How much is too much for the top Man?

terms of finance, academia and general kudos; USC is doing well - very well indeed. Our esteemed university is Time College of the Year for 2000. Applications for undergraduate places have doubled during the last few years. The average GPA of those admitted into the hallowed Trojan family has significantly risen.

And we have a heart. The university's comprehensive community outreach program, involving thousands of students and staff, garnered that Time accolade. In addition, according to the USC News Service, USC is the only university in history to have received three individual gifts of $100 million or more.

Obviously, the university is rolling in money, much of which comes from the fees we all have to pay each and every semester. Recent figures show the university's revenue was $1.4 billion for the year, with expenditures amounting to $1.1 billion. That's serious cash.

So what does the man who heads this successful corporation, the architect of these many and varied triumphs earn? Luckily, I can tell you what the man in question - USC President Steven Sample - gets in his pay packet thanks to a detailed and fascinating nationwide, survey conducted by the Chronicle for Higher Education. Sample is one of the highest paid college chiefs in the country; however, it turns out he's earning far less than both the USC football coach and the head of the USC medical school.

To be precise, the Chronicle survey of 475 private schools puts Sample's basic pay for that academic year of 1997-98 at $369,167, with benefits of $50,007, for a total package of $419,174.

By contrast, for the same period, Stephen J. Ryan, Jr., senior vice president for health care and dean of the School of Medicine, received a basic salary of $501,000, while Paul Hackett, the much-criticized football coach was on a basic wage of $433,298.

What gives here? What's happening with the university's priorities when the man in charge is earning less than two of those who serve under him? For an explanation, I turned to Dennis F. Dougherty, senior vice president for administration, whose signature appears on all the pay checks USC staff receive. He couldn't have been more helpful.

"It's a market-driven situation," Dougherty told me. In other words, USC was very careful to pay the going rate for each job after comparing the pay and benefits received by staff at universities elsewhere. It just so happens, apparently, that leaders of college football teams and medical schools command much higher pay around the country.

While unable to comment on what our president is worth, Dougherty did outline for me how the president's pay is set. The university uses an extensive survey of pay rates at the 40 major private research universities conducted by the personnel consulting firm Towers Perrin. This detailed information then goes to the executive committee of the trustees, who review the president's performance and set his pay.

"It's important that the due diligence is done on this because the IRS looks at salaries that stand out," Dougherty said. He said that the president would earn far more if he were boss of a computer company with the same revenue as USC. "The university market is not in sync with the corporate market," Dougherty said.

I asked for an interview with the president to discuss the situation. My request was politely declined, with the university's trustees saying they had a rigid rule against allowing any member of USC staff - no matter how mighty or how lowly - to talk about their pay. The message seems to be: don't go chatting about money around campus!

For the record, in the Chronicle survey, Sample was ranked as the 19th-highest-paid university head out of 475 chiefs. And Sample was given a 9.4 percent pay raise from the year before. However, he made around $10,000 a year less than the president of Stanford, who was ranked 11th. Incidentally, the full survey results, should you feel the need for some extracurricular reading, can be accessed on the web at www.chronicle.com.

Before anyone feels that the president is harshly done by and thinks he's picking up a relative pittance, it should be pointed out that Sample and his family get to live in a palatial university house in San Marino, one of the most upscale neighborhoods in L.A. County.

Also, the USC web site says the president currently serves on the boards of the William Wrigley, Jr. Company, Santa Catalina Island Company, Presley Companies Inc. and UNOVA, among other organizations. Presumably, he is paid for his time.

Well-armed with the facts and figures, I marched around campus at the end of last semester conducting an impromptu survey of student reaction to these mega paychecks, especially to the disparity in pay between the president and his medical and football colleagues.

There was a mixed response, often split along the age-old lines of sports vs. academia.

"The president has more power over the students and he's a much bigger influence than Paul Hackett, the coach," said Edward de la Cruz, a sophomore majoring in business. "I say that he should be getting a bigger salary. Athletics should be pushed aside, not a priority."

Laura James, a sophomore majoring in English, agreed. "I think the president should be the first on the list of officials," she said.

But many thought USC has got its priorities right.

"Do you know how much money the football team brings the school?" asked Ryan Murphy, a junior majoring in business. "What does the president do? Nothing, just like, regulates and whatever. And the football coach should make totally way more, totally, than the guy at the medical school."

My opinion? Well, the whole paycheck issue makes you realize that we are consumers being served by an academic business.

Yes, the university has considerable charitable and philanthropic activities, but essentially it is a billion-dollar concern fed by our fees.

That's not a cause for complaint; it just means we should behave as active, not passive, consumers and demand the proper return on the investment of our and our families' funds.

And that might entail complaining - about bad teaching, about poor equipment, about unfair procedures. We shouldn't just roll our eyes and put up with second-rate service. After all, as Steven Sample himself says, we are a "world-class" university.

James Tuck is a graduate student in broadcast journalism.

Copyright 2000 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 139, No. 03 (Thursday, January 13, 2000), beginning on page 4 and ending on page 5.