Politics on the Hudson

After media outlets were inquiring today about Eliot Spitzer’s pay as an adjunct professor at the City College of New York, the college announced this afternoon that Spitzer will donate the roughly $4,600 salary to the college’s scholarship program.

“We just heard from our president that Eliot Spitzer has decided to donate his salary for scholarships,” college spokesman Ellis Simon told Gannett’s Albany Bureau.

Simon said Spitzer, a millionaire, had initially intended to teach the political-science class pro bono, but was bound by union requirements to take a salary for the three-hour-a-week class.

The decision, however, comes after some readers have questioned why Spitzer was receiving the top-scale pay for an adjunct professor, even though he doesn’t have the prerequisite experience as a professor.

He is getting paid $98.43 an hour, the top pay rate for CUNY adjuncts. The salary goes to $107.04 next month.

Simon explained that the college has discretion in determining which step to start an adjunct professor. And with Spitzer’s experience, he was provided the top-tier salary.

“The colleges, when they hire someone, have the discretion to decide which step to start the professor off at,” Simon said. “And we’ve chosen to start Eliot Spitzer at the highest step, and when you consider his experience in public life and all the government experience he’s had, it’s really unparalleled.”

The Professional Staff Congress, which represents CUNY professors and staff, said he doesn’t take issue with Spitzer’s salary level, saying that it is in fact up to the college to set the rate based on their degrees and experience.

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