Maclean's take note: U.S. university president's pay tied to magazine ranking

Memo: to Ken Whyte, Maclean's
Subject: Leverage

Inside Higher Ed reports an interesting twist emerging from university rankings, which have long been important to Maclean's and long been a bone of contention for Canadian universities.

The Arizona State University board of regents has approved a contract for president Michael Crow, that ties $60,000 in bonus pay to an improved rating from U.S. News & World Report. (The Maclean's rankings, while their own special brand, are thought to have been inspired by the U.S. News version.)

Crow — whose total compensation already tops half a million dollars — was awarded an additional bonus plan tied to achieving specific performance goals....

In Crow’s case, he would be paid an extra $10,000 for each of 10 goals he achieves and would get an extra $50,000 if he achieves all of them. Nine of the goals relate to actions on which the university is the key actor (goals such as increasing the diversity of freshmen, improving freshman retention, adding to research expenditures, improving faculty salaries, etc.). There is one goal over which the university has no direct control — an improved U.S. News ranking. If Crow achieves the other nine only, he would miss a shot at $50,000 in addition to the reward for the higher ranking.