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Gov. Gary Herbert has asked the Utah Board of Regents to holster pay raises to the state's college and university presidents.
In a letter to Regents Chairman David Jordan on Monday, he insisted the regents first complete a planned survey of presidential salaries across the nation before deciding how to adjust salaries in Utah. That review should be done by May, but an armchair analysis by the state's commissioner of higher education determined Utah presidents earn far less than their peers elsewhere.
"It is important to address those questions in the context of a comprehensive analysis of our compensation system," wrote the governor, who appoints regents to the board that oversees Utah's system of higher education. "As you conduct that analysis, I trust you will also be sensitive to our current economic climate and state budgetary constraints."
Jordan said he appreciates the governor's leadership and promised to convene a special meeting of the regents to address his concerns.
"We share the governor's confidence that, with all interested parties working together, we can establish a compensation policy that will keep Utah competitive in recruiting and retaining outstanding college and university presidents," he said.
But one key legislative leader, calling the praises "arrogant," sees no point in the national comparison.
"We already know what the analysis will show," said Rep. Bill Wright, a Holden Republican who leads the House Education Committee. "So what if the other states pay more? We aren't competing with other states. We are providing a service for the benefit of the people of Utah. This isn't a race to the top. It's not a sport."
But Jordan, a Salt Lake City lawyer, believes Utah schools are competing. If the presidential pay gap keeps widening, other states will poach Utah's administrators and the state will be unable to interest out-of-state talent, he said.
Earlier this month, regents approved raises of between 2.8 percent and 12.5 percent as a way to retain and attract talented administrators to lead the state's eight campuses. While the raises total just $100,000, the move drew rebukes from legislative leaders, who felt giving more money to some of the state's best-paid public servants shows a lack of sensitivity to ordinary Utahns.
"If their hearts and minds were in the right place and they were committed to helping our children and families, they wouldn't do it. That money is coming out people's pockets," Wright argued. "This is bad judgment. They are more worried about what their community of interest thinks rather than what the people of Utah think."
Although Jordan said he is sensitive to lawmakers' concerns, he is not worried about political repercussions.
"It's less about what people deserve and more about competing in a national market. Our presidents are outstanding. They get calls from headhunters all the time. They come with offers of salaries 20, 30 percent, even 100 percent more than they make now," Jordan said. "We need to bring our political leaders along to the market realities that we are dealing with. That will taking some more explaining."
He noted University of Utah President Michael Young's compensation increased $200,000 to $300,000 when he departed for the University of Washington last spring. Increasing the U. president's salary is crucial to attracting worthy candidates in the national search under way for Young's successor, he said. Regents raised the base pay to $360,000, still less than a third of what the U. pays its football coach.
But despite their relatively low pay, Utah's sitting presidents are hardly eager to accept the pay hikes, especially when their faculty and fellow administrators are entering the third year of pay freezes in the face of budget cuts.
At least five presidents, including Utah State University's Stan Albrecht and the U.'s interim leader, Lorris Betz, have announced they would donate all or part of their raises to scholarship funds.
Meanwhile, Wright said administrative salaries are a poor predictor of a college's quality and able presidents can be hired and retained without driving up pay scales.
"We can choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution," he said.