Reaction mixed to MSU president's $150k raise

[TexasTowelie]

BOZEMAN – The Board of Regents has approved a $150,000 pay raise to retain Waded Cruzado as the president of Montana State University after she received an offer for a higher-paying job.

Supporters say Waded Cruzado's vision and fundraising ability make her worth the $476,000 annual salary, while opponents noted her raise is nearly three times the median household income in Montana.

Commissioner of Higher Education Clay Christian supported the raise, saying it would allow Cruzado to continue the momentum she has created on the Bozeman campus.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports two classified MSU employees noted some workers are paid less than $11 an hour, vacancies are hard to fill and people have left because they can't afford to live in Bozeman.

Read more: https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/11/26/150-k-raise-approved-montana-state-university-president/4306270002/

[redstatebluegirl]

1. This is going on everywhere.

College administration is bloated and overpaid. Staff and faculty are overworked and underpaid. They don't replace people who leave just double up on everyone else while the College Administrators make ridiculous money.

It is the "business model" of education, stupid stupid stupid.

[MontanaMama]

2. This is horrible.

You don’t send your kid to a college because the administration has fundraising ability. Good grief. Bozeman is very much like Missoula (home of the University of Montana)...the cost of living is high and wages are relatively low by comparison. The average home price in Bozeman is $440K...nobody making $11 per hour is buying a home there. Commissioner Clay Christian, along with several other Board Of Regents members were caught overspending for luxury travel, accommodations and dining etc on the public dime last year. Christian apologized and promised to pay the funds back but he clearly doesn’t have student interest at heart here. I’m just shocked by this.