Mark Emmert’s sweetheart deal
IT MUST be rough! University of Washington (UW) President Mark Emmert hasn't received a raise in two years. He has to "get by" on his 2007 salary of $906,500 per year plus perks (free mansion, $12,000 per year car allowance, etc.).
Emmert can take comfort in the $340,000 per year he gets for sitting on corporate boards. He can also feel better about himself knowing that he is the second-highest paid public university president in the U.S.
The UW Board of Regents took pity on poor Mr. Emmert, however. They decided that giving him a raise in this time of economic crisis and budget cuts would be a PR nightmare--so instead they gave him an extra sabbatical worth nearly a million dollars! They also extended his contract for five years, retroactive to August 21--and have left open the prospect of a raise for him next year.
It's nice that Emmert is making such a "sacrifice" to stay at UW. And it's fitting, since he is making his employees and students sacrifice as well. Due to the state budget crisis and the failure of the Democratic Party-controlled legislature to raise taxes on the rich, UW got hit with a $73 million cut in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The president and Board of Regents decided not to cut top administrative salaries or dip into their endowment. Instead they cut 700 positions (janitors, office workers, etc.), reduced the number of teaching assistants and raised tuition 14 percent for each of the next two years.
This situation is truly outrageous. Instead of cutting the overpaid deadwood at the top of the administration, the Board of Regents chose to lay off those who do the actual work at the UW--including the TAs who teach many of the classes. They chose to cut library access and subscriptions. They chose to force janitors to change shifts and to make students go deeper into debt.
The Anti-Budget Cuts Coalition proposed an alternative budget, which would have saved millions by capping top administrative salaries and using that money to stop the cuts. The regents were forced to listen to those proposals at a public forum, but only modified their plans slightly.
The budget cuts at UW are a microcosm of what is happening all over the U.S. in response to the economic crisis. While bankers are bailed out and there is still plenty of money for the wars that are destroying Iraq and Afghanistan, ordinary people are forced to go without jobs, their houses are foreclosed and 50 million people in the U.S. have no health insurance.
Organizing against the budget cuts will continue at UW this fall. It has never been more needed!
Steve Leigh, Seattle
