More from the WSJ:

The scrutiny at Vanderbilt comes as the national outcry over executive pay has reached into academia. Recent disclosures about the pay and perquisites of campus leaders have led to resignations and an indictment.American University last fall forced out President Benjamin Ladner after auditors questioned more than $500,000 in expenditures by him and his wife. The Washington, D.C., university paid for the couple’s birthday parties and European vacations in first-class hotels, according to the audit. Investigators found the Ladners once stopped in Rome on a business trip to Dubai so she could have her hair cut by a favorite stylist. Mr. Ladner says the university didn’t pay for any European vacations and the Rome stop “had nothing to do with” his wife getting a haircut.In California, a state audit in May uncovered $334 million in largely unreported pay and perks for University of California staffers during the year ended June 30, 2005. The spending included a $30,000 dog run built for Denice Denton, chancellor of the university’s Santa Cruz campus. She committed suicide in June following extensive media coverage and criticism by lawmakers.In August, a Houston grand jury indicted former Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade on two charges of criminally misusing university money for her private benefit. The indictment alleges Ms. Slade improperly spent $1.9 million during her nearly seven-year tenure, including more than $260,000 to furnish and landscape her home. Ms. Slade, whom university regents fired in April, has denied wrongdoing and sued them for allegedly breaking her contract. “She believed every expenditure she participated in was for the benefit of TSU and was or would be approved by the board,” says Mike DeGeurin, Ms. Slade’s lawyer.