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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 11 • Friday, October 4, 2002
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A&M’s top administrators overpaid
Sizeable disparity exists between faculty and administrative salaries
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JENNIFER LOZANO
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s indicated by recent
survey reports, Texas
has joined the nation
al trend of dishing out increas
ingly exorbitant salaries for uni
versity presidents and chancel
lors. As a result, a very large
and disconcerting gap steadily grows between university big
wigs and faculty members. Some choose to blame an intense
ly competitive job market for this gaping disparity while oth
ers claim the additional administrative skills and responsibili
ties required for administrative positions are enough to justify
the pay difference.
Nonetheless, according to the Houston Chronicle, the
Texas Legislature only appropriates $63,654 and $70,231 for
presidents and chancellors respective salaries. Therefore,
according to Vice President for Finance and Controller,
William B. Krumm, a portion of both faculty and administra
tive salary conies from a pool of money that includes student
tuition and fees along with state appropriations and invest
ment income placed in the general fund. For this reason, bet
ter management and prioritization of funds should be
demanded in order to improve faculty pay, the quality of pro
fessors and thus the quality of universities.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the latest report from
the Texas Faculty Association (TFA) reports presidents’
salaries have increased 34 percent in real dollars over the last
decade and chancellors’ have increased a whopping 54 per
cent while faculty salaries have only grown an average 11
percent. Also, chancellors and presidents oftentimes receive
many fringe benefits and perks that can include houses, club
memberships, deferred compensation and car allowances that
need to be taken into consideration.
In fact, when perks arc included. Texas boasts four of the
nation’s top-10 best-paid administrators, including Texas
A&M’s chancellor, Howard 1). Graves, who according to the
previous year's figures, compensation included, came in ninth
in the nation, earning $462,000.
Just recently, according to Mara Soloway, communica
tions specialist for the A&M Systems, the Board of Regents
approval increased Graves' already impressive salary to
$500,000, (including compensation). According to the
Chronicle, this bumps Graves up to number six on the top-
10 list.
Meanwhile, back in the heart of academia, with no club
memberships and car allowances to speak of, professors work
hard to deliver a quality education to their students and earn a
Vvving. The Battalion recently reported that assistant profes
sors earned $56,71 1 in 2001, associate professors made
Sd(,l44 and professors earqed an average of $85,000.
Although it is clear that professors are making an adequate
salary to survive, the difference between their salaries and top
officials is disheartening and suggests that only top adminis
trative positions at A&M are highly valued and worthy of sig-
MAIL CALL
nificant pay increases.
Administrative salary increase has partly resulted as a
means to compete with private universities to attract qual
ified leaders, Ronald Ehrenberg, director of Cornell
University's Higher Education Research Institute told the
Chronicle. “For a long time, the publics were losing the best
and the brightest of their leaders to private universities
because the compensation was so much higher in private uni
versities,” said Ehrenberg.
However, according to the 2003 rankings of America's
Best Universities in the U.S. News and World Report, Texas
A&M dropped from number 48 in the first tier to the second
tier. Executive Associate Provost Bill Perry previously told
The Battalion that the drop could be attributed to this year’s
report not counting large classes with labs as “one large class
and several small classes” as it had in the past. To address
this issue of class size. Perry said money was already desig
nated to hire 60 more faculty members. However, it will be
hard to attract and retain qualified professors with non-com
petitive salaries and an impressive gap between administra
tive and faculty salaries. This example shows the important
role that faculty play in a university's overall achievement.
“The need to elevate faculty salaries is a top priority for
the University and an imperative goal of Vision 2020” said
Cynthia Lawson, director of University Relations. On the
other hand, Lawson points out that given the amount of
money going towards administrative salary and the num
ber of students that attend the University, A&M is a rela
tively efficient campus.
There are many alternative avenues for correcting the
discrepancy in faculty and administrative salaries.
Alternative sources of income such as department
budget cutbacks should be considered along with
implementing laws such as those that exist in
California. According to the Chronicle, California
law regulates public university officials' pay to
the average of a selected group of universi
ties.
The gap in faculty and administra
live salaries is not going to
be closed by simply hop
ing the Texas
Legislature will
grant the
University more
money. Instead,
different manag
ing options at the
university level that
would allow faculty pay
increases and a cap for admin
istrative salaries should be considered.
Jennifer Lozano is a senior
English major.
JOSH DARWIN • THE BATTALION
A&M football team should act
appropriately at movie theaters
I will never be able to watch an Aggie football
game again in the same way after tonight. And
coming from a family steeped in Aggie traditions,
especially that of following and rooting for the
football team, that is a sad thing.
After a long day at work and an even longer
We ek, my husband and I wanted to relax at a
movie one evening the night before a football
game. We purchased tickets for a movie that
egan around 7 p.m., arrived at the theater, and
look our seats.
After just a moment, it became very clear to my
usband and I that we were surrounded by a lot
0 A&M football players. My husband was so excit-
e - remembering that it was an established rou-
me for the football team to be bussed over to the
ollywood Movie Theater to watch a film on the
riday prior to a home game. He had accumulat-
® mis knowledge due to friendships with past
football players.
The movie began and immediately the football
Payers that were sitting directly behind us in the
^ry back row, began to converse back and forth
w, t what could only be described as inappropri
ate commentary. They weren't even trying to whis
per, they were using their full, normal speaking
voices. They continued this disruptive behavior
throughout the entire movie.
In addition to this, one of them kept calling peo
ple on his cell phone and holding conversations. I
attempted to alert them to their rudeness by turn
ing around and looking at them, but this did
absolutely no good.
In fact, I believe it may have made matters
worse, because after that, the one sitting directly
behind me placed his feet on the back of my chair
and kicked me every now and again. There was a
coach sitting right by me and my husband, sadly,
he did nothing about the continual noise. Perhaps
he didn't hear it.
The most disturbing thing about this whole situ
ation is that these young men are supposed to be
role models and representatives of our great
University. Maybe they didn't ask to be role mod-
les, but like it or not, they most definitely are rep
resentatives of A&M. We all are. I would like to see
representatives displaying more respect and cour
tesy to others.
In short, I suggest that R.C. Slocum educate his
athletes on proper movie-going etiquette before
taking them in public.
Jennifer Driscoll Nichols
Class of 2000
kmir TLxm--«rrT\jrtA
Leaving students distant
Distance education is a poor choice
E veryone knows those pro
fessors are out there. The
monotone voices that
drone on, saying little else
besides unenthusiastically read
ing aloud the material presented
in the textbook. There are the ones who talk
about their high school basketball team and
what they ate for lunch and rarely touch any
thing relative to the class.
Everyone has probably had an experience
like one of these, and if you didn’t stop
attending class altogether, you probably wish
that you had. In addition to the time spent
studying the material, you have to take time to
teach it to yourself.
Somewhere in the back of your mind, you
probably are wishing there was a way to avoid
problems such as these.
The University does provide an opportunity
for students to alleviate these problems them
selves through the distance education pro
gram. Lessons are identical and courses sim
plified, and the student can arrange the class
to meet his own time constraint needs.
However, not only are these courses inef
fective in teaching and testing the material,
but students who enroll in these classes rarely
come out of the course with a firm knowledge
of the subject.
True, these courses may have benefits. The
appeal of organizing class times around your
schedule is attractive to students who work or
have hectic schedules. An obvious benefit for
some is that these classes are not as challeng
ing as courses taught in a traditional setting.
However, the easy way out is not usually
the best way, and students may find them
selves unprepared in another class or later in
life when they need the knowledge they were
expected to have learned.
During the 2001-02 year, 192 courses were
offered via the Internet or as a video/televi
sion series. Some undergraduate courses are
offered each semester, but the graduate degree
plans is where this program is channeling its
focus.
More than 14 degree plans are offered for
graduate students, and a degree can be earned
entirely through distance education.
SARA FOLEY
While the Department of
Distance Education says these
methods are effective, it is difficult
to believe that a student can go
through graduate school at Texas
A&M without ever stepping foot
on campus or in a classroom and
have a degree equal to those who spend their
time in traditional classes.
It seems to cheapen the degrees others
receive and the grades they earn. A&M has
plans to expand the current distance education
program, spending more resources and money
on a plan that doesn’t benefit the students on
campus.
Although the department could not
provide accurate data on the average grade in
a distance education class, if you were to
speak to anyone who has ever enrolled in such
a course they will assure you of its ease and
efficiency.
One area that needs heavy reform is the
testing policy. If students are taking a test in
their home, there is no way to regulate them
from using materials that would give them an
unfair advantage, or having someone with
them who would be willing to do the work for
them.
Another problem students complain about
is the server constantly going down, causing
problems in regards to due dates and time
constraints. Any students who have lived on
campus or frequently use the computers have
experienced the maddening frustration that
comes with the server that is not always
dependable. When enrolled in a course which
relies solely on the Internet, many technologi
cal problems will arise.
Although the distance education pro
gram may remove one from those intolerable
situations with professors, having difficult
professors is part of college, and a realistic
situation which will come about in the work
force. By continuing to enroll in traditional
courses, you may give up some convenience
but gain experience and knowledge.
Sara Foley is a sophomore
journalism major.