In my view, US universities should be refocusing resources on the next generation of academic researchers. For example, they might consider a cap for salaries derived from university funds and repurpose these resources for support of junior faculty positions.

High salaries for administrative staff and senior faculty members contribute to the dearth of available university resources, sequestering tuition, philanthropic and grant-overhead monies. Administrators, as well as many senior scientists with minimal research, teaching or clinical responsibilities, can be paid extraordinarily high annual salaries of up to four times the US National Institutes of Health cap of US$185,100.

If a $350,000 cap on annual salaries for professors of all levels were imposed just within the University of California system (http://ucpay.globl.org), this would provide $175,309,313 (figures from 2014 statistics). Such a sum could fund more than 800 assistant-professor positions at about $200,000 per year.

Reallocating university resources in this way could create a more hopeful and sustainable future for the next generation of researchers and educators. Improving support for early-career researchers, who are fighting for their livelihoods, would also relieve one of the drivers for insufficient scientific rigour.