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October 29, 1998

Citing chancellor's accomplishments, trustees award Nordenberg $30,000 bonus plus 7.8 percent hike in pay

Pitt 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, lifting his salary for last year to $262,000.

They also gave Nordenberg a 7.8 percent raise for the current year, increasing his base salary to $250,000, effective July 1.

The chancellor stands to earn another bonus next year for meeting goals set by the board. Trustees have not specified the amount of next year's bonus.

Also during an Oct. 21 meeting of the board's compensation committee, conducted via a telephone conference call, the committee approved Nordenberg's recommended salaries for the University's other officers. See story on page 9.

During a speakerphone press conference following the committee meeting, reporters asked board chairperson J.W. Connolly what Nordenberg's goals had been last year, and what they would be for 1998-99.

"There were a whole range of goals," Connolly replied, "but let me go over some accomplishments of the past year." He cited Nordenberg's leadership in:

* Getting a $138 million capital grant from the state, the largest in Pitt's history.

* Developing a 10-year facilities plan. Thanks to this plan and the state grant, Pitt is poised to begin the most ambitious program of renovation and construction in its history, Connolly said.

* Increasing freshman applications by 74 percent since 1995. Connolly also noted student life enhancements such as new fitness centers, computer network hookups in Pitt dorms and the Pitt Arts cultural access program.

* Raising a record $57.5 million in donations to the University, including a 34 percent increase in alumni giving.

"If that ain't good enough, tell me what else" Nordenberg should have done to earn his raise and bonus? Connolly asked.

Even with Nordenberg's new base salary and incentive pay, Connolly said, the Pitt chancellor earns less than the presidents of Pennsylvania's other major universities: Penn State, Temple, Duquesne, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pennsylvania.

In recent discussions of Pitt's salary policy, the senior administration has argued that it is unfair to compare the salaries of faculty here with those paid at private universities belonging to the American Association of Universities (AAU), including Carnegie Mellon and Penn.

Private universities don't face the budgetary constraints of state-supported schools such as Pitt, the administration notes.

Connolly was asked: Isn't it likewise unfair to compare the salary of Pitt's chancellor with the salaries of Penn President Judith Rodin and Duquesne's John Murray (who made $498,536 and $371,833, respectively, during 1996-97, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education survey) and Carnegie Mellon President Jarod Cohon, who earned $285,000 last year? Connolly replied: "I didn't compare them [salaries of the other university presidents], I just used them as an indicator of what people are paying to get first-rate leaders. That's what success is all about at the University of Pittsburgh and everywhere else — that is, getting a first-rate leader in place." The median salary for a chief executive officer at U.S. public and private research universities with more than one campus was $202,500 last year, according to the Chronicle.

After a reporter asked Nordenberg how it felt to earn half of what Pitt's new senior vice chancellor for Health Sciences and medical school dean, Arthur Levine, will make ($498,000), the chancellor laughed and said a substantial number of Pitt Health Sciences employees outearn him.

"Money really has never been much of a driving force with me," Nordenberg said. "If it had been, I probably would not have left the practice of law more than 20 years ago" to become a professor.

Did Nordenberg work any harder last year because of his potential $30,000 bonus — and, if not, what was the point of the bonus? he and Connolly were asked.

Connolly criticized the question as being "designed to inflame the faculty" but said: "I don't think Mark could work any harder than he works now." The point of incentive bonuses is to reward the chancellor for meeting specific goals set by the trustees, Connolly said. "It's not a matter of hard work, it's a matter of focus," he said. Nordenberg agreed.

Connolly said he would like to see incentive bonuses offered to Pitt administrators other than Nordenberg. It would be up to the chancellor to offer those bonuses, he noted. Connolly said the same thing last year and the year before, but Nordenberg has not acted on the suggestion.

The board chairperson also said he "would have no problem" offering lump-sum incentive bonuses to faculty members for outstanding job performance, if Nordenberg and Provost James Maher wanted to do so.

Pitt economics professor James Cassing proposed the idea of lump-sum bonuses for faculty during an Oct. 14 University Senate meeting. See Oct. 15 University Times.

At the Oct. 22 Board of Trustees meeting, Connolly told trustees: "I want you to know that I am pleased with the actions we took [on administrative salaries], not only with respect to Mark but to Jim Maher also, and I don't think anyone on this board has any reason to be defensive about this."

— Bruce Steele

Filed under: Feature,Volume 31 Issue 5

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