Dive Brief:

• Kentucky State University Interim President Raymond Burse asked for his pay to be cut about $90,000 so 24 employees could be paid more.
• The employees in question were among the lowest paid at KSU, with some making as little as $7.25 an hour.
• Burse's salary will now stand at $259,744, compared to the $349,869 that the Board of Regents initially intended to pay him "in recognition of his skills, talents and ability," according to Chairwoman Karen Bearden.

Dive Insight:

This is a change of pace from the typical stories of high administrative pay or extravagant use of finances by administrators. (That's not to say stories like this one from Kentucky State University aren't common — they just don't get as much of the spotlight.) Burse took the reins in June and his recognition of the low pay for some in the campus' most labor-intensive positions should bode well for what can be expected of his leadership at the historically black university.