By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

University of Cincinnati President Joseph Steger in his campus office. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

When Joseph Steger departs as president of the University of Cincinnati, he won't leave everything behind.

He'll take with him a $250,000-a-year salary for the first year, a one-year sabbatical, a $5,000-a-year discretionary account and a full-time secretary.

These are just some of the benefits spelled out in the retirement portion of the longtime president's employee contract.

Dr. Steger, 65, who announced plans Nov. 1 to retire in June, also will continue as a tenured professor, hold the title of president emeritus and be provided an office on campus.

TOP UC EARNERS

Here are the top 10 highest-paid employees at the University of Cincinnati, ranked by gross compensation in 2001. In addition to base salary, figures could include bonuses, deferred compensation, research income or pay for additional workload. 1. Bob Huggins, men's basketball coach, $468,750. 2. Rick Minter, men's football coach, $344,639. 3. Joseph Steger, president, $340,000. 4. Donald Harrison, senior vice president in charge of the Medical Center, $339,666. 5. Robert Goin, athletics director, $322,074. 6. Ronald Sacher, director, Hoxworth Blood Center, $320,414. 7. Baha Sibai, chairman, obstetrics and gynecology department at the Medical Center, $265,096. 8. Alfred Tuchfarber, director of the university's polling center, $246,532. 9. Andrea Lindell, dean, College of Nursing, $238,833. 10. Ephraim Gutmark, engineering professor and an Ohio Eminent Scholar, $220,707. Does not include emeritus faculty members who may have received lump sum reimbursements for vacation and sick days not taken.

SEARCH COMMITTEE

The names of those on the search committee to find a replacement for University of Cincinnati president Joseph Steger likely won't be known until at least December. Richard Karp, chairman of the faculty senate, said the two open faculty positions will be voted on through the senate - but not until after the Nov. 26 board of trustees meeting. "This thing should be getting off the ground by next month," he said. "It is obviously the most important search you could have at a university." Analysts say the committee can go in one of two directions, seeking either a sitting president at another institution or an outstanding senior vice president or provost. The university must be prepared to answer tough questions beyond issues of compensation from candidates in a competitive market. These could include the climate of state funding for higher education, the quality and reputation of the board, and whether the school has a strong, long-term strategic plan. "These are important questions to a candidate," said Bill Funk, national managing director of the education practice for Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm. "If there is a well thought-out plan, it will be more attractive." If a successor is not chosen by June 2003, Dr. Steger has agreed to stay on as interim president.

Dr. Steger's contract stipulates that he will receive $250,000 during the year of his sabbatical and then return to his current $275,000 salary for two years. His salary will then be $200,000 each year thereafter as long as he is a tenured professor, and he will receive raises at the same rate given to other UC faculty.

Throughout his tenure, the university has paid Dr. Steger's contribution to a retirement plan, which totals more than $788,300. That is considered his deferred compensation and will not be paid out in one lump sum.

Dr. Steger will have to vacate the university-owned president's residence on Lafayette Avenue, but the university will pay moving expenses. He will continue to receive health and disability insurance and retirement contributions equal to those of tenured professors.

"It's reasonable," said Tom Longin, vice president of programs and research at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges in Washington.

But Mr. Longin said the retirement package is not typical. That's because Dr. Steger has served as president 18 years - much longer than most of his colleagues.

Today's trend is for the most highly qualified candidates for presidential positions to jump from one university to another. According to the American Council on Education, the average tenure for a college president is 6.9 years.

"Because presidents serve under different circumstances at different universities, it's getting much more likely to see comparable packages up front but not in the end," Mr. Longin said.

Retirement packages for university presidents at several benchmark institutions over the past 12 years vary considerably:

Stanley Ikenberry was president at the University of Illinois for 16 years before he retired in 1995. He was given the title of regent professor and kept his salary of $187,000 until he left the school about 18 months later. He went to the American Council on Education and is now back at Illinois as president emeritus and is paid on project-by-project basis.

Former Ohio State University President Edward Jennings, who began his term in 1981, stepped down in 1990 and joined the faculty as professor of finance. He earned the same salary he earned as president, $146,280.

Outgoing Rutgers University President Francis L. Lawrence, who leaves office Dec. 1, holds the title of university professor, one of 17 at the school. Dr. Lawrence earned $287,000 plus a $75,000 stipend from the foundation for fund-raising activities as president. University officials say his salary returned to "Professor 2" level, which ranges from $79,484 to $118,073.

"Usually what happens with the presidents is that they don't stay at that salary indefinitely," said Bill Funk, national managing director of the education practice at Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm.

What Dr. Steger's package suggests, Mr. Longin said, is that he kept a good working relationship with the board. And it's indicative of his longstanding service.

"(It's) a pretty good deal," Mr. Funk said. "(The salary) usually reverts to some negotiated lesser amount or they peg it to the highest paid faculty member" in the former president's department.

Money and competition for talent may be the toughest obstacles the UC presidential search committee faces.

In the past six months, increasing presidential salaries nationwide and plunging state expenditures have created a volatile mix, Mr. Funk said. The salaries of some presidents, whose compensation packages reach as high as $700,000-plus, have received widespread attention in recent months.

The Chronicle of Higher Education lists Mark Yudof, who became chancellor of the University of Texas system in August, as one of the highest-paid university leaders in the nation, with salary and benefits amounting to at least $787,319.

The high salaries are driving up the salaries of contemporaries.

"It's going to pull everybody up," said Mr. Funk, who has participated in 250 presidential and chancellor searches and nine of the past 11 searches in the Big 10 Conference. "It's just not going to pull everybody up to that level."

Only two presidents at eight benchmark institutions earn less in annual salary than Dr. Steger. Some are compensated well above the $275,000 salary. OSU President Karen Holbrook, who took office Oct. 1, earns an annual salary of $325,000 plus $100,000 in annual deferred compensation.

"To get somebody really good (at UC), they're going to have to up the ante," Dr. Steger said.

Carol Garrison, who took the helm Sept. 1 at University of Alabama-Birmingham, will receive $400,000 in annual salary.

At Rutgers, Richard L. McCormick takes over as president Dec. 1. Though his contract has not been formalized, his annual salary and deferred compensation will be $525,000.

"Rutgers is providing its new president with a compensation package that is in line with the higher education marketplace," said Sandra Lanman, a Rutgers spokeswoman.

With UC's reputation, complexity and size, trustees should expect to pay a successor somewhere between $300,000 and $350,000, Mr. Funk said.

"It should attract a very good pool of candidates," he said. "That it's in an urban position is a plus, especially for women and minority candidates. That's where things are happening."

But because the average tenure of a president is often short, there are always three or four institutions looking at one time.

"The days of your Cincinnati president being there for such a long time, it just doesn't happen anymore," Mr. Funk said. "Demand really is always stronger, it seems, than supply."

E-mail kgoetz@enquirer.com