He may have the title of president but Alan Shaver wasn’t the top-paid employee at Thompson Rivers University last year.
The largest total remuneration package issued in 2012 went to the late Wesley Koczka, who, with a combined salary and expenses, topped out at $285,742.
Of that, he had expenses totalling $108,498, according to the university’s financial statement headed for review at its board of governors meeting on Friday, Sept. 20.
Koczka, who died in February, had been the university’s associate vice-president international and CEO of the university’s World Global Operations.
Shaver doesn’t even come in second; that spot goes to Ulrich Scheck’s provost and vice-president academic, who had a combined package of $274,920, composed of $201,617 and expenses of $73,303.
In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, Scheck’s salary was $201,251 and his expenses were $54,119, according to the provincial government’s database of public-sector salaries. Koczka’s salary during that same fiscal year was $157,013 and his expenses were $156,533.
Shaver’s salary last year was $201,301 and his expenses were $15,464, giving him a financial compensation package of $216,765.
In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, his salary was $202,431 and his expenses were $107,518.
Cliff Neufeld, the university’s vice-president of administration and finance, had a package worth more than Shaver’s as well, with a salary of $199,406 and expenses of $21,297 for a total of $220,703.
His salary in the 2011-2012 fiscal year was $199,897 and his expenses were $30,856.
There are 148 TRU employees who took home more than $100,000 last year and 22 who had a salary and expenses package that was greater than $150,000.
The university’s executive compensation reporting for the period of April 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012, also noted benefit packages valued at: Shaver, $8,751; Scheck, $8,848; Neufeld, $8,878 and Koczka, $7,595.
Jason Brown, president of the Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association (TRUFA), noted the percentage of the university’s overall expenditures that goes to faculty wages has dropped in recent years, from a high of 44 per cent in 2010 to 36 per cent last year.
He had not had time to analyze the report going to the board of governors to determine the current percentage.
Brown noted the same time period has seen a large increase in the administrative sector at the university, as well.
Brown said the job Koczka held in administration was the key one for recruiting from abroad and, in past years, each administrator who has held it has done extensive travel, which leads to higher-than-average expenses.
