Among the 10 highest earners for state employees are the presidents of five higher education institutions in Virginia, including University President Teresa Sullivan, according to documents obtained by The Cavalier Daily and the annual salary database published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
A typical university president’s pay consists of base salaries established by the Commonwealth and non-state salaries established by university resources such as grants and endowments. Base salaries of college presidents are funded by state appropriations set by the General Assembly and supported by resources of the individual university.
However, many presidents also receive special rates, bonuses and additional compensation to cap off higher salaries than reported. Bonuses and many other benefits awarded to university presidents also come out of a university’s resources.
According to documents obtained by The Cavalier Daily through the Freedom of Information Act, University President Teresa Sullivan’s salary as of March 2017 is $559,830.90, an increase of about $25,000 from her 2015-16 salary of $534,700.
Her total annual pay for the 2015-16 fiscal year was quoted to be $733,800 by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, meaning $199,100 of last year’s salary came from additional and deferred compensation.
Although Sullivan does not receive performance bonuses, they can be sizeable for other university presidents.
Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael P. Rao took the top spot on the list of top 10 state salaries with a total pay in the amount of $900,940 in fiscal year 2015-2016. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Rao’s base salary and non-state salary was $523,281, meaning he earned $377,659 in additional compensation.
Christopher Newport University President Paul Trible, Sullivan, Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands and George Mason University President Ángel Cabrera took the third, fourth, fifth and sixth spots on the list of top-paid Virginia state employees, respectively.
These are not the only higher education institutions whose presidents’ salaries rank amongst the highest in Virginia. Presidents of Old Dominion University, the College of William and Mary and James Madison University are within the top 25 highest salaries for Virginia state employees.
Several University professors and football head coach Bronco Mendenhall are also amid the ranks of top earners in Virginia. Mendenhall’s salary as noted by documents obtained by The Cavalier Daily is $3,366,538.45. Mendenhall’s base pay is $500,000, but the other $2.86 million comes from his contract with the University.
According to Gregory Weatherford, associate for communications & outreach at State Council for Higher Education Virginia, the salaries for university presidents highly depend on the institution and its revenue.
“The proportion of pay coming from various sources [for college presidents] will depend on the contracts as negotiated,” Weatherford said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “The state does not set these salaries; nor does SCHEV in particular. It is worth noting that most presidents are paid from tuition and other income raised by the universities – not from tax dollars.”
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