Sharing the Pain

The heads of the big three automakers recently received a lot of criticism for flying - separately - in private jets to Washington to ask for financial assistance. Similarly, many financial institutions that received monies from the bailout had to be shamed into limiting CEO compensation and executive perks. Although, this may be a largely symbolic gesture on the part of Stanford's president and provost, it's good to see that they - at least - get it. I'm also really impressed that they communicated to the entire community, through the letter linked below. Stanford's President and Provost Will Take 10% Pay Cuts

The president and provost of Stanford University are taking immediate 10-percent cuts in their salaries as part of an overall plan to trim the university’s budget, and other senior administrators have also volunteered to take salary reductions, the provost, John W. Etchemendy, said on Tuesday in a letter to faculty and staff members.

Mr. Etchemendy said Stanford was seeking to reduce its $800-million general-fund budget by about $100-million and called on all university divisions to submit scenarios for cutting their budgets by 5 percent, 7 percent, and 10 percent next year. “The ultimate cuts may not have to be this deep,” he wrote, “but we would be irresponsible not to prepare for this eventuality.”

Mr. Etchemendy did not say how many administrators were taking salary reductions, but said they included “all of the school deans.” Lisa Lapin, Stanford’s chief communications officer, told the Associated Press that the cuts would affect about 15 to 20 positions with salaries that start around $250,000.