By Vanessa Santilli
There is an elite group of professors and administrators at Ryerson making over $100,000 a year, and one top administrator who’s making more than the president.
According to new figures released by the provincial government disclosing 2006 salaries, there were 393 Ryerson employees making more than $100,000, of whom four make more than $200,000.
The school’s highest-paid employee is Adam Kahan, VP University Advancement, who made $307,550.02, despite having been at the school only half the time of some other senior administrators.
President Sheldon Levy, VP Administration Linda Grayson and VP Academic Errol Aspevig — who has since retired — all made more than $200,000. Marilynn Booth, a former Ryerson nursing professor and dean, was the highest paid instructor at $188, 910.
She is now a director of continuing studies at University of Toronto.
Since the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act was passed in 1996, the Ontario Government publishes a list of public sector employees who make more than $100,000.
According to the Collective Agreement between the Ryerson Faculty Association and the Board of Governors of Ryerson University, an assistant professor’s salary starts at about $60,000, an associate professor at $76,000 and a professor starts at about $87,000.
However, the guidelines for determining administrators’ salaries aren’t nearly as clear, said Henry Mandelbaum, executive director of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations.
“Their salaries are determined by negotiations between the administrators and the Board of Governors.” He said that Kahan’s high pay probably has to do with the importance the school places on fundraising and alumni relations.
“The universities decided that that is a critical position for them, and in some cases, they pay more than they do the president,” he said. Career Development Increments (an increment which reflects increasing experience and expertise), Merit Achievement Awards and yearly adjustments for the cost of living are a few of the ways a professor’s pay can rise.
Nancy Walton, associate director of the school of nursing, is one of the recipients of a Merit Achievement Award for 2007.
The value of a Merit Achievement increment is $1,000, regardless of salary level. “It’s one of those definitions of going above and beyond the expectations,” Walton says. Kahan declined to comment.
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