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Posts Tagged ‘Dr. Jackson’

Times Union Features Dr. J’s Income

February 16th, 2010

Another Times Union Headline for RPI

The Times Union must have it out for RPI… or at least have their eye on us.  Last week, I reported that RPI made headlines a couple of times.  I figured the TU probably got their fill, but I guessed wrong!

This morning’s Capital Region section of the Times Union features a headline that says “Board posts pay big” with the subtitle “RPI President supplements $1.6 million salary with $1.3 million serving on boards.”

This isn’t really news to RPI students, who have heard this number before.  What is interesting is the following:

In the past, being a board member had been seen as a title rather than an actual job, according to the story.  But the role of corporate directors has grown, and their duties average 225 hours annually.  Directors attend an average of six board meetings a year, as well as other meetings.

RPI issued a statement defending the President’s record and pointing to her accomplishments during her tenure in office.

If Dr. Jackson serves on six boards (Public Service Enterprise Group, NYSE Euronext, Medtronic, FedEx, IBM, and Marathon Oil) at 225 hours apiece, that adds up to 1350 hours per year. A standard workweek (40 hours x 52 weeks) is 2080 hours per year.  That leaves 730 hours, or 18.25 work weeks left for RPI.

Of course, we know that Dr. J works way beyond the typical 9-5, but it’s still food for thought.

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Uh, no you don’t!

February 4th, 2010

RPI recently submitted the plans for Dr. Jackson’s new house to the city in order to try and gain a zoning exception that would allow the planned 9,000 square foot structure to be built. The current zoning in the area limits structures to 25 ft tall, while the plans have the new presidential home somewhere between 41 and 44 feet tall.

The Zoning Board of Appeals denied the request. “I wonder how RPI, which is known for its engineers, why someone couldn’t present a proposal that fits inside the city limits” ZBA Chairman Jay Vandenburgh said (with what we can only imagine as a bit of snark.) This isn’t the death knell for the house, but there is no word on whether RPI will change the plans, or try some politicking in order to get the zoning variance.

More at the Times Union here.

An earlier TU story drew attention to the discrepancy between the desired height and zoned height cap. Guess who was quoted? This blog.

And as always, if you’d like to join the Facebook group (or become a fan in this case) to show your support for the latest criticism-du-jour of RPI, that can be found here.

photo from here

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List of Things More Pressing Than a House for the President

January 18th, 2010
I started this list in December, and it fell to the wayside a little bit, but I think it’s still relevant.  In December the Board of Trustees released information that they were all contributing money to build a new house for the President. Along with many other students, we think that this shows just how out of touch the Board really is with the needs of this Institute.  To prove it, here’s a list of things more pressing than a house for Dr. Jackson.  Feel free to add to it with comments.
  1. New chairs in the DCC
  2. New classrooms in Ricketts
  3. Housing for the sophomores so that upperclassmen aren’t forced off campus
  4. More parking for students
  5. The ‘86 field renovations
    Read more…

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Guerilla art for Dr. Jackson

January 6th, 2010

This news isn’t exactly hot off the presses, but around November 28th or so, someone decided to get crafty and send a message (with a bit of sarcasm) to Dr. Jackson via the steps of the Troy building:


More after the jump.
Read more…

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BREAKING NEWS: New Presidential Home to Be Constructed

December 7th, 2009

The email below was just sent to the Rensselaer Community at approximately 4 PM today.  The President will be getting a new home as a result of personal gifts from members of the Board of Trustees to put on more university events.  The funds would not have been available for any other purpose, so no “we could have spent it on” from students, please!

Feel free to post a comment with your thoughts!

To:   The Rensselaer Community
From: William N. Walker, Vice President
Strategic Communications and External Relations
Date: December 7, 2009
Re:   Gift from the Board of Trustees

The following article, describing a commitment made by the Board of
Trustees at its meeting in Troy December 4, has been prepared for the
December 11 issue of Inside Rensselaer. I am sharing it in advance with
the Rensselaer community at the request of Samuel Heffner, Chairman of
the Board of Trustees.

———————————————————————

The members of the Rensselaer Board of Trustees have made a commitment
of their personal resources to construct a new building that will serve
as a space for entertaining visitors to the university, and as a
residence for the president.

Read more…

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You Still Have a Chance to See Aretha!

December 3rd, 2009

According to the email from William Walker below, tickets to the Aretha Franklin show at EMPAC tomorrow (12/4) may be available, if any are not picked up by those who already have theirs reserved.  How do you get them?  Show up at the EMPAC box office at 7:30 PM.  Same deal for Joshua Bell on Saturday night.   Those of you who are going, enjoy this weekend!

To:   The Rensselaer Community
From: William N. Walker, Vice President,
Strategic Communications and External Relations
Date: December 2, 2009
Re:   Celebration Weekend Update

In a few days, the university community will come together for
“Celebration Weekend: A Tribute to the Transformation of Rensselaer.”
The program presents a special opportunity for our community to
highlight our achievements during the first decade of The Rensselaer
Plan.

On December 4 and 5, a series of events will provide members of the
community with opportunities to celebrate the transformation of
Rensselaer through presentations, tours, and interactive sessions with
faculty, students, and administrators, and visiting artists showcasing
breakthroughs in Rensselaer research and learning environments. We also
will recognize the achievements of President Jackson and members of the
Institute community who have worked to implement The Rensselaer Plan.

Read more…

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RPI Holds Fall Town Hall Meeting Today

November 4th, 2009

Today at 1 PM in EMPAC, Dr. Jackson will be hosting RPI’s annual fall Town Hall Meeting.  Dr. Jackson will present about the current state of the school, and typically takes questions from those present in the audience.  Nothing too new is expected as far as we know, but there is a group of students (well, a Facebook group at least…) that is planning to ask politely about foreign languages and to stand up to show their support.  Politeness gets you a long way at RPI, so kudos to these students for realizing that and using it to take action on a tangible campus issue.

See you at EMPAC at 1!

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Updated: RPI Finally Ranks #1 Nationally

November 2nd, 2009

We have left the original post intact, and added clarification at the bottom of the article. Please read both parts.

We couldn't resist...

We couldn't resist...

$1,598,247

(approximately)

Or, the full tuition of 41.94874 students.

That’s how much Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, our beloved President, received in compensation for the fiscal year running 2007-2008. That’s the highest in the nation among university presidents.   This made a big news splash today because of a report published by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The story was picked up by The New York Times, Bloomberg, the Huffington Post, All Over Albany, and many more media outlets, because it far exceeds the median average salary of college presidents, which is currently $358,746.

The Chairman of the RPI (well, technically Rensselaer) Board of Trustees also released a statement today on behalf of the board, defending their decision to set her salary at such a high rate, claiming that “Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson’s leadership embodies prescient vision, meticulous strategic planning, and persistent implementation.”  We’re not sure about that, but we do know one thing: Sam Heffner has a thesaurus with some pretty good adjectives.

Read more…

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RPI to host The Queen (of Soul)

October 24th, 2009
I wonder what hat she'll be wearing in December!

I wonder what hat she'll be wearing in December!

We have received a forward of an exciting email from a club president.  Aretha Franklin, “The Queen of Soul” will be performing on campus on December 4th as a part of “Celebration Weekend,” a “Tribute to the Transformation of Rensselaer.” The weekend also celebrates a the 10th anniversary of Dr. Jackson’s tenure at RPI. In 2008, Franklin was ranked #1 on Rolling Stone’s list of The Greatest Singers of All Time.

You could say Franklin’s paying her R-E-S-P-E-C-Ts to our fine school.

This is really exciting, more details sure to follow!

photo: flickr user bo_mackinson

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Updated From the Archives: Welcome

September 28th, 2009

We’re going on week 5 of the semester (6 for you freshmen), and as I was going through my email archives, found a “Welcome back to campus” email from Dr. Jackson sent at the beginning of last fall. For those freshmen who weren’t privy to this email last year, I have included it below, with a few updates.

TO: The Rensselaer Community
FROM: Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.
President and Professor of Physics
DATE: September 2, 2008 September 28, 2008
SUBJECT: Welcome

Read more…

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