William G. Tierney in The Chronicle of Higher Education: How scandal and severance enrich private-college presidents

Pullias co-director William G. Tierney was quoted in an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education titled “How scandal and severance enrich private-college presidents”:

But William G. Tierney, a professor and co-­director of the U. of Southern California’s Pullias Center for Higher Education, says governing boards need to better communicate with their college communities after presidential upheavals occur. Just as he would expect to be held to account for a decision that cost his university millions of dollars, Tierney says, boards should invite a similar public reckoning. Accountability exists at all levels, he argues, and everyone deserves to understand the way in which costly decisions came to be made.

It is hypocritical, Tierney argues, for boards to tamp down on raises for college staff members or to outsource certain functions while displaying no such reservations about how their institutions compensate chief executives they deem to have failed. “That doesn’t stand the laugh test,” he says.

Cotton and Tierney agree, though, that boards should come to agreements with presidents on severance compensation near the beginning of their tenure — long before any scandal or deterioration of the relationship makes the task of university administration unworkable.

Read the full article at The Chronicle of Higher Education. Tierney is an expert on higher education policy analysis, governance, and administration; his research interests pertain to faculty productivity, decision making, organizational re-engineering, and issues of equity.