A report prepared by the Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers named A Culture of Entitlement: An Overview of Administrative Compensation at Eight Nova Scotia Universities shows some very shocking results. The report looks at several things including the major increases of senior administrator’s salaries throughout the years. During these wage increases, StFX is facing debt, has faced a pandemic, and students have seen tuition, residence, and meal hall cost increase. After talking to senior administration, they say that many of the findings in this report are misinformation.
ANSUT represents contract academic staff, full time faculty, and librarians at the following universities: Acadia, l’Université Sainte-Anne, the Atlantic School of Theology, Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, Mount Saint Vincent University, Saint Mary’s University, and StFX.The data in the report shows that, in Nova Scotia in the past 10 years, spending on senior positions has risen 84%, President’s salaries have risen 41%, and Vice-Presidents salaries have increased by 76%.
According to the report, becoming a President at StFX comes with a number of perks. Being the President of StFX gets you accommodation at the Smith House, an annual car allowance of $14,400 (plus car insurance,) your children can receive tuition rebates, $16,000 in research allowance, $5,000 dollars for professional development and a base salary of $325,000.
Additionally, the report says that past President Sean Riley received a bonus of $525,000 when signing his last contract with StFX. He also received a retirement allowance of $733,000. In his last contract, 100% of his premiums were also paid for his 3-million-dollar life insurance, and his son was given an allowance of two flights a year to travel from his post-secondary school to StFX. After reaching out to senior administration, I was notified that not all the information in this report was correct. According to them, StFX did reach out to ANSUT with a request to review their data sources as there were inaccuracies, but ANSUT denied the request.
Senior administration stated the following about the President’s contract: The contract of the President provides no provision for a bonus and no bonuses have been received by the President; the President is entitled to reside in the Smith House for which he is allocated a taxable benefit of $2,000 per month; the car allowance is assigned to the President of $1,200 per month for the lease of a vehicle; the overall automobile allowance is subject to the taxable benefit provisions of the Canadian Revenue Agency; the President’s contract indicates that tuition benefits are not part of the President’s contract; there is no provision for a research allowance in the President’s contract and no research allowance has been awarded to him; the President does not receive an annual $5,000 professional development allowance, and rather the President’s contract identifies $5,000 per year for “Professional Association or Other Expenses.”
After reviewing the Presidents contract, I found the following to be true: he is given an annual salary of 325,000 CAD; this salary can be increased with the costs of living; the President can be reimbursed for his day to day expenses incurred for fulfilling the role as President with receipts; he is given an automobile allowance of $1200 a month for lease of a vehicle (this adds to 14,400 per year); he is reimbursed for car expenses such as insurance and fuel; he is provided technology (laptop, a smart phone and internet); the President receives $5000 for association and organization fees; in regards to the Smith House, he may live there with heat, power, municipal taxes, general maintenance, capital repairs, and snow removal paid for; the President is entitled to get a 5 week leave for professional development and 5 weeks’ vacation with pay (the 5 weeks of vacation are in addition to statutory holidays in Nova Scotia and the time the university is closed over holidays.)
Additionally, according to the report, StFX paid their four Vice Presidents $1,197,832, in 2020/21. This is a 258% increase since 2012. It must be noted that senior administrators did say that the report was incorrect in stating the number of Vice Presidents provided in the base year.
Ultimately, the report shows that between 2012 and 2021 there was a 108% increase in compensation for all StFX administrators; that number is only 16.5% for faculty, despite the increased student enrollment. Overall, $10,563,511 was paid to university senior administration and upper management in 2020/21. According to the report on average the administrator compensation cost per student is $1812!
Senior administrators did add that the data does not account progression through the ranks on annual economic adjustments and that “the number of positions included in the data on growth in administration positions does not reflect what is actually part of the university’s administrative structure.” For example, positions in the Centre for Employment Innovation, Coady Institute positions, the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government, and other locations were not included. On the other hand the report mentions that the data collected in the report is only a small part of total administrative funding. It does not include support staff to help senior administrators, office expenses, travel, and other administrative sources.
Either way, after reading the report it is clear that faculty are not seeing the same benefits administrators do. The report states that, in Nova Scotia, full-time faculty positions only rose by 5% between 2012-2021; on the other hand, upper management positions increased by 73%. Additionally, only 53% of people who teach are under contract. According to the report, this leads to faculty “finding themselves precariously employed, with lower wages, less time to prepare course work, little or no funding for research to stay on top of their subject area, and little time to devote to helping students.”
The report also touches on the unfair treatment faculty faced during the pandemic, saying “At StFX, UNIFOR members were expected to waive a 1.5% cost-of-living increase, and accept two weeks unpaid leave, while NSGEU members had step increases frozen, and were asked to accept the 2019 salary scale, and take a 5% wage rollback.” Senior administrators responded to this statement saying, “due to the pandemic, management/professional staff did not receive their annual economic salary adjustment on July 1, 2020. The university approached our various unions to see if they were willing to make some concessions regarding negotiated salary increases as well, but this was not approved, and all union members received what was provided for in their contracts. The economic adjustment for management/professional staff was reinstated on January 1, 2021, with no retroactive pay.”
Many students can also find themselves struggling. The report shows that Nova Scotia universities pay the highest tuition rates in Canada. The average being $9,028 for Nova Scotians in 2021/22 and the national average being just $6,693. Furthermore, international students pay, on average, 123% above domestic students. Students may have noticed an increase in their fees, and the truth is tuition has been increasing each year for a long time now, even during a global pandemic. When looking at StFX’s budgets throughout the years, there is a pattern of increasing tuition. The StFX 2022-23 budget states a 3% tuition increase. The same goes for the 2021-22 budget and the 2020-21 budget. In 2018-19 the budget shows a tuition increase of 6%.
Staying on campus is also expensive. The cheapest option on campus, a double occupancy room in Cameron, MacIsaac, or MacKinnon Hall will cost you $6,045.00. That’s $755 a month since you can only occupy that shared room for about 8 months of the year. Somers and Powers, a popular second year residence, costs students about $1,118 a month. Considering these apartments occupy four people, they are charging $4,472 for each of these apartments per month. The most expensive residence, a private room in Governors, will cost you about $10,005.00, which is about $1,250 a month!
Let’s not forget about the costs of meal hall. On top of paying for accommodation, students living in most residences are required to buy a meal plan. A ‘block 315,’ which is 315 meals per year, costs $5,170.00, which comes to $16 per meal. So next time you decide to grab a snack for breakfast, remember that banana is costing you $16!
