The Folks in Old Main Look a Little Pale

The last thing that anyone would accuse Old Main of being is too transparent. For example, we learn today that Penn State president Graham Spanier is currently in the third year of a five year contract. This bit of information was casually mentioned in the CDT article on Spanier's salary. This is the first mention of the duration of Spanier's contract since 2000 when it was announced that he had received a two-year extension on his contract which then was scheduled to run out in 2003. When 2005 rolled around there was no announcement of new contract. But if the CDT article is correct and Spanier is in the third year of his current contract, that would mean that the Trustees and Spanier renegotiated a contract in 2003 which was when his last contract was originally set to expire. Go search Penn State Live there was no announcement of this innocuous piece of information either in 2003 or 2005. Why?

Another example of the opacity of Old Main is the failure to release the names of the Trustees that sit on the compensation committee which determines Spanier's salary. Here is how the CDT reported it.

Penn State Vice President Steve MacCarthy said the university trustees set the presidential salary. An executive-compensation committee reviews his performance each year and compares his pay with the salaries afforded executives at other major universities, MacCarthy said

The Trustees web site doesn't even mention a compensation committee, let alone give the names of the Trustees that serve on it. Once again, why?

It's no wonder that the folks in Old Main look so pale. There isn't enough sunshine in that building.





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