I don’t often agree with former Raleigh mayor Tom Fetzer but his take on the $95,000 bonus paid to UNC President Margaret Spellings was spot on. “At a base salary of $775,000,” Fetzer said, “I think the tax paying citizens of North Carolina ought to be able to expect excellence in performance without having to add on a hundred grand a year. Also, if we’re serious about controlling the costs of higher education, this doesn’t help us achieve that.”
As far as I can tell, Spellings has done a good job as president. That’s no reason for a public employee to get bonus that’s far more than most state employees make in a year. Spellings $755,000 salary is $155,000 more than her predecessor and, with the bonuses she’s getting, almost 20 years’ worth of income for North Carolinians making the median income or less.
The bonus doesn’t just set the wrong tone for a government that claims it’s trying to control costs, it sends the wrong message to state employees across North Carolina who’ve been shortchanged by our legislature. The bonus reflects Republican instincts. They’re always trying to run government like a business, which it’s not, and they put an emphasis on management over workers. People don’t go into public service to get rich and, if they do, they shouldn’t be in public service.
At a time when our teachers still need raises and we need to increase the pay to attract qualified prison personnel, giving away $95,000 to the president of the university system seems misguided. The GOP is showing its true priorities. While the rank and file rails against elites, the BoG sanctions five figure bonuses for a CEO.
Personally, I think we should be spending more money on higher education and giving raises across the board. Our university system has taken it on the chin since Republicans took control of the legislature. They’ve slashed spending, hurting its reputation nationally while giving huge tax cuts to the wealthiest among us. We should be investing in our future, not cutting it. Rewarding one person with almost $100,000 is the wrong way to fix what ails higher education in the state. They’re treating Spellings like a Wall Street banker, not the leader of a public university system.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
It would probably be helpful to have several other salaries with which to compare President Spellings: peer institutions including Duke, Wake Forest, Davidson, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, and several North Carolina based corporations: BB&T, Duke Energy, SAS. Might also be worth looking at salaries of major NC hospital systems. Frank Graham gave back part of his salary during Depression, Bill Friday never sought to compete with his peers around the nation – although he did leave office and move into a home paid for by private fundraising which surely no one would think a lavish gesture of thanks from admirers. The Graham and Friday commitments were, of course, extraordinary as were their lives.
I totally agree. This whole business of the UNC system head and university chancellors being paid these ridiculously high salaries is just that – Ridiculous!
Also, it should be noted that Ms Spellings has no advanced degree or previous university experience. She was George Bush’s domestic policy advisor and later his education advisor. After his terms, an Eduction Commission of the States was created and she was appointed to lead it.
Who is responsible for hiring her and these ridiculous salaries? Answer: The UNC system board, dominated by Republicans made these decisions. Super expensive political decisions made while UNC tuition and fees continue to rise, often saddling students/graduates with unmanageable debt.
Yep, should not happen. But how does it happen? Who is responsible for this?
Just like Gov. Cooper giving some on his staff a large raise.
Thomas did you write about that?
Our tax payers money at work.
I agree. More than three-quarters of a million dollars a year is more than enough for the president of the UNC system. The job does not have the day-to-day stresses or challenges of a UNC campus chancellorship. Spellings has not been able to convince her bosses within the NCGA/NCGOP to refrain from allocating lean budgets to the system. And it’s not like Spellings is an accomplished academician who has the overwhelming respect of faculty and students (unlike many university presidents/chancellors in other states, she only holds a bachelors degree). Her over-the-top pay raise is just one more example of Republican public higher ed overlords in NC just not having much of a clue about what constitutes real skills and vision in a university leader.
I agree 100% that the bonus awarded to Ms. Spellings is nothing short of obscene. NC citizens ought to expect excellence with a salary toward the top of the 6-figure category. There are scores of better places to slip a spare $100K than on the UNC president’s deposit slip.