Posted on behalf of David H. Lissy ’87, Chair, Ithaca College Board of Trustees
I am writing to confirm the fact that former President Shirley M. Collado—as she had stated to the campus community on numerous occasions—did not receive any salary increase from fiscal year 2018-19 to fiscal year 2019-20.
The recent Ithacan article on her compensation contained errors, which has impugned her integrity and that of the board of trustees and has compelled me to respond to set the record straight.
Many of the assertions made in the article, starting with its headline, are simply wrong. These errors stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between a calendar year and a fiscal year, and how compensation is calculated in each. The story repeats these incorrect calculations and assumptions multiple times in its timeline of Dr. Collado’s presidency.
Despite the article’s claims, Dr. Collado’s base compensation did not increase from fiscal year 2018-19 to fiscal year 2019-20. There is no way to compare the college’s fiscal year compensation (July through June), which serves as the basis for all financial reporting at the college, to the calendar year compensation (January through December) amounts disclosed in IRS Form 990, and it is factually inaccurate to do so.
Further, it is simply false to say that she received a salary increase as she led the college through a pre-pandemic financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
I appreciate the opportunity to correct the record.
David H. Lissy ’87
Chair, Ithaca College Board of Trustees