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Saturday, December 13, 2008

Schmidly Defends $587K Salary

By Martin Salazar
Copyright © 2008 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
          A hostile crowd of University of New Mexico students and employees confronted President David Schmidly on Friday about the size of his salary and the growing number of vice presidents at the school.
        The questions came in a town hall meeting, attended by about 700 people, on financial problems facing the university and other state-funded agencies.
        Schmidly, who receives more than $587,000 in base salary and other compensation, said he's not prepared to take a pay cut. He said other university presidents across the country who are doing so make more than him and are just doing it as a publicity stunt.
        He also said he doesn't think UNM has too many vice presidents, and he won't reduce their pay. Referencing a study conducted earlier this year, he said most of the vice presidents make less than counterparts at peer institutions.
        Schmidly called the town hall meeting to discuss the state's financial situation and what that could mean for UNM. New Mexico is facing a revenue shortfall of close to $454 million for the current budget year, sparking worries the Legislature might reduce budgets for all state entities.
        Schmidly has ordered cost-cutting measures that include a partial hiring freeze and a freeze on pay raises. UNM is saving the money, and the president has said it will be returned to departments if there is no mid-year budget cut and if budgets for next fiscal year don't take a big hit.
        One lightning rod at the town hall was Schmidly's spending on special initiatives, such as creating a new division of enrollment management with an additional vice president.
        John Oetzel, chairman of communication and journalism, compared the initiatives to "lavish vacations." He noted that some departments don't have administrators and some don't have academic advisers.
        "During economic crises, you don't stop feeding your family," Oetzel said. "You stop taking lavish vacations."
        Schmidly, who became defensive at times, said carrying out the special initiatives was something he said he would do when he was hired.
        He said lawmakers don't know how much current-year budgets might be cut, though it could be 1 percent to 3 percent, or larger. And, he said, next year is likely to be worse.
        The hiring freeze and other cost-cutting measures that began Nov. 4 were taken so UNM wouldn't have to lay off employees later, Schmidly said.
        Still, with deans and department heads preparing worst-case scenarios, faculty, staff and students at UNM are on edge. Extra chairs were brought in to accommodate the crowd Friday, the eve of finals week.
        Loyola Chastain, president of UNM's Staff Council, said she had heard a rumor the medical school was about to ask employees to take time off without pay. Health Sciences Center spokesman Sam Giammo told the Journal, "There is absolutely no basis in fact for that. It's not even under consideration."
        Moderator Richard Wood, director of UNM's religious studies program, called for civility, but there was hostility anyway. Some snickered when Schmidly said his pay was not as high as other presidents and that he might never be able to retire because of the stock market crash.
        Oetzel noted that over the last decade, the number of tenure track faculty is down 10 percent in the College of Arts and Sciences while student credit hours are up 32 percent. He also said executive salaries have increased 71 percent since 2002.
        "Employee morale is at a record low," Chastain said.