On Saturday, this university welcomed tens of thousands of people onto the campus for Maryland Day, a celebration of all the university community has to offer. It was also a chance to welcome an idea: Celebrating the university as a new member of the Big Ten.
All around McKeldin Mall, Hornbake Plaza, Stamp Student Union and the rest of the campus Saturday, passersby carried red foam fingers promoting the athletic conference move. During the time I was walking around, I didn’t see a single item branded with the ACC logo.
In July, this university will say goodbye to the ACC after nearly six decades as a member of the conference. With the Big Ten move come frequent promises from our administration that students, faculty and staff will immediately reap significant financial, research and institutional benefits of membership, from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation to the Big Ten Network.
But while new beginnings are causes for campus celebration, it’s worth noting the stakes are high. No matter the ruling in the ACC’s lawsuit against the university, the school likely will have to pay at least $20 million in conference exit fees.
Big money is sure to flow in from the conference move, but big money is also flowing out.
To further complicate matters, the university is recovering from a costly crime. In February, an unknown attacker stole almost 300,000 names, Social Security numbers and university ID numbers from what one former university contractor described as an insufficiently protected database. The university will fund a credit protection program and cybersecurity updates for years to come.
It’s important for every member of the university community to understand the real impact of these changes in the university’s bank account, and The Diamondback’s annual salary guide is here to start the conversation.
In the 36 printed pages, you’ll find a collective listing of the more than 12,000 people who work for this community, from the dining halls to the Main Administration Building.
Consider those who are paid the most and those who are paid the least. University President Wallace Loh’s base salary is $496,409, while those of some lecturers are less than $2,000. Some employees make a set salary; others work for an hourly wage.
To be honest, we spent more time laying out these pages than we did getting the content. The university provides this data to The Diamondback every year, via email, in a simple Excel file with no strings attached — a refreshing gesture in a time of increasing controls on press freedom in this country.
That being said, any information that you find in the following pages is provided as-is from the university and The Diamondback is unable to independently verify each of the thousands of entries.
The information we’re presenting isn’t secret or sensitive — it’s public, and everyone has a right to see it, though it may not always be clear where to find it. We put this guide out each year as a service to the community, so you can have it all in one place.
In addition to this printed copy, you can also find a searchable database of the same information in our salary guide section of the website.
As usual, we won’t tell you what to think of these numbers because we know they mean something different to everyone. However, we encourage you to reflect on how this information affects you.
Perhaps you’re satisfied with how much your professors, housekeepers and cooks are paid — that’s OK. Maybe you aren’t — that’s OK, too. This data is what you make of it, whether it’s motivation to support the school or a platform for asking for change.
It’s your choice, as it should be.
