There's a powerful man roaming campus.
He's given thousands of dollars each year for the upkeep of his Audi. He makes more money than the governor.
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released the salaries of every university president in the nation.
Guess who tops the list in Florida.
UF President Bernie Machen's base salary is ,411,037, according to the Chronicle's report.
On top of that, he gets a ,7,888 allowance for his car, ,22,924 for retirement pay, a ,75,000 annual bonus and a ,210,000 retention bonus.
All together, he gets ,726,849.
That's about ,25,000 more than Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell and ,593,917 more than Gov. Charlie Crist, who makes ,132,932 a year.
"It's a lot of money, you know?" Machen said after a meeting of UF's Faculty Senate on Thursday afternoon. "I feel, in some ways, lucky."
Machen flipped through the Chronicle's report, grinning and pointing when he found the page listing him as the sixth-highest-paid leader of public universities nationwide.
David P. Roselle, president of the University of Delaware makes the most - ,874,687 a year.
"Are university presidents worth that kind of money?" Machen asked with a laugh.
As for how it feels to make more than the governor, Machen just smiled.
"You're going to have to ask him how he feels," he said.
Each year, Machen gets a raise of about 2 to 3 percent, the same raise the rest of UF's faculty and administrators receive, said Dianna Morgan, chairwoman of UF's Board of Trustees.
The board serves as the university's highest governing body.
"It's all based on a market analysis to ensure we're paying our president fairly," Morgan said.
However, Machen said this year, he's making the same amount he made last year.
According to state law, only ,225,000 of Machen's salary can come from state-appropriated funding, Morgan said.
The rest is funded by UF's athletic program and the UF Foundation, the institution that handles donations to UF, she said.
"When you think about the fact that UF is a ,4.3 billion enterprise rivaling some of the largest companies in the nation, it's a very complex institution," Morgan said.
Given UF's wide scope of educational programs, as well as a major health science program and hospital, she said Machen's compensation is appropriate.
The board determined his salary by researching similar institutions in the nation and in the state, Morgan said.
She said parts of his salary are only paid if he meets certain goals, which are laid out by the board.
Most of Machen's goals this year were focused on cutting universitywide costs and reducing the budget.
UF has to cut ,34 million from its budget because of a recent tax-revenue shortfall.
His contract covers five years with a provision to extend it for an additional three, Morgan said.
Machen assumed his position at UF in January 2004.
Given UF's recent budget woes, Morgan said it's even more important to have a competent president.
She added that UF would not consider lowering Machen's salary to compensate for budget shortfalls.
"When times are tough, as they are, I think it's more important that you have great leadership," Morgan said. "That's when you need the very best."
