In a Recession, Wilder and VCU Are Out of Line

While most state colleges and universities are freezing salaries and facing budget cuts of up to 15 percent for the coming year, don’t expect former Richmond Mayor Douglas Wilder to be one of those sharing the pain in the economic downturn. In fact, he’s getting a substantial raise from Virginia Commonwealth University.

What budget crunch? None, apparently, for Wilder, who holds the title of distinguished professor at VCU. He received a raise to $150,000 when he returned full-time to VCU this month after retiring as mayor, a post he held since 2005.

As the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported last week, Wilder teaches in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. He received a VCU salary of $50,000 while he was mayor and $100,000 before then. He received $125,000 annually from Richmond while serving as mayor.

VCU Rector Thomas Rosenthal said that Wilder’s new salary, which is entirely state-funded and does not include benefits, was negotiated last May in financial times that were rosier than they are today. He said the university was not aware of the looming financial crisis that would affect all state schools. But he defended the salary as being commensurate with Wilder’s stature.

Maybe so. The former mayor is also a former governor of Virginia and before that he served in the state Senate representing Richmond.

But judging from his assigned duties, one could hardly say Wilder is being overworked. Last year, he taught one class while serving as mayor, served as a guest lecturer in other classes and had responsibilities for university development, according to spokeswoman Pam Lepley.

Now, Wilder is responsible for teaching one class in the spring and one in the fall, serving as a guest lecturer and overseeing the new L. Douglas Wilder Lectureship Series. That series kicked off last month with entertainer Bill Cosby, a longtime friend of Wilder.

The salary being paid the former mayor and governor puts him in the top echelon of professors and distinguished professors at the university. There are 171 faculty members with salaries of $150,000 or more, which is 6.6 percent of the faculty, Lepley said.

The average salary for professors, excluding associate and assistant professors, is $112,745, according to the university. Some are nine-month employees, while others work year-round.

While some faculty members were cautious about reacting to Wilder’s new salary, William E. Blake Jr., a professor emeritus of history, was not one of them. “I really do think it’s exorbitant,” he said. “I really cannot see the justification in that kind of salary for the position,” he added.

Many taxpayers may be feeling the same way. Wilder has wonderful experience as a professor and lecturer in the field of government and public affairs. But shouldn’t his salary be tempered by the times along with the salaries of his colleagues? Of course it should. He should not be an exception.

Perhaps the university could renegotiate his salary in light of the fizzling economy. Wilder, as a former public official, could understand that better than most folks. He’s been there in tough financial times and had to do some cutting of his own.