[Vision2020] President Nellis: You Owe Us (at least) Three More Years

[Nicholas Gier]

Good Morning Visionaries,

It didn't take me too long to update some figures.  The average tenure has
dropped from 8.5 years to 7; hence, the three years rather than five that I
put in my White article.

This disruptive and expensive presidential merry-go-round must stop.

Nick

*DEAR PRESIDENT NELLIS:*

*YOU OWE US ANOTHER THREE YEARS*


          From 1986-2006 the tenure of an American university president
increased from an average of 6.3 years to 8.5 years.  Since then it has
gone back down to 7 years. By contrast, the terms of office of UI
presidents are becoming shorter, and for former president Tim White and
soon-to-leave Duane Nellis, alarmingly so.

Presidents Ernest Hartung and Richard Gibb remained in office 12 years,
while Elizabeth Zinser and Robert Hoover were on campus for seven years.
White left after 4 years, and Nellis will match White’s tenure when he
leaves for Texas Tech this summer.

          The average tenure calculation obscures high turnover rates on
other campuses. Eastern Michigan State has had four presidents in six
years; Sierra Nevada College has had four presidents in 10 years; and
Florida A&M has had two presidents in seven years.

Since 1932 Texas Tech has had 16 presidents for an average of 5.6 years.
President Nellis said that he was going to retire at UI, but will he beat
the odds and retire at Texas Tech instead?

Nellis’ FY12 salary of $335,005 is 487 percent higher than Gibb's $57,115
in FY82, and Nellis held out a year until he got $40,000 more than White.
When Hartung was president, he made three times that of new assistant
professors, but Nellis’salary has risen to seven times that of new faculty.

Adjusted for inflation, average university presidential pay across the
nation rose 35 percent from 1996-2006, while faculty salaries increased
only five percent during the same period. Last Year Nellis’ salary stood at
141 out of 199 public university presidents, but UI full professors were 25
percent behind their peers in all Ph.D.-granting institutions.

          The tenure for academic deans is growing even shorter.  Studies
reported in the *Chronicle of Higher Education* indicate an average of
three to five years.  The former UI science and liberal arts deans each
lasted only three years.

These outside deans come with automatic tenure and negotiated step-down
agreements with a mere 15 percent reduction in salary.  These huge salaries
burden departmental budgets, and they also skew salary calculations for
determining how far departments are behind their peers.

The new deans of science and liberal arts are not only competent but know
the UI well and have deep roots in the community.  Studies show that the
best CEOs are those who work their way up within their companies, so why
doesn't the UI choose capable administrators already on campus to lead the
university?

          When the faculty union complained about exploding dean salaries
and costly searches, UI Provost Doug Baker acknowledged that it was, in
contrast to faculty, a very competitive market with very high turnover.
Since 1982, UI dean's salaries have risen 280 percent while full professor
pay has gone up 207 percent.  The Consumer Price Index for the same period
is 226.* *

          The departure of a university president, especially so soon after
he has been hired, disrupts the lives of faculty and staff as they are
forced to adjust to an interim administration.  The vast sums of money that
are paid to “head hunters” and on interviews mean less money for academics
and campus maintenance.  New presidents spend lots of time “learning the
ropes,” and they sometimes bring in new management teams that further
disturb the efficient running of the university.

          Out of all the UI presidents that I've known, I can say that I
had the best personal relationship with Tim White.  He has excellent
interpersonal skills and he is the best listener of any administrator with
whom I've had dealings.  Once he excused himself from a very important
meeting to meet with me about retaliation against a staff member.

          When I published a similar column “President White: You Owe Us
Five More Years” (the average tenure was then 8.5 years), I received a lot
of criticism from faculty who thought that White had done a poor job.  My
impression is that Nellis has had a much better record with both the
faculty and the State Board of Education.

After 39 years of handling grievances for the faculty union, my main
complaint is that the UI does a very poor job of personnel management.  The
UI could have avoided some of the legal cases we won by simply following
its own procedures and offering better personnel training for its deans and
department chairs.

I do hope that the next UI president is more attentive to these personnel
matters. I also propose that the contract of any external candidate hired
will contain a clause requiring 10 years of service.  Such a clause might
not be necessary if an inside candidate—I can think of several outstanding
choices—is hired.

UI Professor Emeritus Nick Gier is the President of the Idaho Federation of
Teachers.
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