DePauw has released its 2010 Form 990, the only publicly available document of its kind that discloses information about an organization's finances. The form, which is filed with the IRS, contains sensitive information about DePauw's finances, such as the university's balance sheet and the top 11 administrative salaries.
The university president, the five current vice presidents, two program directors, a distinguished professor of music, and the former vice president for advancement are all included on the list of highest compensated employees in 2010.
When approached about the salary values, members of the administration were unwilling to comment on any individual person or figure.
"DePauw has been private about compensation for 175 years and it's not something we're going to talk about now," said Vice President for Finance and Administration, Brad Kelsheimer. "It's not something organizations share."
Kelsheimer is one of the 11 employees whose salary information is disclosed in the document.
"We tend not to talk about individual compensations," Christopher Wells, Vice President for Communications and Strategic Initiatives, reiterated.
Wells is also included on the Form 990's list of highest compensated employees.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, after two years of serving as president, Dr. Casey's 2010 total salary ranked no. 188 of all the nation's private colleges at $468,675. That puts President Casey's total compensation $75,174 above the average total compensation of a president at a similar college, according to the chronicle.
Comparatively, in 2010, Denison University's president of 12 years, Dale Knobel, ranked 198th of private college presidents with a total salary of $454,538.
Indiana University's president, Michael McRobbie, on the other hand, made $625,910 in total compensation for 2010 after serving for four years.
In the context of national higher education averages, Wells said, "I think our compensation is appropriate."
Schedule O, a supplemental section of the lengthy Form 990, states that a subcommittee of the executive committee of the Board of Trustees is the group that determines salary amounts for DePauw's executive officers.
Each employee's total compensation is made up of base pay, bonus and incentive compensation, other reportable compensation, retirement and other deferred compensation, and nontaxable benefits.
The Form 990 lists President Casey's 2010 bonus as $100,000.
"Speaking generically, raises aren't given because of a largely successful financial year," said Wells. "They happen when an employee does things that change the fabric of the campus students are living in."
The Form 990 lists Wells and Dr. Casey as the only two of the highest compensated employees to receive bonuses in 2010.
Denison University's president did not receive a bonus in 2010, although Indiana University's president received $99,910 in bonus compensation.
Kelsheimer cited "timing of when [the Form 990] is required to be filed" as the reason more recent figures are not available at this time.
"This past year, Form 990 will be filed in May," said Kevin Kessinger, associate vice president for finance. "We're waiting on some information before we can file."
He said that information concerning alternative investments is still being gathered for the 2012 year.
"DePauw is fully compliant with what the rules are," Wells said. "There's no strategic decision behind [releasing it] from what I know."
As for the state of the university's finances unrelated to compensation, Kelsheimer explained that the balance sheet shows the financial health of the university at a point in time.
"The balance sheet is strong," said Kelsheimer about the state of university finances. "We haven't taken out new debt since Dr. Casey's been here."
According to Kelsheimer, the university's current debt is just under $119 million, which is "not that much" compared to the endowment of about $520 million.
Attempts to contact President Casey about the Form 990 were unsuccessful.