Nordenberg, other Pitt officials, receive salary bumps

Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and five other Pitt officials will receive raises in the coming… Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and five other Pitt officials will receive raises in the coming year.

The Board of Trustees’ Compensation Committee approved salary increases this morning totaling more than $100,000 combined for the half-dozen administrators for — as they said — piloting the University to research prominence through tough economic times.

Nordenberg received a $26,500 increase in annual salary. After a 2.5 percent base “salary maintenance increase” approved during the meeting for all the officers who received raises, Nordenberg received an additional 3.2 percent salary increase.

His total yearly salary now stands at $486,500. That figure is in line or slightly below compensation levels for leaders of other universities in the state. Ann Weaver Hart, president of Temple University, received a salary of $527,403 in the 2008-09 fiscal year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Graham B. Spanier, president of Penn State University, made $620,000, also according to the chronicle.

Ivory Nelson, the president of Lincoln University, makes $275,908 each year, according to financial documents available on guidestar.org.

Dr. Arthur Levine, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor of health sciences and dean of the medical school, received a salary increase of 3.5 percent, or $43,000, bringing his total salary to $745,000 per year.

Other Pitt officials who received raises include Executive Vice Chancellor Jerome Cochran. Cochran received a salary increase of $24,500 — an increase of 3.7 percent to $412,500.

Amy Marsh, whose title was changed during the meeting to chief investment officer and treasurer, received a raise of 3.7 percent — a $20,000 increase to $340,000.

Arthur Ramicone, previously the vice chancellor for budget and control, also saw a title change approved during the meeting. He is now Pitt’s chief financial officer. He received an increase of 4.9 percent, or $20,000, to a total of $285,000.

Neither Marsh nor Ramicone will see a change in duties as part of their title changes. Nordenberg said that the changes were made simply “to better portray to the outside world the kind of workload each carries for Pitt.”

Jean Ferketish, board secretary and assistant chancellor, received a $12,500 raise to $202,500 — about a 4 percent increase.

The board’s compensation committee also voted to restore the 2.5 percent “salary maintenance increase” to the base salaries of Nordenberg and the other five university administrators. The officials’ salaries had been frozen since the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Salary increases for other members of the Pitt community will be discussed next year, closer to the summer and Pitt’s next fiscal year.

The money for raises comes from a 3 percent increase in the salary pool for the current fiscal year. According to a statement issued during the meeting by Pitt spokesman John Fedele, “Guidelines for the distribution of those funds provide that 2 percent be distributed for salary maintenance to all employees whose work performance was rated at least satisfactory and 1 percent be set aside for merit, market and equity adjustments.”