I ran across an interesting analysis of administrative bloat in higher education institutions. The piece developed five simple measures of administrative size and expense compared to other institutional characteristics.
The measures are the ratio of:
- The president’s overall compensation to the number of FTE students.
- The president’s overall compensation to the number of full-time faculty.
- FTE employees to FTE students
- FTE employees to FT faculty
- FTE students to FT faculty
The author contends that the smaller these numbers are, the better and more cost-efficient the institution is.
WCC’s numbers look like this:
Administrative Bloat: President’s compensation* to FTE students**
This table shows how much the president gets paid per full-time-equivalent student.
| Fiscal Year | President’s overall compensation | FTE Students | $/FTE Student |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2020 | $374,271 | 7,795 | $48.01 |
| FY 2019 | $353,080 | 8,067 | $43.77 |
| FY 2018 | $324,908 | 8,149 | $39.87 |
| FY 2017 | $334,385 | 8,053 | $41.52 |
| FY 2016 | $314,300 | 8,163 | $38.48 |
* As reported to the IRS, Form 990, FY 2016-2020
**As reported to the Department of Education
The growth here is notable. The WCC president is effectively being financially rewarded by the Board of Trustees for each student that drops out, enrolls elsewhere, or otherwise bypasses WCC.
Administrative Bloat: Executive Compensation v FT Faculty
This is how much the president gets paid per full-time instructor.
The comparison of the president’s overall compensation to the number of full-time faculty looks like this:
| Fiscal Year | President’s overall compensation | FT Faculty | Compensation per FT Faculty |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2021 | $387,605 | 156 | $2,484.65 |
| FY 2020 | $374,271 | 161 | $2,324.66 |
| FY 2019 | $353,080 | 164 | $2,152.93 |
| FY 2018 | $324,908 | 163 | $1,993.30 |
| FY 2017 | $334,385 | 162 | $2,064.10 |
| FY 2016 | $314,300 | 162 | $1,940.12 |
* As reported to the IRS, Form 990, FY 2016-2021
**As reported to the Department of Education
The second table shows that the WCC President is being financially rewarded for holding the number of full-time faculty constant. Her compensation increases when the number of full-time faculty decreases. Keep in mind that increasing the number of full-time faculty is really the only way to develop new academic programs and bring more students into the college. (No new faculty -> no new programs -> no new students.)
These two tables show these two ratios increasing each year. The WCC president’s compensation continues to increase, even though student enrollment is declining. The president’s overall compensation increased by 23% over 6 years even though the cumulative rate of inflation over that time was 12.9%.
These two measures indicate the growth of the administrative bloatat WCC. Keep in mind that it’s not just the president’s compensation that’s increasing like this. The compensation rate for her executive administration has grown similarly. In WCC’s case, this factor has dealt double damage because she has hired so many additional executives.
Tomorrow, I will look at the other measures to evaluate other measures of administrative bloat at WCC.
Photo Credit: Neil Cummings, via Flickr
