AU's presidential compensation package was one of the highest among private U.S. colleges and universities in the 2004-2005 school year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
According to a database of 832 private American colleges and universities on The Chronicle's Web site, AU gave former President Ben Ladner $881,696 in pay and compensation during the 2004-2005 school year. AU had the 13th highest presidential compensation package among all private colleges and universities, according to The Chronicle's Web site. Delaware's Wilmington College, which topped the list, gave former President Audrey K. Doberstein $2,746,241 in pay and benefits during the same school year.
Among all private colleges and universities classified as "research universities" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, AU had the eighth-highest compensation package. Among private institutions classified as "doctoral/research universities," AU had the second-highest compensation package, ranking behind Wilmington, according to The Chronicle.
Carnegie classifies an institution as a "research university" if the institution awarded at least 20 non-medical doctoral degrees during the previous year. "Research universities" are divided into three subcategories based on the level of research activity at each institution, according to The Chronicle.
Board of trustees Chairman Gary Abramson said the salary figure The Chronicle lists for AU was based on the salary Ladner made, and no longer reflects the salary AU's interim president makes.
"[Interim President Neil Kerwin] makes significantly less - he wishes he made that much," said Abramson. "He got an increase over his provost salary when he became interim president. It was a reasonable increase given an increase in responsibility from provost to president, but it wasn't anywhere near the figure quoted by The Chronicle."
AU's presidential compensation was one of many issues discussed after Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, requested documents from the board of trustees last December. The inquiry came after the board forced Ladner to resign last October over allegations that he had misused university funds, The Eagle previously reported.
Concerns over excessively high presidential compensation packages have led to increased scrutiny from lawmakers and the media recently. One example of the increased scrutiny was an article in a September issue of The Wall Street Journal that detailed the spending habits of Vanderbilt University Chancellor E. Gordon Gee. Gee, whose compensation package included a $700,000 expense account, was the highest-paid leader of a private university who was still at the same job as when the latest data set was collected, according to The Chronicle.
In the months following Ladner's resignation, the board began working on a governance reform plan. Although the board adopted most reforms at their May and June meetings, they did adopt revisions to AU's presidential employment contract and compensation policy in February, according to board documents.
Under the revised policy, the board's Compensation Committee will review AU's presidential compensation package periodically. The committee will consult with counsel and compensation experts to make sure the president's compensation matches his or her performance and is "appropriate in relation to that paid by comparable institutions of higher learning for similar services," according to the policy.
Abramson said AU was using a consulting firm that calculates the average presidential salary at universities based on different university characteristics such as population size and university location.
"We'll use it as a guide," he said. "But like when you hire any other executive, the actual salary is based on negotiations. You don't want to overpay, but you also want to get someone good for the job."
The board would have to approve any report or recommendation about the president's compensation, and the approval would have to be included in the board's minutes in order for it to go into effect. The board will share the compensation information it reports to the Internal Revenue Service with the AU community, according to the policy.
