents a salary adjustment, according to the salary report. Her base salary is currently $293,822.
With $577,360, Athletic Director David Brandon has the third-highest base salary, earning a 52-percent increase over what his predecessor Bill Martin earned.
After accepting her 3-percent raise this fall, University President Mary Sue Coleman now receives a base salary of $570,105— not including other bonuses and compensations. Coleman’s salary is the fifth highest of University employees, according to the salary report.
Coleman’s total compensation last year was $783,850. Like the University’s deans and other executive officers, Coleman abstained from receiving a merit-based increase for the 2009-2010 academic year. Coleman’s salary increased by 4 percent, or about $21,000, in 2008-2009, according to a Nov. 17, 2008 Michigan Daily article.
The Chronicle of Higher Education listed Coleman as the sixth-highest paid public university president in 2009.
University Provost Philip Hanlon wrote in the press release that he thinks this year’s staff and faculty salary increases are necessary incentives to keep “high-performing” faculty at the University.
“It is important that we work hard to retain our high-performing and internationally competitive faculty and staff members,” Hanlon wrote in the press release.
Hanlon added that budgetary decisions are made with the University’s relationship with the state and Southeast Michigan area in mind.
“The budget choices we make are tied to important principles, including maintaining and enhancing our ability to contribute to the state and the region,” Hanlon said. “We continue to make reasonable investments in our extraordinary faculty and staff so we can fulfill this responsibility.”