The presidents of many Virginia universities are among the highest paid state employees, as reported under a new state policy.
University President Teresa Sullivan is now the fifth highest paid state employee, collecting $704,700 per year.
Five of Virginia’s public universities are now reporting the total compensation of their presidents instead of just their base salaries, responding to a memorandum released by Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton.
"Governor McAuliffe believes our college and university presidents are the best in the nation,” said Irma Palmer, the spokesperson for Gov. Terry McAuliffe. “He is also a transparency proponent — including compensation reporting.”
The University has complied with the requirement, along with Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, George Mason University and Old Dominion University as of Friday.
With the change, university presidents are now among the state's highest compensated employees.
Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao, who originally occupied the 13th spot, is now listed as the second highest compensated state employee and the highest-paid Virginia university president.
Rao receives two salaries for being the university’s president as well as the head of the VCU Health System, said Michael Porter, director of public affairs at VCU. For the fiscal year ending June 30, his combined total salary was $503,154.
Under the news reporting requirement, his compensation is $880,814. The new total also reflects his deferred compensation, expense allowance and incentive package, not previously reported. While the state pays most of Rao’s salary, about one third of Rao’s compensation is pooled from foundations.
Rao’s total compensation was not reported to the state until recently requested, Porter said.
Trailing Rao is Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands, who sits at the fourth spot on the list with a total compensation of $725,000. This includes a base salary of $500,000 as well as bonus, deferred compensation and automobile allowance. While $200,095 of his compensation is paid for by the state, the rest is paid for by foundations.
George Mason University President Angel Cabrera follows Sullivan in sixth place.
Sullivan’s total compensation is nearly $200,000 higher than her base salary, which is $509,700. She also has an automobile allowance and deferred compensation. The majority of her compensation is from private sources, which are controlled by the Board of Visitors.
University Spokesman Anthony de Bruyn said the University has been submitting salary information as required by the Appropriations Act.
“Once [Department of Human Resources Management] officials brought to our attention that we should include deferred compensation and allowances in our submission for President Sullivan, we submitted the information pursuant to their new request,” de Bruyn said in an email statement.
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