As a non-profit organization, DePauw University’s 11 highest compensated employees must be published in the International Tax Revenue Form 990 for anyone to see.
The most recent numbers, those from 2011, have recently been released and while a few names have dropped off the list, the numbers, on average, seem to be going up.
According to Bradley Kelsheimer, vice president for finance and administration, the Form 990 is a matter of public record for the sake of accountability.
“There’s a responsibility to responsibly run a non-profit, and obviously executive compensation is a big part of that,” Kelsheimer explained.
The salaries, bonuses, non-taxable compensation and entire compensation packages received for the 2010-2011 year for each of the 11 highest paid University employees are included in this form. Compensation packages, which include taxable and non-taxable compensation, on this list range from $541,924 to $168,800.
These numbers have increased from the 2010 report, when they ranged from $468,675 to $158,426. Two names have dropped off the list entirely, Lisa Hollander former vice president for resource planning and senior philanthropic advisor,and Gary Lemon, director of the McDermond Center and Management Fellows Program. Only one person, Christopher Wells, vice president for communications and strategic initiatives, had his compensation decrease from 2010.
President Brian Casey’s net compensation for the 2010-2011 year was $541,924, and the compensation of presidents at comparable universities seems to fall a little short of that. John Roush, President of Centre College, had a total compensation package of $306,882 in the year 2011. Wabash College’s president in 2011, Patrick White, received $260,589 in total compensation. Dale Knobel of Denison University reported a total compensation of $454,538 in 2011.
The discrepancies within DePauw itself seem to be even wider. Heidi Menzel, a modern languages secretary, was appalled when she first saw the 2011 numbers.
“You see these numbers and hear about these drastic raises in the same years we’re told we don’t get a raise,” she said. “It’s a big slap in the face.”
At $13 an hour with a steady workweek of 37 hours nine and a half months out of the year, Menzel said, “at the wages I earn, I’m below poverty level.”
Menzel added that while her husband’s salary supplements her wages as a faculty member here, she still finds the difference between top paid employees and herself appalling.
“You see what the administration is making, and it’s not even apples and oranges,” Menzel said. “It’s demoralizing…It literally bites hard.”
Menzel believes DePauw’s board of trustees to be overwhelmingly corporate-minded, and that there are things the staff members do that cannot be measured, but should still be properly compensated.
“My faculty know that they can’t do what I do and they treat me like a hero everyday,” Menzel said. “They are in shock when they hear what I make.”
Upon discovering the differences in compensation between the top paid University employees and Menzel, sophomore Kevin Bugielski was shocked.
“I just think it’s ridiculous that they’re getting paid that little,” he said.
Bugielski was quick to add that though he thinks staff should be granted higher wages, he still believes Casey’s overall compensation to be fair.
“I don’t think $50,000 should be taken away from President Casey to go towards the secretaries at the school, because he’s still doing the most work.”
Senior Aashray Patel agreed.
“It’s just based on responsibilities,” Patel said. “I feel like Brian Casey has the most responsibilities and his decisions have the most impact. So he should be rewarded for that.”
Kelsheimer agreed that there are discrepancies to be found in the salaries and compensation of University employees.
“There’s going to be some discrepancy in any organization between people and responsibilities,” he stated.
However, like Bugielski, he hesitates in saying that University funds should be redistributed among employees.
“We would love to pay everyone more, [it’s] a fair statement,” Kelsheimer said. “I don’t think there’s any organization that wouldn’t love to pay everyone more.”