N.Y.U. Gives Lavish Parting Gifts to Some Star Officials - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/nyregion/nyu-gives-lavish-parting-gifts-to-some-star-officials.html
Those rewards, and salaries to match, have at times been a point of conflict among members of the N.Y.U. community. “Most faculty find these numbers to be obscene, especially at an institution where adjunct teachers qualify for food stamps,” said Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis who is an outspoken critic of Dr. Sexton’s. “To students with a crushing debt burden, they are unfathomable.”
But without question, large compensation packages have helped N.Y.U. recruit and retain people whom other schools might like to hire away, either for their academic reputations or for the money that they help bring in.
The value of rewarding people as they leave is harder to judge.
Mr. Lew’s gift came on top of a salary that rose as high as $800,000 a year, and roughly $1.5 million in mortgages, of which the university forgave $440,000. Mr. Beckman has previously said, “It is not uncommon for large organizations to make payments to senior officials on their departure, as happened in this instance,” and he has cited Mr. Lew’s accomplishments during his years at N.Y.U.
But Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican and member of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement: “The problem of colleges that always seem to find money for the executive suite even as they raise tuition is not unique to New York University.
“However, New York University is among the most expensive, has a well-funded endowment, and has high student debt loads. It should explain how its generous treatment of Mr. Lew and other executives is necessary to its educational mission.”