US: Accepting a raise draws fire

College presidents who declined raises and bonuses this year may have lost money, but they gained goodwill and political capital. As might be expected, the opposite appears true for those who clung to their often generous rewards even as budgets were slashed, writes Jack Stripling in Inside Higher Ed.

At George Mason University, President Alan Merten is still taking heat for a $108,000 bonus he took eight months ago that pushed his annual compensation over a half-million dollars. Most members of the university's faculty senate only learned of the bonus in October, and they quickly raised objections. The senate passed a resolution in November, urging Merten to give the money to financial aid in a spirit of "solidarity and shared sacrifice".

Merten isn't the only university chief under fire for taking more money while many colleges in the country are resorting to furloughs, layoffs and salary freezes.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site