The board that governs the three state universities approved pay increases for the presidents of the three schools at their meeting in Ames Thursday. Board of Regents president, David Miles, says the presidents over the past couple of years have given up both bonuses and salary increases.
“We do need to acknowledge the hard work that has been put in by our presidents, so I am going to suggest that we do make restoration to the extent that we can,” Miles says. Miles said University of Iowa president, Sally Mason, has not had a salary increase in three years.
“So I am recommending to this board that we do increase her salary from $450,000 a year to $465,000, a $15,000 increase,” Miles says. The regents put a hold on Mason’s salary at $450,000 during her review in 2008 for her poor handling of the alleged sexual assault on campus by two former football players, but at the time say they had confidence in her for the future.
The board at that time agree to up Mason’s potential for performance bonuses from 50 to $80,000. The board Thursday did away with the performance bonuses for all three presidents.
Miles said Iowa State University president Greg Geoffroy and University of Northern Iowa president Ben Allen both requested no increase in their base salaries. The Regents did boosted both men’s deferred compensation — the annual payments into an account that they’ll collect if they remain in their jobs for specified years.
Geoffroy is now getting an extra $125,000 in deferred compensation over three years and Allen’s will double to $50,000 a year in the next two years. Geoffroy’s base salary remains at $423,316 and Allen’s remains at $320,000.
In other action by the regents, the board approved a study committee’s recommendations to decentralize the services for vision-impaired children that are at Vinton’s state school for the blind. The recommendation will now go to the Iowa legislature with a call for keeping the state funding, but with the services provided nearer the children’s parental homes.
On a split vote, the Regents approved a controversial project labor agreement for constructing a University Hospitals facility in Coralville. The no votes came from Regents Jack Evans, Craig Lang and Robert Downer.