University Times

University trustees are so pleased with Chancellor Mark Nordenberg's job performance that they have awarded him a $30,000 bonus for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

It's the first-ever performance bonus for a Pitt chief executive. The payment raised Norden-berg's salary to $255,000 for last year.

Acting for the full Board of Trustees, the board's compensation committee also voted Sept. 30 to increase the chancellor's base salary for the current year by 3.1 percent to $232,000, retroactive to July 1.

And, as it did a year ago, the committee announced that Nordenberg could earn an additional bonus of up to $30,000 based on progress toward institutional goals set by the trustees.

Board chairperson J.W. Connolly, who chairs the compensation committee, said the trustees added the bonus incentive to the chancellor's compensation package to help make Pitt operate more like a business.

Connolly said he hasn't met with Nordenberg yet to go over specific job goals for 1997-98, but plans to do so by the end of October.

The board chairperson said this year's objectives will be "substantially" the same as last year's: maintaining excellence in research, and improving undergraduate education, fundraising, operational efficiency and community outreach.

The decision to award Nordenberg the full $30,000 incentive for last year "recognizes the significant and rapid progress that has been made in the areas of emphasis identified last year by the chancellor and the board," Connolly said. "Mark Nordenberg has done a very good job of moving this University ahead in critical areas and this compensation decision is another reflection of the positive momentum that has been developed at Pitt under his leadership." Connolly also said Norden-berg's compensation is modest compared with those of other university presidents, "especially in light of the board's high expectations." With a $30,000 bonus, Nordenberg would earn $262,000 this year. Pitt also provides a car and driver and the chancellor's residence at 718 Devonshire Street, among other special benefits.

Locally, Carnegie Mellon University president Jared Cohon gets $285,000 in salary. His compensation package also includes use of a CMU-owned townhouse adjacent to the Schenley Park golf course and a car but no driver. Duquesne University president John Murray's salary is $319,000, but Duquesne does not provide him with a house or a car. Like Nordenberg, Cohon and Murray are eligible for the same pension plans as other employees at their respective universities.

The Board of Trustees elected Nordenberg as Pitt's 17th chancellor in June 1996. He had served as interim chancellor since the previous summer. Prior to that, Nordenberg worked at Pitt for 18 years as a law school faculty member, as the school's dean and as interim provost.

Connolly said that under Nordenberg's leadership, Pitt has: * Improved its fundraising. Giving to the University totaled $55 million in 1996-97, up from $40 million the year before.

* Increased efficiency through a long-range planning process that reallocates funds from lower- to higher-priority units.

* Attracted a "bigger, better and higher quality student body." A record 3,227 freshmen enrolled in Pitt this fall, a 14 percent increase over last year. Of this year's freshmen, 580 enrolled in the Honors College (compared with 451 a year ago) and had an average combined SAT score of 1,320. Overall, 25 percent of this year's freshmen ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

On the other hand, Pitt's overall enrollment declined slightly last spring from 32,107 to 31,656 students, a 1.4 percent drop, despite increased efforts by the administration to retain students. Overall enrollment figures for the fall are not yet available.

* Increased its already-large share of federal research money. Pitt attracts about $250 million annually in sponsored project support, placing it among the top 20 U.S. universities in that category. For the past several years, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 universities in terms of total annual funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Connolly pointed out that Pitt's market-share increase in NIH funding over the last decade was the largest for any university — 260 percent.

* Spruced up Pitt's public image. During a question-and-answer session with reporters after the compensation committee meeting, Connolly was asked how the University's reputation has changed under Nordenberg. "I think it is markedly more positive," he replied. "And I think you know that, too, in asking the question." The board chairperson added, "I've not heard anything but positive comments about Mark's job performance and the University [under Nordenberg's leadership]. If any of you have, I'd like to know about it." Connolly's voice sounded challenging, but his expression was impossible to read — because he wasn't in the room. The compensation committee meeting was conducted via a conference call coordinated from the Cathedral of Learning office of Pitt Secretary to the Corporation Robert Dunkelman.

Dunkelman, Associate Secretary Mary Lou Rosborough and Nordenberg, along with three reporters and Pitt communications director Ken Service, sat staring at a speakerphone. Out of it came the voices of the five trustees who serve on the compensation committee: Connolly, Frank Cahouet, Richard Fischer, Malcolm Prine and Howard Love. Each was speaking from a different location.

During their 15-minute public meeting, the trustees approved the chancellor's salary raise and, based on Nordenberg's recommendations, raises for Pitt's six other senior officers: Carol Carter, vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement, whose salary was increased to $149,500 (a 3.1 percent raise), Jerome Cochran, assistant chancellor, $149,500 (3.1 percent), Thomas Detre, senior vice chancellor for the Health Sciences, $438,000 (3.1 percent), Secretary to the Corporation Dunkelman, $123,750 (3.1 percent), James Maher, senior vice chancellor and provost, $175,000 (3.2 percent) and Lewis Popper, general counsel, $134,750 (2 percent). All of the raises are retroactive to July 1.

The overall salary pool in the current Pitt budget was 3 percent, of which 2 percent was for satisfactory performance. The remaining 1 percent was for special merit and equity adjustments.

Nordenberg refused to comment on the different percentage raises among the senior officers. "We are required to publish their salaries, but beyond that I am not going to comment on their individual performances," he said. "I do think they are a strong group. I think they have contributed immensely to the University's progress over the course of the last year." Connolly said he hopes Pitt will begin offering performance bonuses to other administrators besides the chancellor — "but that's the chancellor's decision," he said.

Nordenberg was noncom-mital. "Seeing how this [incentive system] works in my case probably will be a factor in deciding whether or not the concept should be applied more broadly," he said.

As for his own job performance and his $30,000 bonus, the chancellor told reporters: "I am gratified by the vote of confidence. I've worked very hard, about as hard as I could during the course of the last year, trying to move the University forward. Hopefully, we've enjoyed some success." Asked how he would spend the bonus money, Nordenberg laughed and said, "Well, I would say that while my salary is public, fortunately my household budget is not."

— Bruce Steele