Concordia President Received 10 Per Cent Salary Increase
Here’s How Much Senior Administration Members Made Last Year
In the 2021-2022 academic year, Concordia President Graham Carr received a salary increase of $40,753, which is 9.56 per cent more than he made the year prior. In total, the president’s salary came out to $466,882, including other taxable amounts.
Concordia submitted its annual financial report to Quebec’s National Assembly on Feb. 8. The document was not made available on the government’s website until early March.
These new records show how much the salaries of Concordia’s senior administration members increased over the past year.
The three administration officials who received the largest pay increases last year were Dean of Graduate Studies Effrosyni Diamantoudi, whose basic salary went from $185,714 to $253,679; Vice-President of University Advancement Paul Chesser, whose basic salary went from $227,739 to $311,478; and President Graham Carr, whose basic salary went from $424,423 to $464,830.
Chesser’s pay increase was partially because of a retroactive correction made to his salary, and Diamantoudi’s pay increase was because of her transition from interim dean to dean, which included additional compensation, according to Concordia Spokesperson Vannina Maestracci.
2021-2022 Senior Administration Salaries
- Graham Carr, President: $464,830 (+ $2,052 in other taxable amounts)
- Michael Di Grappa, VP Services and Sustainability: $344,760 (+ $3,985 in other taxable amounts)
- Anne Whitelaw, Provost: $345,000 (+ $3,533 in other taxable amounts)
- Effrosyni Diamantoudi, Graduate Studies Dean: $253,679 (+ $77,956 in other taxable amounts)
- Paula Wood-Adams, VP Research: $290,237 (+ $38,847 in other taxable amounts)
- Mourad Debbabi, Gina Cody Dean: $297,759 (+ $20,315 in other taxable amounts)
- Frederica Jacobs, Secretary-General: $307,469 (+ $6,924 in other taxable amounts)
- Paul Chesser, VP Advancement: $311,478 (+ $2,445 other taxable amounts)
- Denis Cossette, Chief Financial Officer: $305,260 ( + $6,869 other taxable amounts)
- Anne-Marie Croteau, JMSB Dean: $305,256 (+ $2,892 other taxable amounts)
- Philippe Beauregard, Chief Communications Officer: $294,426 (+ $2,280 other taxable amounts)
- Pascale Sicotte, Arts and Science Dean: $293,026 (+ $1,870 other taxable amounts)
- Guylaine Beaudry, University Librarian: $257,835 (+ $24,391 other taxable amounts)
- Annie Gérin, Fine Arts Dean: $245,932 (+ $1,425 other taxable amounts)
- William Cheaib, VP International: $238,172 (+ $1,425 other taxable amounts)
The Quebec government is responsible for setting salary increase rates for senior administration officials in universities.
“The Politique Salariale Gouvernementale released in 2022 set the annual salary increase to 2 [per cent] for that year and the two previous years (2020, 2021) which was applied in the 2022 salary reviews. This means there was a retroactive element to the 2022,” Maestracci told The Link.
However, some of Concordia’s unions and associations have raised an eyebrow at a few senior members’ salary increases.
According to the Concordia University Faculty Association, faculty members’ raises were set at 2.6 per cent for the 2021-2022 year based on its current collective agreement. That rate has been slightly lowered to 2.4 per cent for the 2022-2023 year.
Léa Roboam, CUFA’s communication officer, spoke to The Link after being made aware of the increases. She said the association is keeping an eye on the rates at which senior administration’s salaries are growing.
“CUFA always checks the administrative salary increases and uses this data in formulating their salary proposals when negotiating the next Collective Agreement. We will do the same thing this year,” said Roboam.
For the Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia union, these increases are problematic. “This report shows that all the fearmongering from the Concordia management about the need for budget austerity is nothing but smoke and mirrors,” TRAC Bargaining Officer Mya Walmsley said.
Walmsley expressed how TAs and RAs routinely work beyond their contract hours to ensure students get the quality education they deserve, living paycheck to paycheck with no guarantee they will have a job the following semester.
“This situation is not sustainable,” Walmsley continued, “and the university must commit to making radical changes to our collective agreement at our upcoming bargaining table to ensure a pay rise above inflation, job security, and health and safety standards.”
“If Graham Carr can afford to give himself a 10 per cent pay increase in a single year, there is no reason why all staff across the university should not be offered the same, if not more, as well as substantial improvements to our working conditions,” Walmsley added. Despite the increase being retroactive since 2020, Walmsley still feels the scales are tipped against workers.
“This should permanently put an end to the argument that the university does not have enough money to properly fund quality education and working conditions for everyone," added Walmsley.
Both CUFA and TRAC will be heading into negotiations for better pay and working conditions in June.
A previous article stated Concordia did not specifically address Graham Carr's increase. The Link regrets this error.
