An annual employee salary report released by the University on Tuesday revealed that University faculty and staff earned smaller salary increases this year compared to last year.
At the same time, top executive officers and deans declined merit-based salary increases.
Erik Lundberg, the University’s chief investment officer, topped the charts of salary increases, earning an 18 percent increase over his salary last year.
Ora Pescovitz, executive vice president for medical affairs, had the highest base compensation, netted $700,000. In addition to her base salary, Pescovitz is also eligible for a performance bonus of up to $150,000 and receives $100,000 per year in deferred compensation for her retirement. Because this is her first year at the University, she also received $150,000 this year to cover moving expenses.
Lundberg’s increase brought his salary to $578,000, making him second highest earner at the University.
Lundberg’s pay is tied to the success of the University’s investment portfolio, which fell 23 percent this year, but has seen an average 9 percent annualized return over his ten years at the University. Last year, Lundberg received a 15 percent salary increase and in 2006 he saw a 46 percent increase, though he saw no increase in 2007.
University President Mary Sue Coleman was the third highest paid employee, earning a base salary of $553,500 this year. The amount is the same as Coleman’s salary last year, because she requested that the regents not give her any merit increase.
In a phone interview last summer after Coleman announced she would not ask for an increase, Phil Hanlon, vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs, said Coleman’s request to forgo any merit increase would leave her base salary unchanged, but that other forms of compensation — including bonuses — that Coleman receives may still increase. The report released on Tuesday did not detail what bonuses, if any, Coleman received this year.
According to figures reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Coleman received a $100,000 retention bonus, $75,000 deferred compensation, $23,000 retirement pay and $30,200 supplemental retirement plan in 2008. Coleman also has expenses paid for her home on South University Avenue and for her car – bringing her total compensation package from 2008 to $760,196.
The University’s other executive officers and 19 deans — seven of whom are also among the 10 highest paid employees at the University — followed Coleman’s lead in declining merit increases.
Other University staff members didn’t forgo pay increases, but saw only a modest 0.7 percent raise — excluding those represented by a union. Faculty members — of whom there are about 7,500 — saw a larger increase at 2.3 percent.
Last year, non-union staff received an average pay raise of 3.2 percent, while faculty salaries increased by 4.4 percent on average.
Provost Teresa Sullivan said in a statement on Tuesday that despite the minimal salary increases, faculty and staff are one of the highest funding priorities at the University.
“We are mindful of the current economic climate, but we also must retain our high-performing and internationally competitive faculty and staff members,” Sullivan said. “They give us Michigan’s competitive edge.”