>
> “The general rule of thumb is that when a president leaves, schools
> lose two to three years of momentum in their fundraising activities
> because donor relations have to re-established, so boards are incenting
> presidents to stay,” she said.
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>
This last point is dubious. Presidents rarely have a direct role in fundraising; often donor relations are nurtured and maintained despite (not because of!) the college president. Perhaps it's different in research universities, but at community colleges the loss of president has more or less no effect on donor relations, because the donors have relations with various representatives of the college, not just the president. Moreover, presidents often disrupt fundraising activities due to their own incompetence and/or malfeasance. --In sum: Apologists need to come up with some other bogus excuses for the inflation of Presidents' salaries.
Miles