U. continues to step up pay for Rodin, Barchi

When she steps down in June, University President Judith Rodin will certainly not be leaving empty-handed.

For serving as Penn's president during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, Penn paid Rodin a total compensation package of $893,174, according to University Internal Revenue Service forms -- continuing the trend of placing Rodin among the highest paid university presidents in the country.

The figure represents a 10 percent increase over Rodin's compensation package -- which includes salary, bonus, benefits and expenses -- the year before, which totaled $808,021.

Rodin's base salary plus bonus rose from $690,405 in the previous year to $741,997. However, $166,640 of that total is deferred compensation, which James Riepe -- chairman of the Board of Trustees, which is responsible for determining the president's salary -- noted is done for "tax reasons."

While the tax forms do not denote the amount of Rodin's bonus, Riepe said that she is usually paid a "bonus to reflect how she's done against her goals and objectives."

University Provost Robert Barchi enjoyed a 9 percent increase in his total compensation package during fiscal year 2001-2002, making $625,469 compared to $571,693 the year before.

In addition to serving as provost, Barchi maintains a clinical neurosurgery practice at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Former University Health System CEO Robert Martin, who resigned this summer, once again was the highest paid in the line-up -- the only administrator at the University to receive over $1,000,000 in base salary plus bonus.

Including his expenses and benefits, Martin was paid $1,367,742 in a 33 percent increase on his previous year's salary of $1,025,641.

Other top officials at the University featured in the tax form have since left as well, including former Executive Vice President John Fry -- who earned a total compensation package of $791,988 -- and Vice President for Alumni Services Virginia Clark, who earned a total compensation package of $344,119.

Data on the compensation packages of current Executive Vice President Clifford Stanley and current Health System CEO Robert Muller will not be available until the University files its next tax return in May, according to the Office of the Comptroller.

The president's deferred compensation is performance-based, according to Rodin.

"Each year [the Board of Trustees and I] set different goals," Rodin said, adding that she does the same for the senior University officers that report to her.

"My deferral puts more of it at risk because in order to defer it, I have to keep performing at a certain level," she said.

"If I were worried, I would take it," she added.

The highest-paid university president in the nation last year according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Rodin "was moved along... to that level as a result of her achievements," Riepe said.

Taking over from Interim President Claire Fagin in 1994 -- the year after the Chronicle identified Fagin as the highest-paid university president in the Ivy League with a compensation package of $346,919 -- Rodin made around $350,000 for her first year in office, less than half of her last reported compensation package.

The medical side of the University also featured prominently in the list of the highest-paid Penn employees, with Professor William Kelley, a medical doctor and former CEO of the University Medical Center topping the list at $1,105,765 in base pay plus bonus, $25,100 in benefits and a $6,000 expense account.

Surgery Professor Thomas Spray was a close second with a total compensation package of $1,016,332, with Neurosurgery Professor Paul Marcotte, Associate Professor Curtis Slipman and Neurosurgery Professor Leslie Sutton rounding out the top five with just under $1,000,000 each.

Other University officers earning more than $200,000 in total compensation included Vice President and General Counsel Wendy White, Vice President for Business Services Leroy Nunery and Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik.

All told, the University spent $8,251,638 compensating its top administrators.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.