President Mark Hamilton earned $265,750 last year, the second highest salary for any Alaska state executive, a new state finance report says.

UAF Chancellor Steve Jones ranked third, with $245,741. The University of Alaska spent over $1.5 million paying its executive officers, more than any other state department, according to the report.

The highest paid state executive was Patrick Gamble, president and chief executive officer of the Alaska Railroad Corporation, who pulled in a $274,865 salary, the report says. UAA Chancellor Elaine Maimon ranked fourth, with $210,867.

The report, released by the state Division of Finance on Tuesday, details the compensation and travel of Alaska's public executives in 2005. The report comes amidst national concern over the ballooning size of college executives' salaries.

Paul Layer, president of the UAF Faculty Senate, said while Hamilton and Jones' pay "seem high," their salaries should be compared to national trends.

"It's a tough question," Layer said. "You could go with your gut and say it's high, but you have to look at how it compares to the market."

Nationally, executives at public higher education institutions earned a median salary of $360,000 in 2005, according to a survey by The Chronicle for Higher Education.

Regents raised Hamilton's pay last year, pegging it at 90 percent of the national median salary for university presidents. Hamilton's pay this year reflected his previous contract's base salary of $250,000.

Next year could bring a big payday for Hamilton, with reports estimating that his salary could jump to almost $300,000. Tuesday's report, however, shows Hamilton earned just $3,750 more than last year.

Chancellor Jones' salary matches the average salary for chancellors at peer universities at the time he was hired in 2004.

UAF faculty members earn about one-fourth of Jones' salary, according to a recent study. Rough data compiled by the Faculty Senate's Committee on the Status of Women shows that men earn $63,914 on average while women pull in $53,371.

Joe Beedle, vice-president for finance, pulled in $158,820, Wendy Redman, vice-president of university relations, got $157,336, and Jim Johnsen, vice-president of faculty and staff relations, earned $145,118, the report says.

UA executives also spent over $184,000 on airfare, hotels, and other travel costs, according to the finance report.

Jones spent $29,714 on travel, the report says, more than any other UA executive. He went to Japan for a week in July for $5,454 to visit Hokkaido University and other institutions, according to the report. A weeklong trip to talk up potential donors in New York and Massachusetts cost $2,200, the report says.

Hamilton, whose travel cost $27,137, left the state only twice, the report says.

A trip to lobby Alaska's congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., cost $2,721, according to the report. UA also covered the bill when Hamilton went to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., to deliver a keynote speech. Total cost: $1,273.

UAA's Chancellor Maimon went to a conference on global university ethics in London, England, costing the university $1,624, according to the report. UAA also spent $190 to send her to a June athletics summit in Orlando, Fla., and $1,747 so she could attend an August meeting in Hawaii, the report says.

UAS Chancellor John Pugh's highest price trips were to conferences in Quebec, Canada, and Phoenix, Ariz., costing $ 2,791 and $2,875, respectively.

Complete analysis of Pugh's travel was not initially possible as the report only detailed his trips after May. Finance division and university staff were unable to explain why earlier trips did not make it into the report. UAS spokesperson Kevin Meyers supplied the missing data.

Craig Dorman, vice-president of statewide research, made three trips to Tampa, Fla., to attend board of directors meetings for Maritrans, Inc., a national marine carrier, the report says. Dorman, who earned $174,097, holds over $500,000 worth of shares in the company, according to SEC filing data.

Maritrans reimbursed the university for his travel expenses, the report says.

Dorman also went on a $5,406 trip to China in April for an arctic science summit and to visit two research universities, according to the report.

As normal, Hamilton and the three chancellors received money for vehicles, the report says. The report does not detail their vehicles' values like it does for other officials.

Hamilton, Jones and Maimon also receive free housing.