RPI's Jackson: "We try to be a good neighbor"
In a meeting with the Troy Record's editorial board, Shirley Ann Jackson addressed many of the ongoing story lines that involve RPI and the city: the relationship with city officials, the old Proctor's theater, the new president's house, the proposed public safety fee and the alert siren. From the article by Troy Record Jess:
Jackson was adamant that she didn't understand why city officials in Troy seem to direct so much ire toward RPI and her personally.
"We try to be a good neighbor," said Jackson. "We want to be helpful."
She believes the media's portrayal of her is unfair, and she said she would rather focus on the positive aspects of current town-gown relations.
Dr. Jackson has been the head of RPI for a decade. The RPI Board of Trustees recently "invited" her back for another 10 years.
She topped the pay chart for private college presidents in the 2007-2008 school year at almost $1.6 million, according to the Chronicle of Higher Ed (the school said last year she'd be donating five percent of her salary to a scholarship fund). A recent Bloomberg piece figured that she earned about $1.4 million serving on corporate boards last year.
Earlier on AOA:
+ Does Shirley Jackson have too many jobs?
+ Of loudspeakers and tweets
+ RPI building a new president's residence
+ RPI's Jackson tops compensation chart
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Comments
How pathetic.
Good neighbors don't lay off a hundred of employees at Christmas time.
... said Lu on Jul 12, 2010 at 8:38 PM | link
That a university president should be paid like a Fortune 500 CEO seems indicative of private secondary education losing the balance between its conflicting for-profit and altruistic goals. Undergrad tuition is just under $40K at RPI - $160K for an undergrad degree in just tuition.
... said IPR on Jul 12, 2010 at 8:52 PM | link
RPI is rich, and a private concern. Troy is poor, and a public concern. Unalike in every way but Zip code.
It's natural that Troy will angle for RPI money, and sometimes it works, and that's cool. But I've seen no reasonable (or unreasonable) calculation that the City is exploited by the school -- considering everything, or even just the obvious things.
That's probably because Troy isn't being exploited by RPI, but will take any guilt money it can get. Classy. Tired. Obvious. Dull.
LQ
... said Lou Quillio on Jul 13, 2010 at 12:16 AM | link
Good neighbors don't knock down perfectly lovely houses, even if they need to entertain large groups (or groups of dogs, as it happens to be in Saratoga). Sell it and move somewhere else! Horribly vain, wasteful, and un-neighborly.
... said philthyrex on Jul 13, 2010 at 1:32 AM | link
I just wanted to mention that in the article the house knocked down was said to have been dilapidated.
... said Jay Walker on Jul 13, 2010 at 8:40 AM | link
--Theodore Roosevelt, The Man in the Arena
Maybe, just maybe, Shirley Ann Jackson is that man.
... said Ed on Jul 13, 2010 at 8:45 AM | link
So, she went to the media to complain about how the media's portrayal of her was unfair? That makes perfect sense.
... said Jessica R on Jul 13, 2010 at 10:42 AM | link