Dr. Dan Ball

As state budget cuts totaling about 18 percent take their toll on public universities across the state, Lander University’s senior administrators are joining their faculty in tightening their belts. While senior administration at both USC and Clemson have recently received double digit pay raises, Lander’s senior administration, which includes the president and five vice presidents, have seen only a 2.1 percent pay increase over the last 9 years. Furthermore, for the current year, Lander’s senior administrators took a 2 percent cut in pay as well as a week-long unpaid furlough.

 “Lander’s senior administration voluntarily took the pay cut,” said Lander President Dr. Dan Ball, “to make personal sacrifices for this institution as a good will gesture.” Ball added that next year two of the five vice presidents will take an additional 10 percent pay cut.

“I’m very appreciative of our administration looking after the best interest of the students and the university,” said Elliott Sellars, Laner senior mass communications and theatre major. “In these difficult economic times their demonstration of sacrifice provides an important lesson for all of us.”

But not all state universities have followed Lander’s example. In an article published in The State on March 15, titled “Soaring pay for some at Clemson, USC draws scrutiny,” reporter Wayne Washington described the reaction to large salary increases given despite tuition hikes. The article below is reprinted with permission from The State.

Soaring pay for some at Clemson, USC draws scrutiny

By WAYNE WASHINGTON – wwashington@thestate.com
A half-dozen top administrators at Clemson University received pay increases ranging from $32,000 to $67,000 over the past two years, a review of salary records at South Carolina’s largest public universities shows.

That review — conducted by The State newspaper after a retired professor at Clemson raised questions about salaries there — also found that 224 people earning at least $50,000 on Oct. 1, 2007, at the University of South Carolina saw their pay go up by 10 percent or more by Oct. 1, 2008. Those 224 employees represent 9.5 percent of those at USC earning at least $50,000.

Both Clemson and USC have frozen positions, restricted travel and asked employees to take days off without pay to help them cope with reduced state funding.
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