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Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU)

 -- which some call "bonuses" -- for the chancellor, vice chancellors and campus presidents.

MnSCU Chancellor Steven Rosenstone had apparently testified before the House higher-education committee earlier this session that MnSCU was going to do that, and both the House and Senate had already put in language effectively prohibiting such pay.

I caught up with a few House and Senate higher-ed lawmakers for their reaction to the MnSCU decision.

Here's one in the Senate -- ranking minority member Jeremy Miller (R-Winona).

I asked Miller what he thought of MnSCU's decision. He said he hadn't heard of it yet, and needed more details before making a full comment. When I gave him the basics, he called it a "positive move."  He said administrative salaries and bonuses have been a "big concern" at the legislature and with his constituents.

But MnSCU officials have repeatedly stressed that the bonuses are performance-based -- executives don't receive them until they hit particular goals -- and Miller said he's 

He didn't clearly reconcile his support for performance pay with his support of MnSCU's move. (That's something I need to pin him down on.)

Miller pointed to the Senate omnibus bill language that calls for a comparison of administrative costs among MnSCU, the 

 and other comparable university systems in the U.S. He said he he had further questions about the payments, and hoped to get data to answer them:

I think he meant that he wanted to see whether the goals were a cakewalk or truly challenging. He said lawmakers should see the performance goals so they could judge for themselves.

(I'd have to double-check, but I think that information is considered a confidential part of an employee's record.)

Education News

On Campus Blog

Alex Friedrich

Author

Recently, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system trustees voted to eliminate performance-based pay — which some call “bonuses” — for the chancellor, vice chancellors and campus presidents. MnSCU Chancellor Steven Rosenstone had apparently testified before the House higher-education committee earlier this session that MnSCU was going to do that, and both the House and…

What a Senate higher-ed pol said about the MnSCU end to bonuses

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