Student Assembly

Dear Vincent,

Thank you for transmitting Resolution 12, Resolution to Request an Annual Report on Executive Compensation, on behalf of the Student Assembly (the Assembly) as a recommendation for my consideration. The resolution calls for the disclosure of salaries for the top 50 administrators in an effort to increase transparency.

In general, I agree that transparency helps a community to understand issues and to resolve them effectively. At the same time, there are some matters where privacy has a place, notably, as it relates to personal information. Finding an appropriate balance can, at times, be challenging. My salary and those of others considered key employees by the federal government are made public on Form 990. Other salaries of Cornell University employees are not because we are a private university.

While I respect the efforts of the Assembly to increase transparency, I also respect the right to privacy of those administrators whose salaries are considered personal information. Indeed the Assembly seems to support this privacy protection in its own Bylaw 1.5.a, in which it proscribes itself from requesting “salary or wage records of specific individuals” from my office. Therefore, I do not accept the recommendations contained in Resolution 12 as submitted, and will not direct the Division of Human Resources to make such information publicly available.

However, I do believe important information about how executive compensation is set can increase transparency and should be made available. I will direct the Division of Human Resources to share that information with the Assembly. Specifically Vice President Opperman will share with you: the manner in which compensation is set and the process that is used, the compensation philosophy that drives decisions regarding executive compensation, and the cost of executive compensation as compared to the budget of the university.

The Assembly may make this information available publicly; however, given the budget constraints and staffing reductions we have had, I will not ask the Division of Human Resources to publish and or routinely maintain this information on its website.

Sincerely,

David Skorton