Thursday, July 05, 2007

University VC pay in Australia

The big earners are listed in The Australian, Higher Education Supplement.

In comparison, Prime Minister Howard will get $330, 356 annually if re-elected this year. Among other things the article states, in relation to La Trobe University:
'Senior management at La Trobe closed ranks this week when the HES queried a listing in its 2006 annual report that shows someone - believed to be former vice-chancellor Brian Stoddart - received between $1,470,000-$1,479,999 last year.

A well-placed source told the HES the figure was the combined annual remuneration and a $948,000 payout for Professor Stoddart, who assumed the top job at short notice when Michael Osborne resigned in late 2005. Professor Stoddart left in December after it was announced Paul Johnson would succeed him'.
I don't know if this information is correct or complete but it does seem a lot of money. Of course once the envy is foregone it is essential to demand good performance from highly-paid leaders in all fields.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ideally, executive administrators (deans and above)
work for academics who have exclusive equity in the university.

A main role of these managers is to bring in money from government/businesses. For instance, when assessing the performance of say a dean I typically ask "how much money has he attracted?"


PS

Why didn't you come up for the conference? You wuse.

hc said...

Deans and above are never employees of academics. Universities are among the least democratic and most centralised business structures I have studied.

The efficiency lessons the private sector has learned from decentralisation have not been learned by universities.

Moreover while the language of 'business' and 'management speak' is universal in universities these days I get the impression of widespread authoritarian conservatism.

I have no problem with paying university academics bonuses related to money brought in. But this is not the primary mission of a university.

Should 'ordinary' academics share in such gains too if they bring money in? Probably not because too diverting from the purpose of a university.

I didn't come to Brisbane as working on very applied problems at present (smoking, booze, immigration, congestion pricing, climate change) and didn't want to suffer discrimination at the hands of the space-cadets at the Conference of economists.

Isn't it wuss?

Anonymous said...

As a general rule, administrators have very little power in good universities. You only see authoritarian behavior in second rate institutions.

There are plenty of papers in very applied areas. You would have enjoyed the session on the postal industry. There were even papers touching on climate change and congestion.

There are hardly any papers in theory (well apart from the good people from La Trobe).

But you are right, we had the tar and feathers ready for you mate. I warmed the tar.

wuss wuse what's the difference?

Anonymous said...

Fuzzflash sez..

Hang in there, Harry. Nice little earner, 1400 Kpa.


HC: "Moreover while the language of 'business' and 'management speak' is universal in universities these days I get the impression of widespread authoritarian conservatism".

Executive Memo:
Senior management positions remain available. Prior to being appointed, you must demonstrate your level of dedication to achieving profits and maintaining a pleasant demeanour whilst managing significant staff reductions .


"There's room at the top
They keep tellin' you still,
But first you must learn
To smile while you kill."