In the top 25, it’s all about the Benjamin

The Statesman recently reported the top 25 paid positions at ISU. Lloyd Benjamin, President Emeritus and art history professor, rests comfortably at the number three spot, raking in almost $200,000 a year.

Benjamin has defended his steep salary by stating that he "fulfill(s) multiple roles as a faculty member" and has even worked in Morocco, building relations between faculty and student exchange.

More intriguing, though, is the manner in which Benjamin's salary was established. His salary was negotiated over a decade ago when he became president, guaranteeing him 70 percent of his original pay after he retired his duties. Further, he is still eligible for annual pay increases.

While it is completely acceptable for ISU Board of Trustees President Mike Alley, Provost Jack Maynard and the Board of Trustees to stick to an outdated system, President Daniel J. Bradley must follow a different procedure. Once Bradley steps down as president, his pay would adjust based on the market at the time. Alley has stated that the "compensation structure is the same used for previous presidents," but it is apparent that Bradley is the exception to the rule.

The old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" might work for certain situations, but it should never be applied to the state of someone's pay. In the Occupy era, it is especially alarming that anyone would shrug off the idea of using a system birthed in an entirely separate economic period. Just as the economy evolves and fluctuates, so should the stipulations of an already negotiable contract.

Why hasn't the Board of Trustees given Benjamin's dusty agreement another look? What harm would have been done by reassessing this…structure…Alley speaks of? That isn't to say that Benjamin should be singled out, but the bottom line is, there are faculty members teaching more sections and serving as unspoken ambassadors to our university who don't even make half of what the administrators do.

And they certainly can't accept other positions on campus while keeping 70 percent of their original pay.

If we're going with the belief that income should match output, then there are a lot of dedicated, hard working employees who are being robbed.

So how does the Board of Trustees move forward? Perhaps they should start one outdated contract at a time.