That is the question Ashlynn Warta asks in today’s Martin Center article, and the answer appears to be that they are.
She writes, “Chancellor salaries at public universities across the country are far higher than those for other public executives, out of step with faculty compensation, and unrelated to student success and university performance. A new program at UNC may help to address some of these concerns.”
In North Carolina, even the chancellor of the smallest UNC system schools is paid substantially more than the governor. Also, chancellors are paid far more than are the most senior faculty members. Warta quotes economist Richard Vedder, who has long studied American higher education, who observes that there is no “bottom line” on which to judge how well or poorly a university chancellor or president is doing.
UNC has recently established an incentive compensation program for chancellors, but don’t be surprised if it only ratchets up and never down.