Former president still a top earner at U of Alberta
The University of Alberta’s thirdhighest earner last year no longer lived or worked in the province.
As part of the administrative leave negotiated in her contracts, past president Indira Samarasekera received $578,315.24 in compensation during 2016, according to the university’s disclosure list.
It’s standard across Canada for university presidents and vicepresidents to have the post-service perk included in their contract. Prior University of Alberta president Rod Fraser left with at least $620,000 in administrative leave pay.
While university students are being asked for more tuition dollars and schools trim programs to keep the books balanced, some are asking whether the practice of negotiated contract payments has got out of hand.
“I think it’s been obviously distorted recently, and seen as a perk, and a way of attracting people to the job,” said David Robinson, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers.
After 10 years as president from 2005 to 2014, Samarasekera was given two years of paid administrative leave, from mid-2015 to mid-2017.
Administrative leaves were first created so professors who served as administrators would have a cushion of time and funding to ramp up their research and prepare to plunge back into teaching, Robinson said. Many outgoing university presidents now are closer to retirement and don’t head back to the classroom or ivory tower.
“For people who work in the public sector, I really don’t think it’s appropriate. I really don’t think it’s a good use of money and value ... I think it sends an absolutely wrong signal and is contrary to what the original purpose of administrative leave was supposed to be,” Robinson said.
Samarasekera could not be reached for comment.
In a written statement, the University of Alberta’s board of governors said Samarasekera returned to research and pursued “select academic activities” during her leave. She was an unpaid scholar in residence at the University of British Columbia’s Liu Institute for Global Affairs, conducted reviews for other post-secondary institutions, served on volunteer boards, as well as the independent advisory board on federal Senate appointments.
In 2012-13 and 2013-14, Samarasekera faced criticism when her total compensation rose to more than $1 million per year. While she took home one of the highest presidential salaries in the country, the university faced a three per cent funding cut from government and offered voluntary buyout packages to trim costs.
In an interview, university board chairman Michael Phair said the former president’s contract didn’t oblige her to spend her administrative leave in Alberta.
Paige MacPherson, Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the “golden handshake” expense doesn’t benefit Albertans.
She questioned whether someone earning more than $1 million a year needs such a generous financial cushion to move on to the next venture.
However, Canadian taxpayers may be getting a bargain compared to some other countries. Top university presidents in Australia, the U.S. and England earn substantially more, said consultant Alex Usher, president of Torontobased Higher Education Strategy Associates.
Highly qualified presidents who adeptly juggle fundraising, management, research, and public expectations are hard to attract, and deserve some danger pay, he said. Unlike public servants, a mistake can prompt instant termination, he said, pointing to the University of British Columbia’s former president Arvind Gupta, who resigned abruptly, and Ilene Busch-Vishniac’s forced exit from the University of Saskatchewan.
As University of Alberta president, Samarasekera oversaw a billion-dollar operation, boosted research capacity, pushed the university closer to becoming a top global institution, and managed “the biggest building site this side of Beijing,” Usher said.
Phair said Samarasekera’s contract included salary increases over time and current president David Turpin’s contract does not.
However, Turpin’s contract includes up to an extra $375,000 to be paid out over five years, starting in June 2018, to compensate for administrative leave he lost when moving from the University of Victoria, where he was president for 13 years.