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VCU paying Wilder $150,000

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Lindy Keast Rodman / Times-Dispatch

Former Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder has returned to VCU with a good raise.

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WILL JONES AND KARIN KAPSIDELIS TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS
Published: January 9, 2009

-- Former Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder doesn't have to worry about a freeze on his salary from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Wilder, who holds the title of distinguished professor, got a raise to $150,000 when he returned to VCU full time this month, even as the state portion of faculty salaries is capped by Virginia's budget crunch.

Wilder, who teaches in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, received a VCU salary of $50,000 while he was mayor and $100,000 before then.

He received $125,000 annually from the city while serving as mayor from 2005 through last month.

VCU Rector Thomas Rosenthal said yesterday that Wilder's new salary was negotiated in May, after the mayor decided he would not seek re-election.

"I can honestly say we were not aware of the depth of the problem" the university would face in the state budget crisis, Rosenthal said. But he said the salary is commensurate with Wilder's stature.

Rosenthal said he could not say whether the board of visitors would have acted differently in hindsight. VCU and other four-year colleges face state budget cuts of 15 percent.

Wilder's raise reflects an increase in responsibilities as a 12-month employee, VCU spokeswoman Pam Lepley said. She said the salary is entirely state-funded and does not include benefits.

"Distinguished professor" is an honorary title awarded by the board of visitors. VCU President Eugene P. Trani will hold the title when he retires at the end of June.

Lepley said there are seven distinguished professors who do not have their positions endowed. Of those seven, the average annualized salary is $170,828. She said there are 171 faculty members with salaries of $150,000 or more, which is 6.6 percent of the faculty. Most of them have benefits, she said.

Last year, Wilder taught one class, served as a guest lecturer in other classes, and had responsibilities for university development, Lepley said.

Now, he's responsible for teaching one class in the spring and one in the fall, serving as a guest lecturer, and overseeing the new L. Douglas Wilder Lectureship Series, Lepley said. The series kicked off last month with entertainer Bill Cosby, a longtime friend of Wilder.

Wilder also will pursue development opportunities for the Wilder School and its Center for Public Policy, as well as VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences.

Dan Ream, president of VCU's faculty senate, was cautious about reacting to Wilder's salary.

"I don't feel I have the whole picture of what we're getting for our money," he said.

But William E. Blake Jr., a professor emeritus of history at VCU, described himself as angry and disappointed.

"I really do think it's exorbitant," Blake said. "I really cannot see the justification in that kind of salary for the position."

The average salary of professors at VCU, excluding associate and assistant professors, is $112,745, according to the university. Some are nine-month employees, while others work year-round.

Wilder did not return a message left yesterday with his assistant.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or .

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or .

Reader Reactions

Posted by ( Lloyd Schieldge ) on January 15, 2009 at 11:05 am

Wilder may well have quite a bit of experience in his 77 years, however that does not make him a good teacher, it makes him an experienced politician, and there is a difference. Wilder, as Mayor of Richmond, showed consistently that he does not have the ability to work well with others. How can he teach the importance in education and government of working well with others, when he cannot understand it himself? A teacher, instructor (or what ever you may call what he is supposed to be) has to teach the whole picture. Does Wilder do this, or are his courses taught 1-sided, the Wilder way?

The other thing I would like to address regarding a comment made about Wilder having done well for Richmond and therefore deserving his $150,000 salary. Please note, the City of Richmond does not pay his salary at VCU, the tax payers of the entire Commonwealth are stuck paying his salary, and students from all over the world are paying to be taught by trained professionals, not a back woods mayor.
If the City of Richmond were to hire Wilder to teach in the public school system there, perhaps he could have a positive effect on the inner city youth, but let the City of Richmond pay him a $150,000 salary to do so.

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Posted by ( RealRichmond ) on January 15, 2009 at 2:02 am

ramgrl, its not a 200% increase…but i must restate myself…

L. Douglas Wilder is a “made” man in the City of Richmond and Commonwealth of Virginia, and is well deserving of the $150,000 salary from VCU. (the school is also named after him, helloooo!) He has a mind worth much more than VCU is offering at 150k. At any other college/university that could afford him, he would be paid more. And so what if its the tax payers money, he has served Richmond and the Commonwealth well and for quite a duration, despite some of the bad. He will provide enhancement of the mind, to few or many, which is worth much more than any sports program can provide as sheer entertainment value to thousands of spectators. (so lets throw the coach’s salary argument out the window…isnt the purpose of college academics?) He will certainly raise the value of the quality of education VCU can offer, which is what a school is supposed to be known for.

Wake up people, Governor, Lt. Governor, Mayor (next to education, he completed the three biggest tasks Richmond needed to make it to the next tier of premier cities-cleaned up neighborhoods raising property value, reduced crime, spurred business growth), attorney, trailblazer, historic figure…if you can’t pick his brain, whose can you??...This is my city and I know he deserves it…Real Richmond

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Posted by ( rosesautro ) on January 15, 2009 at 12:06 am

i don’t want the gov getting any more of the states money
is it true he gets $200,00 in retirement from us already??

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Posted by ( VCU Professor ) on January 14, 2009 at 6:56 pm

1. The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs is, indeed under the umbrella of the College of Humanities and Sciences. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a school, not a department, which is what you insisted it was in your previous post. You obviously think it’s too weak for that status, but your opinion doesn’t change a thing.
2. Most academic people would agree that naming a school or building after someone not yet retired or deceased shows lack of class. But once that’s done, getting that person on board seems appropriate enough.
3. VCU is a major university with a number of missions. Instruction is among them, but not the only mission or even the central mission in some units. For this reason, a VCU professor, unlike a professor at a community college, can be of great value to the institution despite weaknesses (even incompetence) as an instructor. Is Wilder an incompetent instructor? I don’t know, but it would take better evidence than the testimony of a couple of students who took his course to persuade me that that he is.
4. Who played the race card? Did someone accuse you of picking on Wilder because he’s black? I certainly didn’t. The fact that he was the first black governor in a formerly segregationist state is the basis for his position in US history; you appear to agree.
5. Wilder would be worth hiring even if he didn’t give a course. See points #2, #3 and #4 for the reasons.
6. Neither of us will ever know whether Kaine would have succeeded Trani if he hadn’t directed his attention elsewhere.
7. Wilder’s net worth is irrelevant.

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Posted by ( ramgrl ) on January 14, 2009 at 4:08 pm

1. You’d be 99+% wrong. The Wilder “school” is a division of the College of Humanities and Sciences at VCU. Does it show up on your transcripts or your diploma that you were a student at the L Douglas Wilder School at VCU? No, it doesn’t.

2. Yes it was named for him. Kind of obvious

3. ANY label as a professor of ANY University should be based on your teaching skills. If they aren’t interested in his teaching skills then they should be able to come up with a better title. VCU is VERY good at giving you the most insane title for doing the most mundane job.

4. As recently as 60 years ago I would have still been expected as a woman to stay at home and take care of the kids and husband and certainly wouldn’t have been paid anywhere near what a man would have been paid if I had a job. His having a permanent place in history is given. Am not taking that away from him but in all honesty why the need for a race card? Everyone complains about racism but then throws out the race card when it’s in their favor.

5. I could care less if Wilder is “worth” the money they are paying him. It is not about Wilder OR about VCU it is about the STUDENTS. How does Wilder getting $150k a year help the students when he teaches TWO classes a year yet students are having trouble getting into classes because adjunct professors who are making next to nothing have been cut??

6. I’m GLAD Kaine chose his route. I was privy to a lot of closed discussions about VCU’s new president and if you think Tim Kaines name wasn’t being throw around, think again! If he had gone for the position, from the conversations I was a part of, he would have EASILY gotten it. Why? Because he has the experience? NO! Because of his status. There are MANY applicants from other colleges and Universities that are FAR more qualifies than any of them.

My point in all here, and what some (including the professor posting on here) seem to be missing is that this salaray increase, for a man with a multi million dollar net worth, in a time when VCU is cutting back EVERYTHING necessary is complete and utter insanity. And if you think for one second that ANY student agrees with this (or at least those that are intelligent enough to know about VCU’s cutbacks and the state of the economy) then you would be dead wrong. He made less as mayor (running an entire city) and less as governor (running the whole state) than he is making at VCU teaching TWO classes per YEAR. If you can’t see how illogical that is, maybe you should consider enrolling in an economics course at VCU.

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Posted by ( VCU Professor ) on January 14, 2009 at 9:56 am

Just a few comments before I return to tormenting my students.
1. I’m 99+% sure that the the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs is a school within the university, not a department within a school.
2. I’m 99+% sure that the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs is named for the L. Douglas Wilder who served as Virginia’s governor and Richmond’s mayor.
3. Wilder’s “Distinguished Professor” title is probably based on his value to the School as a resource, not necessarily for his teaching skills.
4. In case anyone forgot, as recently as 60 years ago he would not have been permitted to eat at the same table, drink from the same fountain, attend the same school or use the same rest room as the local Caucasians. It’s a long way from that to becoming their elected Governor. That gives him a permanent place in history.
5. I wish VCU would pay me as much as they pay him, but my accomplishments don’t match his and I’m not bitter about it.
6. Although Governor Kaine was mentioned as a possible candidate for VCU president, the job wasn’t offered to him, at least not by anyone with the authority to do so.

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Posted by ( MeToo ) on January 14, 2009 at 9:40 am

VCU Prof: It’s all good, I love being right :o) If I ever manage to locate that section, I’ll be sure to post it here. I think something is wrong with the search because I typed in some key words from laws that I use every day in my job and had hard copies of in hand and nothing came up. When I went through manually, there they were.

My personal feeling on the man aside, I do think he deserves to be compensated well for teaching… if he’s really teaching. I’ve heard from people who’ve taken his course(s) that he really doesn’t provide much education, just his resume and guest lists. My real issue is with the raise he is getting. Does he deserve it, I don’t know, maybe. Can the state afford it? No. If it was a cost of living raise I might feel differently, but it isn’t. I work in public education and my department is going to have to cut some employees. Wilder’s $50K raise would keep one of us in our job. Since it all comes from the same state money, why not? He can survive just fine with $100,000 a year! Maybe I’d feel better about it if I knew that the $50K was coming from private donations to the University in the name of the L Dougie Wild School Of…. I think what bothers me more about it is that Wilder comes off as incredibly arrogant, like he doesn’t care that he’s been mayor of a city where most people barely make it financially, but work hard to live. That’s sort of been his attitude all around when it comes to money. Remember the whole car reimbursement thing? He was blatantly wrong, yet acted like he was king of the world and offered a half-a**ed “apology.“ It just all rubs me the wrong way!

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Posted by ( ramgrl ) on January 14, 2009 at 9:24 am

He deserves the 200% salary increase? And why exactly is that? When every other professors salary has been frozen, VCU is facing huge budget cuts on top of the ones that have already left other professors without a job at VCU and when VA is cutting education to its fullest why does VCU find enough merit in ONE man to determine that he deserves a pay raise that no professor sees? Do you think every professor at VCU sees a 200% salary raise? No they don’t. So what makes Wilder special? Have you ever sat in on one of his classes? I have, and learned nothing. Easy A based on simply having to listen to his stories about his life. No educational value what so ever.
And for whatever idiot thought it up, the SCHOOL is NOT named after Wilder. He has a crappy building and department named after him. The “Wilder School” is a joke. It has THE worst building on campus of any department and one of the smallest. The “school” named after him is more of a myth than the lockness monster. It exists only in one small building and no one gives the department any credit because it houses majors such as criminal justice and political science. The University puts NO effort into it even though the collection of majors there account for a large percentage of VCU students.
The fact that Wilder is able to get such a huge increase to only teach two classes and give guest lectures plus oversee the Wilder Lecture Series (which no one cares about until they get someone like Bill Cosby to come in) is insane. Do you think if Wilder talked at all the Wilder lecture series that people would show up? As a student there I can guarantee you low attendance.
Trani will become a “distinguished professor” when he steps down at the end of the term. While I have some complaints about the whole Rodney Monroe incident, Trani has certainly done far more for VCU than Wilder ever could.
And the fact that Tim Kaine was considering taking on the President at VCU’d role until Obama picked him to head DNC (thank you Obama!) is just insane. We are hiring people on who they are rather than what experience they have and what their job function should be.
VCU has lost its common sense when it comes to hiring and finance. You don’t give one employee a 200% increase in pay while freezing or firing others who are doing far more work. You don’t consider hiring a Governor (Kaine) to run a large urban university when he has NO educational experience and can’t even keep the state budget within means.
Think about it without the titles and from a realistic human point of view. What would your opinion be if you were at the place you work for 10 years, doing twice the work as the guy hired on five years after you, he only works one day a week and you work five and they give him a 200% raise but tell you that you will have to accept a salary freeze for awhile? THEN what would your opinion be? And in the midst of this you learned that your company ALMOST hired someone who had never worked in your industry (Kaine) and the only reason they didn’t was because he found a better job somewhere else.
Peole dont stop to think things out rationally or logically. Wilder is a man. Nothing more, nothing less. Same goes for Tim Kaine. Neither of them are qualified to have the positions (or pay in Wilders case) that was offered to them. And considering the amount of money Wilder already has, he is doing nothing more than ripping off VCU students when that money could be used to keep on professors that are willing to work far more than one class a semester for it. Wilder is selfish and arrogant and cares nothing about more than what HE wants. If you think he cares about VCU or its students think again. Maybe as much as he “cared” for the school board when he locked them out too.
I say we find quality people who are willing to actually WORK for their money (at LEAST 3 classes a semester can be covered by $150k) and who will TEACH students something rather than telling campfire stories about himself.

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Posted by ( RealRichmond ) on January 14, 2009 at 2:05 am

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Posted by ( VCU Professor ) on January 13, 2009 at 11:04 pm

MeToo:
1. My last post was submitted before I saw your links.
2. I looked at the links. You were right. My doubts were wrong. I hate when that happens.
3. Doing a keyword search of the Code of Virginia probably took 3 to 5 minutes. I don’t teach night classes, so that time was my own.
4. Universities being in the entertainment business is controversial and impacts the educational, scholarly, and service roles of the institutions.
5. I have suspicions about how Wilder was made a Distinguished Professor, but the salary is reasonable if the appointment was proper. I wonder about the process that led to it.

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