Report: 3 Penn State execs paid $4.1 million last year

Two presidents and a former president at Pennsylvania State University benefited from a collective $4.1 million in compensation in 2013-14, a report by the Chronicle of Higher Education shows.

They include Rodney A. Erickson, who steered Pennsylvania's flagship university in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal and stepped down in May 2014; Eric Barron, who replaced Erickson; and former president Graham B. Spanier, who was forced out as president after the Sandusky scandal broke in November 2011 but who remains on the payroll as a tenured faculty member.

The compensation was included in the Chronicle's annual report, released Sunday, on public university presidents across the nation. It included data on 238 chief executives at 220 universities.

Erickson was the highest-paid public university president in the nation for 2013-14, according to the report, though he still earned less than Penn State football coach James Franklin, whose compensation topped $2 million for a partial work year. (Franklin was hired in January 2014.)

Erickson received $1.49 million in total compensation to lead the 100,000-student, $4.6 billion enterprise. He was one of two public university presidents nationally to exceed $1 million in compensation; R. Bowen Loftin, then-president of Texas A&M University at College Station, was the other.

Erickson's package includes $586,267 from a life insurance program for executives that the university divested from in November 2013, turning over the policies to individuals. The IRS counts the value of the policies as taxable income. In addition, Erickson received a $150,000 bonus, a $125,000 severance payment, and a base salary of $633,336.

"Dr. Erickson's retirement plays a large role in the compensation total," university spokeswoman Lisa Powers said, noting that he had worked there for more than 37 years. ". . . The $125,000 listed for Dr. Erickson was due to accumulated unused vacation and sick days, paid out under normal university policy. The $150,000 was a performance bonus approved by the board of trustees."

The Chronicle for the first time also reported on former presidents who were still on the payroll, and noted that Spanier benefited from nearly $2.3 million. That includes nearly $1.7 million under the same life insurance policy program and $600,000 in salary.

Spanier himself, will not receive the money from the policy; it will be paid upon his death to a beneficiary.

The university placed Spanier on administrative leave in November 2012 after he was charged with perjury and other offenses in the Sandusky case, but he remains a member of the faculty. He is not teaching or performing any other university duties, according to university officials. No trial date has been set.

Sandusky, a former assistant football coach, is serving a minimum of 30 years in prison for abusing boys. Spanier and two other former Penn State executives were accused of conspiring to cover up allegations of abuse by Sandusky.

Spanier will continue to draw a $600,000 salary annually at least through 2017, Powers said.

"His employment agreement entitled him to one year's sabbatical after leaving the presidency, followed by five years at a $600,000 salary as a tenured faculty member," Powers said. "The five-year period would have started November 2012, so would end November 2017. After that, it is as determined between him and his dean."

Rounding out presidential pay at Penn State was newcomer Barron, who took over in May 2014 and received $381,818. That includes a $181,818 salary for a partial year's work - he earns an annual base salary of $800,000 - and $200,000 for a contractually obligated moving allowance, according to the Chronicle.

Patrick T. Harker, outgoing president of the University of Delaware, also was in the Top 10 public university presidents nationally in total compensation, according to the Chronicle report. The former Wharton dean - who will become president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on July 1 - came in eighth, earning $800,156. His compensation included base pay of $682,502, and he received $117,654 in bonus pay.

Harker was the highest-paid employee at the University of Delaware that year.

Rutgers president Robert L. Barchi finished 12th nationally in total compensation, with $739,624, which included a $90,000 bonus. His base pay was $649,624.

But C. Vivian Stringer, the women's head basketball coach at Rutgers, was the top earner at Rutgers that year, taking in $1.6 million. The head football and men's basketball coaches and two medical school faculty also earned more than Barchi. Though the report focused on presidents' salaries, it also included other top earners for comparison.

Farther down on the list were Temple president Neil D. Theobald, who got $480,000 in total compensation including a $30,000 bonus; Mark Nordenberg, former president of the University of Pittsburgh, with $597,500; and Frank T. Brogan, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, who got $245,625 for a partial year. (His annual base salary is $327,500.) Theobald was sixth-highest paid at Temple, behind the men's basketball coach and medical executives and faculty.

Overall, compensation for public university presidents rose about 7 percent in 2013-14, the report said. The median income for presidents who served a full year was $428,250.

Barmak Nassirian, director of federal relations and policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, defended the pay.

"There are very compelling arguments that as universities are becoming more complex enterprises that you need the sort of talent that you need to pay that kind of money to," he said.

The Chronicle also puts out a report on pay of private university presidents. Its last report, released in December, showed that 36 presidents earned more than $1 million in total compensation in 2012, including Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania ($2.47 million); and John A. Fry, president of Drexel University ($1.07 million).

ssnyder@phillynews.com

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