Updated: June 10, 2014 at 2:47 p.m.
A deeper dive into GW’s latest tax filings reveals the University lured two top administrators with generous housing packages.
The recruitment practice is mirrored at universities across the country as schools in pricey cities try to attract faculty and administrators by making the transition more affordable, experts say.
After Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Mike Morsberger left Duke University in 2010, he received temporary on-campus housing to ease him into his role at GW, said University spokeswoman Candace Smith. She declined to say how much that agreement was worth.
Former law school dean Paul Schiff Berman also received a $100,000 loan as part of his hiring contract, according to the University’s most recent 990 tax forms, which Smith said helped him purchase a home when he arrived at GW.
Richard Vedder, the director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, said the deals were not “startling, radical or too scandalous” because they have become a common practice at urban schools like Columbia, New York and Stanford universities.
Universities may also offer below-market mortgages to officials they want to hire, said Claire Potter, a history professor at the New School for Public Engagement who studies administrator salaries. She said even if a school offers a raise, the cost of living in a more expensive city could swallow the difference.
The cost of living in D.C. is 40 percent higher than the national median, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute published last year.
“You may be paying someone to come to your institution with a raise, but that can evaporate when someone is looking for a home. That’s fairly common,” Potter said.
American Association of University Professors President Cary Nelson said universities also help administrators with an initial loan or on-campus home to ensure they live near campus and are more connected to students.
At GW, University President Steven Knapp and Provost Steven Lerman both have homes on campus and frequently host gatherings for students, alumni and donors.
Nelson said administrator salaries, housing stipends and compensation packages must all remain “in the range of sanity,” even as universities look to recruit professors or administrators who are at the top of their field, or else they will draw attention.
New York University – one of the schools GW considers a peer – came under fire last summer for giving loans to star administrators for lavish vacation homes, including a $1 million loan to NYU president John Sexton for a Fire Island, N.Y. beach home. Following the media frenzy, Sexton announced he would step down in 2016.
This post was updated to reflect the following correction:
The Hatchet incorrectly reported the first name of New York University’s president. It is John, not Joseph. We regret this error.
