UF's President Bernie Machen remains Florida's highest paid public university president, but his national standing has slipped.
Machen's total compensation of $731,811 in 2007-2008 made him the eighth most compensated president among public universities in the U.S. with at least 10,000 students, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education report released Monday.
He ranked No. 6 in last year's report.
Machen narrowly beat out the earnings of Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell, who made $711,145 in 2007-2008.
University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala made considerably more at her private university, cashing in at $942,493.
The highest paid public university president was Ohio State University's E. Gordon Gee, who received a total compensation of $1,346,225. Total compensation accounts for base salary and bonuses for that year.
Machen, whose base salary was $414,566, also received a $7,800 car allowance, a $75,000 annual bonus, a $210,000 retention bonus, a $1,000 legislative bonus and $23,445 in retirement pay, according to the report.
Steve Orlando, UF spokesman, said only $225,000 of Machen's salary is paid by the state, which is the maximum allowed under state law. The rest comes from the UF Foundation, Orlando said.
He said UF's size and complexity warrants Machen's salary. UF has the second largest student body in the U.S. behind Ohio State University, which employs about 35,000 people and has a budget of about $4 billion.
The Chronicle's report pointed out that a handful of presidents have turned down raises and bonuses because of economic troubles. One president to do so was the University of Central Florida's John Hitt.
Hitt has turned down a raise for two years in a row, UCF spokesman Chad Binette said. This year, Hitt cited the state budget situation as his reason for turning it down, Binette said.
Back in July, Machen announced an $11 million plan to give some faculty and staff pay raises for the first time in two years. Machen said he would not take the salary bump.
At a July Student Senate meeting, Machen said he accepted his bonus before UF got into the budget cut situation.
"Everyone, including my wife, thinks I'm overpaid," he said at the meeting. "If things are going great, my life's pretty simple, but when things are not great, that's when I sort of have to show up and make decisions."
