Salary Pecking Order

Ever wonder how many reference librarians it would take to earn the pay of a football coach?

By

March 13, 2006

This isn't a great year for salaries of mid-level administrators.

Data being released today by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources show that the median base salary for administrators in these positions is up 3.3 percent over last year. That increase is slightly behind the rate of inflation, and trails the average increases in salaries for faculty members and other administrators.

The data are perhaps most interesting for showing that not all mid-level administrators have mid-level salaries. Among all institutions, the highest paid position was staff physician ($127,270 median), followed by staff lawyer ($96,326). But while the data across all institutions would suggest a paucity of six-figure salaries in the mid-level ranks, that's not actually the case.

The medians across all institutions hide the many six-figure salaries in athletics departments at doctoral institutions. (Sports officials' pay is much more modest in other sectors.) At doctoral institutions, the medians for five athletic positions are in the six figures: head football coach ($185,000), head men's basketball coach ($157,500), head women's basketball coach ($108,000), offensive coordinator for football ($101,097) and defensive coordinator for football ($101,000).

How do those salaries compare to other mid-level administrative positions? The head football coach's salary (and we stress here that these figures do not cover endorsement contracts and other benefits that in many cases dwarf the salaries) would cover the salaries at doctoral institutions of three counseling psychologists or four academic advisers or three reference librarians or four accountants or three help desk managers. (A table comparing medians for a number of positions, by different sectors of higher education, appears at the bottom of this article.)

By sector, median salary increases across positions were higher at private than at public institutions (3.4 percent to 3.1 percent), and they were higher at community colleges (3.7 percent) and baccalaureate institutions (3.3 percent) than at doctoral and master's institutions (3.2 percent for both). Within specialty areas, accounting and finance salaries grew at the fastest rate while student service positions grew at the slowest rate, as the following table indicates.

Median Salary Increases by Job Category and Sector, 2005-6

Category	All	Public	Private
General administration	3.3%	3.2%	3.5%
Accounting and finance	3.5%	3.5%	3.5%
Information systems	3.3%	3.1%	3.4%
Physical plant/security	3.3%	3.2%	3.3%
Extracurricular activities	3.2%	3.0%	3.3%
External affairs	3.3%	3.3%	3.3%
Student services	3.0%	3.0%	3.2%
Engineering/research	3.1%	3.0%	3.5%
Medical	3.4%	3.4%	3.3%

The following table provides breakdowns on specific positions, by sector, in categories organized by CUPA-HR. In some categories for some sectors, there are not enough people in a position for the association to provide meaningful data.

Median Salaries for Mid-Level Administrators, by Sector, 2005-6

Job	All	Doctoral	Master's	4-Year	2-Year
General administration
--Reference librarian	$48,073	$50,723	$45,853	$43,212	$59,397
--Reference specialist	32,202	32,036	35,718	29,171	31,636
--Catalog librarian	47,037	50,121	45,012	45,100	52,009
--Public info specialist	40,946	42,806	37,000	35,000	43,107
--Contract & grant specialist	43,627	43,384	44,256	47,574	46,665
--Museum curator	45,000	45,126	39,911	49,382	50,562
--Staff lawyer	96,326	97,257	81,913	71,400	92,030
--Coordinator of disability svcs	47,170	53,567	44,793	44,297	44,970
--EEO/affirmative action specialist	52,000	54,036	48,727	54,408	58,789
--Employee relations analyst	44,454	44,454	45,581	n/a	55,153
--Personnel analyst	43,014	44,949	35,401	36,899	41,943
--Benefits specialist	37,951	38,396	35,764	35,744	40,262
Accounting & finance
--Accountant	37,767	37,753	36,436	36,250	39,025
--Auditor	49,084	51,464	48,974	57,700	47,446
--Budget analyst	44,274	44,274	43,818	41,309	43,229
--Department business manager (small)	49,434	49,928	47,452	40,516	41,522
--Department business manager (large)	65,316	65,368	53,560	46,304	46,706
Information systems
--Programmer analyst	49,850	49,850	45,489	44,386	50,396
--Programmer analyst, supervisor	68,520	68,446	62,078	63,140	67,100
--Systems programmer	49,263	49,648	47,558	50,368	43,010
--Systems programmer, supervisor	72,106	72,283	58,000	71,932	75,343
--Database administrator	57,915	59,773	56,146	52,782	58,538
--Help desk manager	48,490	52,810	42,860	39,180	48,810
--Telecomm. manager	52,949	63,996	49,835	43,946	52,405
--Webmaster	47,143	48,222	46,446	43,260	45,448
--E-mail administrator	53,744	54,313	49,102	48,275	45,599
Physical plant & security
--Police lieutenant	52,226	56,470	45,618	36,500	45,610
--Security guard	25,133	24,690	24,742	25,372	25,784
--Environmental health & safety specialist	49,611	49,667	46,795	46,396	47,733
--Skilled crafts supervisor	46,353	48,234	42,943	48,568	45,616
--Coordinator of construction	59,191	59,269	55,387	60,000	58,692
--Architect	64,115	62,903	61,618	73,162	66,690
Extracurricular activities
--Head athletic trainer	46,651	63,522	44,142	43,266	41,287
--Intramural coordinator	37,070	40,020	35,675	33,450	36,047
--Head coach -- football	73,707	185,000	72,070	62,499	31,314
--Offensive coordinator -- football	52,142	101,097	43,297	39,000	n/a
--Defensive coordinator -- football	52,010	101,000	45,000	37,015	n/a
--Assistant coach -- football	44,474	85,755	36,695	31,683	n/a
--Head coach -- baseball	48,014	72,975	46,654	41,105	44,799
--Head coach, men's basketball	63,202	157,500	63,347	51,092	45,982
--Assistant coach, men's basketball	46,155	65,652	38,927	29,093	23,372
--Head coach, women's basketball	55,616	108,000	56,968	45,650	45,214
--Assistant coach, women's basketball	40,300	50,000	35,216	27,333	16,500
External affairs
--Annual giving officer	47,028	54,291	43,353	39,514	47,177
--Alumni relations officer	43,042	48,027	39,956	38,000	44,781
--Coordinator of resource development	40,950	41,886	40,341	41,042	40,584
--Major gifts officer	68,060	70,120	58,625	66,033	71,409
Student services
--Student activities officer	40,828	41,024	37,187	34,608	43,641
--Academic counselor	36,189	37,153	36,303	34,500	37,074
--Student career counselor	39,355	40,209	39,526	38,006	37,472
--Admissions rep to high schools	32,049	34,100	31,500	29,733	35,581
--Counseling psychologist	53,275	53,275	51,358	56,841	56,091
--Study abroad advisor	36,000	35,934	35,782	36,750	n/a
--Academic support center coordinator	39,563	37,720	40,558	42,468	38,669
--Financial aid counselor	32,807	35,224	32,884	30,546	35,748
--Campus minister	39,737	40,637	38,448	45,000	n/a
Engineering and research
--Electronics engineer	49,912	49,912	45,414	44,060	n/a
--Research asst. -- physical sciences	36,565	36,504	31,638	35,200	n/a
--Research asst. -- social and behavioral sciences	39,058	39,294	41,045	34,204	n/a
--Lab coordinator	43,335	43,405	40,014	40,930	39,317
--Research field technician	32,657	32,657	37,049	30,768	n/a
Medical
--Nurse practitioner	70,805	71,062	57,358	62,308	48,590
--Staff nurse	65,616	65,616	39,747	41,136	46,744
--Staff physician	127,270	117,721	114,855	129,000	n/a