The board that governs the state’s three public universities has hired from within and devised a way to hike pay for the next executive director of the Board of Regents.
By state law, the executive director’s salary is capped at $154,300, but Mark Braun has been making $240,000 a year as the board’s chief operating officer. As the new executive director of the Board of Regents, Braun will get that annual base salary of $154,000, plus a $185,000 “recruitment incentive” will paid out in installments over the next 18 months.
Board of Regents president Michael Richards said other budget cuts have been made and a new chief operating officer will not be hired to replace Braun.
“We have a proposal that would bring approximately $300,000 of savings to the Board of Regents office,” Richards said during the board’s public meeting Thursday.
Braun’s new job — and pay plan — starts November 1. The Board of Regents will ask legislators to change the law so Braun’s base salary can be raised in the future.
Braun is a graduate of the University of Iowa. He was the university’s lobbyist at the state legislature for a decade and also served on former University of Iowa president Sally Mason’s staff. He has been the chief operating officer for the Board of Regents since December of 2015.