It's time to talk about administrative compensation at Saint Mary's University

This seminar discussed the Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers (ANSUT) investigation of the compensation and quantity of senior and upper-level administrative positions at Nova Scotia Universities. The report found an 84% increase in spending on administrative salaries, a 73% increase in the number of administrative positions, and a 41% increase in spending in president’s compensation (plus 13% in bonus/allowance/benefits). The spending includes the cost of administrative leaves. Administrator’s contracts commonly include a one-year leave after five years worked at the end of the contract, resulting in a continued salary, and often benefits, for the recipient while the institution also pays a full salary to the new incumbent of the position.

It looks like SMU may need an AVP Accountability Excellence. The investigation found that at Saint Mary’s University, the administration spent almost $10 million on executive compensation in 2020/21. This represents a 70% increase in spending from 2011-12, a period that was marked by a 44% increase in the number of administrators and an 8% decrease in the number of students. The report will be discussed in the context of political appointments to administrative positions, spending on the campus lawn, and, perhaps both last and least, the pay and workload of staff and part-time instructors.

Recommendations include increased accountability, transparency, and oversight for how administrators spend public dollars, more inclusive consultation practices, and paying a living wage to all employees.

I emphasize that while part-time instructors have been offered a pay cut; that is, increases of 0.5%, 0.75%, 1%, and 1% over four year on what is already less than a living wage in a context of annual inflation of 7% in 2022 alone, and while faculty and staff have even been entreated to donate their pay back to the institution (which has charitable status), the administration seems to have had no trouble finding the means to handsomely reward itself, and to apparently prioritize the needs of the lawn, while staff struggle through budget cuts with high workloads for relatively low pay.

#DecolonizeTheLawn

Ref:
A Culture of Entitlement: An Overview of Administrative Compensation at Eight Nova Scotia Universities 2011/12 – 2020/21
https://ansut.caut.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Culture-of-Entitlement-Report-2012-2021_FINAL.pdf