Face the State

Face the State Staff Report

According to documents obtained by Face the State, University of Colorado Denver Chancellor M. Roy Wilson is the highest paid CU chancellor, earning a base salary of $468,115, incentive payments of up to $175,000 annually and an additional $75,000 per year in supplemental pay. All told, Wilson has the potential to earn up to $718,115 per year - almost twice the university's other two chancellors - and making him the second highest paid university employee, second only to a resident doctor in the school of medicine.

Wilson is one of 2,087 CU employees making over $100,000 annually, and one of 105 earning $300,000 or more. Wilson's supplemental pay includes $10,000 per year in lieu of an automobile reimbursement, $18,000 for the purchase of life and disability insurance, and $47,000 per year for housing that must also be used to host university functions.

When considering Wilson's high salary, CU officials say it is important to consider what Wilson, who is an ophthalmologist by trade and also holds a Master's of Science degree, would make in a competitive market.

"[Wilson's salary] has a lot to do with the fact that part of his administrative portfolio is the medical campus," said Ken McConnellogue, the Associate Vice President for University Affairs. "For people who are the leaders of a combination academic and medical campus, that's what the market is bearing. Chancellor Peterson oversees a billion dollar operation, Chancellor Wilson similarly. For us to cut a salary by 20 percent would limit the pool of people who we can attract to that job."

According to McConnellogue, a recent survey of chancellor salaries at academic health centers showed a mean salary of $727,441, slightly more than Wilson's current compensation.

But Jessica Peck Corry, director of the Independence Institute's Campus Accountability Project, disagrees with McConnellogue's analysis. "This is an outrage when we've got students going into six figure debts largely to fund these six figure salaries," she said. "We've got an artificially inflated market propped up by taxpayer-backed student loans and meanwhile, university officials are getting rich off the deal." Corry also serves as an editorial contributor to Face The State.

According to a November study published by the American Society of Employers, Wilson's compensation is the highest of any chancellor in the country when calculated on a per student basis. Wilson is paid $46.59 per student at the Denver and medical school campuses. The next highest paid official is at the University of Virginia, where the cost per student is $39.34. Overall, Wilson is the sixth highest paid chancellor or campus president in the country.

The $175,000 in "incentive payments" are based on specific criteria set forth by former CU President Hank Brown and can earn Wilson $150,000 annually for "achievement of high but normally attainable performance objectives" and $25,000 for "extraordinary performance."

CU Regent Jim Geddes recognizes that market forces determine salary, but if Wilson were to negotiate his contract in 2009, it might be hard to net such high pay.

"Wilson's salary has a lot to do with the tremendous responsibility of that position," Geddes told Face the State. "But does that warrant that kind of salary? Maybe that wouldn't have happened if the contract was negotiated in 2009. I can't say it isn't warranted, but given our current budget concerns I doubt it. 2006 [the year Wilson was hired] was certainly a different time."

Former CU Boulder Chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson recently announced he will leave CU to serve as the president of Georgia Tech. McConnellogue pointed out that Peterson was paid $364,478 to serve as CU's Chancellor, but will be making more than $600,000 at Georgia Tech.

"In comparing Georgia Tech with CU Boulder there are a lot of parallels," said McConnellogue. "His new pay at Georgia Tech is over $600,000 annually. There is a market out there for academic leaders at the top institutions."

For the first time, CU President Bruce Benson will appoint CU Boulder's next chancellor. Previously, the selection process was governed by the Board of Regents.