The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that incoming UT-Austin President Gregory Fenves is turning down a salary offer of $1,000,000 because of concerns over the impact of such a salary in times of belt-tightening and budget cutting.  Lest ye feel too sorry for Fenves – don’t.  He apparently will still make in the neighborhood of $800,000 with bonuses and deferred pay.

Emails show the incoming president of the University of Texas at Austin declined a $1 million salary offer because he was concerned it could upset students and faculty at the school that has been stretched for funds in recent years.

“With many issues and concerns about administrative costs, affordability and tuition, such a salary will affect the ability of the president to work with the Texas Legislature on matters important to the university,” Gregory Fenves said in an email to Pedro Reyes, the UT System’s executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Fenves warned that the proposed paycheck would draw “widespread negative attention from students and faculty because of budget constraints seen in the last five years.” His email was obtained by the Austin American-Statesman through an open records request.

Fenves is expected to receive his requested base salary of $750,000 a year, making him an outlier in a field where salaries generally push north of seven figures.

Michael Young, who became president of Texas A&M University on May 1, is the highest-paid leader of a public academic institution in Texas. His total annual compensation is $1.4 million, including $1 million in base salary.