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Patrick Harker was the nation's third highest-paid public university president in 2007, drawing a total compensation of $810,603, according to documents released Monday.
That figure, for Harker's first year as president, includes a base salary of $640,124, employee benefits of $70,479 and a merit bonus of $100,000, said university spokesman David Brond. The bonus is set each year by the Board of Trustees and takes into account Harker's progress on goals, such as faculty recruitment, admissions targets and diversity initiatives.
Harker's salary was released as part of the university's 990 tax form, obtained by The Review through a records request. Tax-exempt organizations, such as universities, are required by law to list the salaries of their officers and five highest-paid employees on the form.
The documents also show that former university President David Roselle received a total compensation of $819,411 during the 2007-2008 fiscal year, which began the day he left office. Neither the documents nor Brond gave details about the payment to Roselle.
"It's commitments that were made to the previous president that are still being fulfilled by the university," Brond said.
The money is likely severance pay or deferred compensation, said Paul Fain, a senior reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education who specializes in covering presidential compensation. The amount is surprising, Fain said.
"Usually, that sort of residual payment is smaller than the incoming president's salary," Fain said.
Harker's salary is less than that of his predecessor. In 2006, Roselle's final year at the university, the former president earned $2.45 million, although that amount included deferred compensation he received during his 17 years as president to be collected upon retirement. In 2005, Roselle earned $874,687.
Monday's release of salary information for the fiscal year running from July 2007 to June 2008 provides the first public indication of Harker's yearly compensation. The year was Harker's first as president, and the University of Delaware is the only public university that does not release current-year salary information.
Last year, tax documents revealed that Harker received a $450,000 transition payment before taking office as president, an amount not included in his yearly salary. Brond said Monday that the money was provided to the university by an anonymous donor to use to attract Harker to the university.
Harker also gets the use of a house on Kent Way and a university vehicle. That is included in his compensation, Brond said.
In a letter to the university community in January, Harker pledged to take a 10 percent pay cut. That amount will come off of his base salary for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, Brond said, but the amount of that base salary will not be released to the public until May 2010.
According to statistics compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education, only two public university presidents earned more that Harker in the 2007-2008 fiscal year. E. Gordan Gee of Ohio State University earned $1,346,225, and Mark Emmert of the University of Washington earned $887,870.
Brond rejected comparisons of Harker's salary to the others.
"You need to look at that in terms of what he has achieved, not compared to others," Brond said.
The release of details about Harker's salary, including how much is base pay and how much is a merit bonus, marks a new openness by a university long hesitant to discuss salary matters.
"We're becoming more transparent, even from last year to this year, because the board and the senior leadership are becoming more transparent," Brond said.
He said he did not know if the university will eventually release current-year salaries.
University Salaries for 2007-2008 (total compensation) David E Hollowell, Executive VP, $1,134,4666 (He retired in December 2007 and the amount includes deferred compensation.) Daniel Rich, Provost,$480,906 Maxine R. Colm,Vice President, $334,264 Susan J. Foster, Vice President, $339,614 Pierre D. Hayward, VP & University Secretary, $338,912 Robert M Specter, Vice President, $303,361 Scott R. Douglass, Executive VP, $457,652 Patricia Ann Plummer Wilson, Vice President, $316,806 Monica M. Taylor, Vice President, $268,321 Michael A. Gilbert, Vice President, $240,251 Patricia A. Deleon, Trustee, $156,901
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