January 18, 2010

In Ethics Class, Students Debate the Merits of Presidential Pay

In Ethics Class, Students Debate the Merits of Presidential Pay 1

Photo by Todd Paris, UAF Marketing and Communications

John Lehman, a professor at the U. of Alaska at Fairbanks, has students in his business-ethics class discuss the pay of the system's president.

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close In Ethics Class, Students Debate the Merits of Presidential Pay 1

Photo by Todd Paris, UAF Marketing and Communications

John Lehman, a professor at the U. of Alaska at Fairbanks, has students in his business-ethics class discuss the pay of the system's president.

By Emma L. Carew

Until last fall, most of the 83 students in John A. Lehman's business-ethics class at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks had never considered the job responsibilities or compensation levels of college presidents.

Michelle M. Springham and Raul O. Calvillo Jr., two students in the class, had similar reactions when they learned that Mark R. Hamilton, the system's president, brings home more than $400,000 in total compensation: Wow, they said, that's a lot of money.

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