administrators respond to opposition of GPSC

At its latest meeting, the Graduate Professional Student Council expressed disapproval of what they view as the distribution of money from student fee payments going toward administrative positions.

This interpretation, while accurate, is not only common practice among other universities but is also necessary, according to Vice Chancellor for Administration Larry Dietz. Dietz is one of two administrators whose salary is partially accounted for by student fees.

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Dietz said anytime an administrator spends as much as 75 percent of their time working with a specific area on campus. As he and Jean Paratore do with their particular umbrella units, it is only reasonable they be paid from the area’s fees.

“It has to do with the simple fact that students don’t want to feel like they’re paying for administrator’s salaries,” Dietz said. “But money and effort should always be tied.”

Dietz said he and Paratore spend one-third of their time working on campaigns and overseeing their umbrella organizations and believes they should be paid accordingly for their efforts. He said it is common among various universities for administrators to be paid from the fees of the organizations they oversee.

GPSC disputed the use of one-third of Student Health, Student Center and Housing fees to cover Dietz’s salary. This translates to $33,000 from each of these areas. The resolution also objected to the use of $25,000 of fees for the Student Recreation Center to cover the salary of Jean Paratore, vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment and dean of students.

While Paratore commented that response to this topic was more under the area of Dietz, she said this figure was determined when taking into consideration a percentage of the appropriate amount of her salary over a year’s time. According to Paratore, because of her retirement in mid- December, only one-half of this amount will be taken from the Student Recreation fee.

Chancellor Walter Wendler agreed with Dietz’s sentiment.

“It is perfectly appropriate to pay someone’s salaries from student fees,” Wendler said. “If a certain portion of the money [for the area] comes from non-state funds, then a certain portion of their [the administrator’s] salary should come from these funds.”

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The Undergraduate Student Government will express its opinion on the matter at its meeting on Wednesday.