Ongoing debate over salary disparity

[Michchamp]

you can frame the situation a number of different ways, but the bottom line is, since the 1970's, income disparity has grown, more money goes to fewer people at the top, and wages for lower end jobs have stagnated or even decreased over that same time period.

there are lots of excuses for why is this justifiable, but they have almost always failed to stand up to critical analysis in my opinion.

I read this article on salary changes at UM from 1979 - 2013 in constant 2013 dollars. Not to pick on Michigan, but it's public so all these figures are available, and the author of the article has connections to the school (is an alumnus).

Custodian
1979: $34,017
2013: $32,214
Director of Athletics
1979: $173,274
2013: $850,000 base salary (Does not include $100,000 in deferred compensation, and a possible $200,000 bonus).
Full Professor
1979: $107,493
2013: $167,260
Associate Professor
1979: $77,153
2013: $114,071
Assistant Professor
1979: $61,119
2013: $100,048
Dean of the Law School:
1979: $169,075
2013: $420,000
Administrative Assistant/Secretary
1979: $45,985
2013: $43,078
President:
1979: $216,000 salary (other compensation, if any, unknown, although it?s safe to assume use of the president?s house was included.)
2013: $603,357 base salary; $100,000 bonus in lieu of a raise; $100,000 additional annual retention bonus; $175,000 annual deferred compensation, $50,000 annual retirement pay, free use of residence and car.
​

a commentator put some of these changes into percentages:
Custodian -5.3%
Director of Athletics 390.6% (DB is doing it for his love of Michigan...)
Professor (full) 55.6%
Dean of the Law School: 148.4%
Admin Assistant/Secretary -6.3%
President: 179.3%

CEO increase %'s destroy all of these, and far outstrips even corporate profits over the time period.

 

[Gulo Blue]

...and ignored in this is the nationwide trend to have fewer full professors and more associate professors.

 

[Gulo Blue]

Adjunct, not associate. More and more are non-tenure, part-timers.

 

[Michchamp]

Adjunct, not associate. More and more are non-tenure, part-timers.

right. I think that's another issue, but it follows the trend of more money going to administrators, and less to faculty.

 

[Mitchrapp]

right. I think that's another issue, but it follows the trend of more money going to administrators, and less to faculty.

100-167 grand doesn't seem like less..

 

[Michchamp]

100-167 grand doesn't seem like less..

to you maybe...

but you're not seeing the big picture here.

does a $677,000 increase for the AD compared to an avg. of $39,000 for an assistant prof seem like a big difference to you?

 

[Gulo Blue]

100-167 grand doesn't seem like less..

Yeah, but in combination with the salary is the fact that fewer and fewer of the people actually teaching classes are actually making that. In 2013, the average adjunct made $6,500 per three-credit course taught and they are not eligible for benefits.

http://chronicle.com/article/Adjunct-Project-Shows-Wide/136439/