Pay Scale

What is a college administrator really worth?

Over the past decade, salaries and corporate-style pay packages have exploded at many large public and private universities across the country. University administrators get big bonuses, salaries of half a million dollars and perks like cars and ritzy housing.

As today’s Temple News article shows, all of this is true here at Temple, where the university’s top administrators are receiving pay that places them in the top quarter of large urban universities, according to President David Adamany.

Adamany, whose total pay package is approaching $500,000, including salary and other pay, is the head of a university that seems to be heading merrily down the corporate path. More and more, Temple’s students are being treated like customers, not students. Tuition has risen nearly 20 percent over the past four years, putting the squeeze on students who are working their way through school. Some students are holding down two or even three jobs as they struggle to pay for the education that they cannot put their full effort into.

College used to be more about educating (for professors) and learning (for students). Now, it seems to be about milking the system (for administrators) and getting that piece of paper just so you can get an entry-level job at a faceless corporation.

Fortunately, that spirit is still alive in many of the classrooms on Temple’s campus. Just ask your favorite adjunct professors if they are in it for the money. It will give them a good laugh.

There are plenty of dedicated teachers and administrators at Temple who are here for more than just the paycheck. It is likely that the top administrators highlighted in today’s article are just as dedicated. But the culture of an assumption of privilege that is rapidly overtaking college administrative culture is one that threatens to destroy the soul of our nation’s – and Temple’s – educational mission.