… the president of the University of Louisville (and yes, Louisville is named after that king of France), leads his university into ruin even as he revels in luxury.
[James Ramsey’s bonus is] equal to 25 percent of his current $624,000 annual salary.
The bonus, which equals nearly $156,000, comes as a reward for reaching “all but two” goals that were set for the President’s office, according to the statement.
What those goals were is unclear. A University spokesman declined to comment on the issue.
… [W]ith his annual salary, added performance bonus and the retention bonus that applies to the current year, Ramsey is set to make $1,280,000 this year.
It’s good to be the king! The peasantry needn’t know what those elusive “goals” were… Though they might be excused for wondering why the leader of one of America’s most dysfunctional universities on every level (finances, athletics, graduation rates, internal corruption, even a trustee who recently tried to jump ship but was forced to remain on board by the governor’s refusal to accept his resignation) is being showered with gold because he met all but two of I guess many goals… Wonder what the two goals he failed to meet were… Preside over a university that doesn’t embarrass everyone associated with it? Respond to any request from the media?
It’s all very reminiscent of Yeshiva University’s president. The lower YU’s credit rating falls, and the more he refuses to talk to anyone about what’s going on there, the more he gets paid.
*******************
You wouldn’t think all of this would be a viable model for a university presidency, but there you go. It is.