Many of Temple’s top administrators benefited this year from changes in university salary policy intended to make their pay more competitive with other schools. Some received substantial raises, while others had existing supplements added into their base salaries, resulting in more money for their pay increases.
Four administrators received “market adjustment” raises, ranging from $7,500 to $40,000, “to move people toward a competitive level,” said University President David Adamany.
University Counsel George Moore said Temple gave these raises after comparing the salaries of administrators to those at 61 public and 39 private universities with overall budgets more than $500 million. Temple has an annual budget of around $800 million, according to Moore.
Adamany said salaries at private universities were considered because Temple competes with private schools to hire administrators.
The salary information came from data the university purchased from the College and University Personnel Association, which compiles such data from its members.
Moore would not say which schools were among those with which Temple was comparing itself, and would not provide The Temple News with a copy of the information. He said the data “was not something we are required to give out” by law.
Adamany said the salaries of the four administrators were “significantly under-competitive.” They each had salaries that were well below the benchmark set by the university. The benchmark chosen was the 80th percentile of salaries from the universities in the report.
Senior Vice President Clarence Armbrister, who received the largest raise, had a 2003-2004 salary of $246,170. The benchmark for positions similar to his was $352,850. He received a $40,000 market adjustment, as well as his regular $9,847 raise, or an overall 20.25 percent pay increase.
| 2003-2004 Bonuses
David Adamany Clarence Armbrister William T. Bergman Martin Dorph Timothy O’ Rourke Theresa Powell Robert J. Reinstein Ira Schwartz Kenneth Soprano Stuart P. Sullivan *Percentages are of 2003-2004 salaries. |
Regular raises for administrators this year fell between 2.5 and 4 percent. Last year, all administrators received a 3-percent raise. Other market adjustments included:
– Vice President for Development Stuart Sullivan received a $20,000 market adjustment and a $7,034 regular raise, an overall 12.5 percent pay increase from his 2003-2004 salary of $216,424.
– Vice President Student Affairs Theresa Powell received a $15,000 market adjustment and a $5,941 raise, an overall 12.3 percent pay increase from her 2003-2004 salary of $169,744.
– Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research Kenneth Soprano had a $7,500 market adjustment and a $6,410 raise, an overall 7 percent pay increase from his 2003-2004 salary of $197,245.
Other administrators got a smaller boost from a change in the way their pay is classified. In the past, several administrators received yearly supplements to their salaries, but these supplements were not subject to annual raises. The supplements were earmarked for purposes such as travel expenses and tuition for dependents.
Because the supplements were added into base salaries, this increased the amount of money these administrators received in their raises. Raises are based on each administrator’s total salary, but were not applied to supplements.
Adamany said in April that he would like to merge the supplements and salaries in order to streamline administrative pay; there was no requirement that the supplements be spent for their stated purpose, such as travel. Adamany said the supplements’ purpose was obsolete and that they were primarily being used to boost salaries to competitive levels.
Adamany received $60,000 in supplements, the most of any administrator. Other former supplements included $25,000 for Moore, $20,000 each to Provost Ira Schwartz and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Martin Dorph, and $5,000 for Vice President for Operations William Bergman.
“It turned out that our salaries and supplements combined were about competitive with the salaries alone of similar universities,” Adamany said.
He said the goal is to give administrators salaries that are high enough that they won’t be lured away by offers from other universities.
“We don’t want to be raided for administrators, just as we don’t want to be raided for faculty,” Adamany said. “We want to be competitive so we can hire first-rate people and retain them.”
Soprano, the vice president for graduate studies who received the $7,500 market adjustment, said such raises did create loyalty to the university.
“Like everything else, if you work hard at your job and you try to do the best you can, it’s certainly nice that you’re recognized,” he said. “There’s no question that you feel much better about it as opposed to a situation where you’re working very hard and no one seems recognize it and your salary is falling behind your peers.”
Six administrators also received a bonus for the 2003-2004 academic year. Adamany decides on the amount of each bonus and pay raise, except for his own. The board of trustees sets his bonus and raise.
Adamany said bonuses are awarded each year to reward “exceptional short-term efforts that don’t warrant a change in base salary, but do warrant some recognition.”
Bonuses ranged from 5 to 9 percent of their base salaries. The largest was Adamany’s $32,912 bonus, 7 percent of his 2003-2004 salary. In addition, Adamany receives a $9,000 annual car allowance, and the other administrators receive $6,000 car allowances.
Brian White can be reached at zapata@temple.edu.
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