Shirley gets left out in the rain

Though President Shirley Raines did not get a raise this year, her salary climbed about $40,000 last fiscal year, a raise some are questioning after several years of financial problems at The U of M.

Matt Bell, a grad student in secondary education, said if the economy continued plummeting, Raines should consider sacrificing some of her salary for students.

"If programs that benefit students are having to cut back their budgets, President Raines should have to cut hers as well," Bell said.

Even after the raise, Raines is still one of the lowest paid executives in her peer group of 11 schools, receiving a salary of $297,848. Her salary is up 13 percent from last year, when she made $258,998. Her total compensation, which includes both her salary and perks such as her house, car and expense account, is about $329,193 this year. Raines received $290,643 in total compensation in the fall of 2006.

Despite a dismal economy, public universities across the nation are forking out more than ever for their executives. College presidents' median pay and benefits rose 7.6 percent, to $427,400, according to a recent survey of 184 public research universities by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The average college president's salary in 2006-07 was $503,071 among the peer group, which includes the University of Arkansas and the University of Alabama. Among The U of M's peer institutions, the highest compensated president is Carl Patton of Georgia State University who received $727,487 in total compensation last year. Nationally, the highest paid public university president is Gordon Gee of Ohio State University, who makes over $1.3 million a year, reported The Chronicle.

But thanks to the troubled economy, Tennessee has frozen all the raises it promised to higher education employees like Raines, said Mary Morgan, TBR spokesperson.

"We didn't do any increases this year because of the economic downturn," she said.

In Tennessee, the chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents is the one who recommends raising a college executive's salary. Chancellor Charles Manning proposed Raines' pay increase in 2006 after a salary study showed Tennessee was falling below the national average.

Bob Adams, representative of TBR, said the board decided to raise Raines' salary in increments. They agreed to raise Raines' salary to $305,000 over time, which is still ten percent less than what the salary study recommended.

The board raised Raines' salary the first time to $279,012 from $258,998 in July of last year. Her second raise of $18,836 came in September of last year, bringing her pay up to its current total.

Instead of worrying about college executives' salaries, the state should make students their top priority, said Rebekah Guess, a senior majoring in Spanish and English as a Second Language.

"We should be making cuts to make tuition less so more people can attend college," she said. "It's not like I want to see President Raines go down at all. I don't know the importance of her role, but if everyone's getting cut across the board, she may have to suffer along with everyone else."

Tuition increased at The U of M by 7 percent earlier this year. Nationally, tuition has shot up 6.4 percent this fall, according to the College Board. The tuition hike earlier this year was followed by two cuts to The U of M's budget totaling 10.7 million.

Former board member Bill Watkins said the executives' raises helped students in the long run.

"Whatever the raise was, it was because of a study done several years ago, trying to bring the executives' salaries up to the level of their peers," he said. "I think you've got to pay your executives what their peers make to be competitive."