I don't understand why they were paid a percentage of their base pay. Surely if you teach a summer class you'd be putting in X amount of hours (including class preparation, marking, face time with students etc), therefore you'd get paid for those hours. The amount could be adjusted according to seniority/difficulty, but basically the professor is offering a particular product which attracts a particular price.
(Emily Bruce-Dickinson http://jovialfellow.blogspot.com/, Fri 4 Mar 2011, 5:18, 1 reply)

The time put in by a professor is actually pretty significant.
If I were to break down my wife's time into hourly wage, she'd only be making about $15 to $20 per hour. She spends godawful amounts of time in meetings, with students, grading, preparing lectures and so on. I would guess that she typically puts in about 60 to 80 hours per week.

They have to pay a flat amount for a class taught over the summer. As the guys making $150K and up would find it insulting to work for the same amount as the guys making only about $40K, they base it on percentage of annual salary. To an academic these sorts of politics are IMPORTANT, as they deserve some RESPECT for their position.

Me, I think they should pay a flat fee to all of them, prides be damned. But hey, what do I know? I'm just an engineer.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 4 Mar 2011, 13:49, closed)