Tertiary bosses had profitable 2008

Media Release
2 November 2009
Tertiary bosses had profitable 2008

Some large remuneration increases for the chief executives and vice chancellors in the tertiary education sector during 2008 are revealed in the State Services Commission’s just released Annual Report.

The University of Auckland’s vice-chancellor saw his total remuneration band improve from $520,000-$529,999 to $560,000-$569,999. That’s a minimum of 5.6 percent for the year – significantly more than the 2.6 percent pay rise he then offered his staff a few months later.

At the University of Otago the vice-chancellor’s remuneration improved by at least $60,000, and the two vice-chancellors that were employed at the University of Canterbury took home a combined total over $710,000 between them.

The Waikato Institute of Technology, already one of the highest paid chief executives at a polytechnic found his remuneration had improved by at least $30,000. Others to see large percentage rises in remuneration included those in charge at the Manukau Institute of Technology, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, polytechnics at Christchurch and Whitireia, and the universities of Waikato and Victoria.

TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs says the figures add urgency to the need to treat other staff in the sector fairly.

“While some institutions appear to have shown restraint others have been offering very large increases to their chief executives and vice chancellors which goes to show that the State Services Commission is willing to offer its chief executives significantly larger percentage remuneration increases than it is willing to endorse for other staff.”

ENDS