DeCROCE: HOW MANY STUDENTS COULD ATTEND RUTGERS FOR $195,000?

DeCROCE: HOW MANY STUDENTS COULD ATTEND RUTGERS FOR $195,000? SALARY OF NEW DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS IS RIDICULOUS

With the announcement last week that Rutgers University had hired a deputy director of athletics at an annual salary of $195,000, plus other perks, Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce strongly criticized the appointment as further evidence that the university is impervious to the concerns of taxpayers and doesn’t get the big picture.

“I have extreme reservations regarding the offer extended to the candidate who will oversee the budget of the Rutgers Athletic Department,” stated DeCroce, who represents Morris and Passaic Counties.  “With the financial situation surrounding New Jersey, and given the recent tuition increases at Rutgers, I cannot believe that a viable candidate could not have been recruited for far less than the salary that was determined.  Quite a few students would be able to attend Rutgers based on the salary of this newly created job.  In addition, I am also perplexed over the need to give the incumbent a $12,000 car allowance.  The search committee at the university must have spent quite a bit of time sorting through the avalanche of applications for a position with such generous compensation and benefits.  When will Rutgers realize the ongoing public relations nightmare it has created and correct it?” questioned DeCroce.

The deputy athletic director job was created in response to criticism regarding the athletic department’s lack of transparency, lax fiscal oversight, and little accountability from the athletic director.  According to news reports, the deputy director will report to the university’s senior vice president for finance, but his direct supervisor will be the A.D.

“I am dumbfounded that given the results by state auditors and the university itself, that this position will be supervised by the Athletic Director,” continued DeCroce. “Apparently no one at the university attends any of its classes on organizational structure.  If they did, they would certainly question the advisability of having this position be overseen by someone who has been chastised for the athletic department budget as was cited by the auditors, and the reason that this new position was created in the first place.  Taxpayers and students deserve better than the response given to this problem by the state university.”

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