Should *public* university presidents be permitted to serve on corporate boards?

[BunsenBurner]

<p>From the morning paper:</p>

<p>

Moonlighting for most people might mean some extra cash to pay the rent or take that summer vacation. But for University of Washington President Mark Emmert, it means an extra $340,000 a year.</p>

<p>Emmert in recent months has quietly accepted two board positions at local Fortune 500 companies. The first, for freight company Expeditors International, pays $200,000 a year in company stock. The second, for Weyerhaeuser, pays $140,000 annually — $70,000 a year in cash and $70,000 in stock that Emmert can cash in after leaving the board.

</p>

<p>[Local</a> News | UW President Mark Emmert’s side jobs earn him big bucks | Seattle Times Newspaper](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004387276_emmert02m.html]Local”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004387276_emmert02m.html)</p>

<p>Sorry, could not resist posting this.</p>

[NotReady4Purple]

<p>Are you suggesting that no public employee should serve on a corporate board?</p>

<p>Or is it the magnitude of the $ in compensation that you would limit?</p>

<p>In the first case, you would disadvantage public institutions in their ability to hire when compared to their private counterparts. In the second case, the market seems to set the value of this.</p>

<p>As long as there is oversight and approval required (to prevent conflicts of interest), I don’t seen an issue.</p>

[barrons]

<p>No problem. It’s good to have public sector people hear some real world things every month. Many schools have similar deals.</p>