UI vice president jumps on salary list

IOWA CITY - A University of Iowa vice president was the state's second-highest paid employee last year, with a hefty retention bonus spiking his pay to nearly $1.3 million.

UI head football coach Kirk Ferentz continues to be the state's top earner at $3.875 million, according to the state salary database released Tuesday.

Behind Ferentz - albeit by quite a jump - is Jean Robillard, UI vice president for medical affairs.

Robillard, who took the helm of the UI's medical campus in 2007, has a salary for this year of $589,050, but his total compensation for the year that ended June 30 was $1.28 million.

The leap in Robillard's pay came mostly from a one-time $579,000 retention bonus that was part of the contract he signed when he became dean of the UI's Carver College of Medicine in 2003, UI spokesman Tom Moore said.

Robillard also got a $112,000 incentive bonus for UI Health Care surpassing the budgeted 3 percent operating margin. University Hospital's margin for fiscal 2011 was 5.9 percent.

“It hinges on the performance of the health care enterprise,” Moore said. “It's not a guaranteed payment.”

Robillard made nearly three times the $486,000 salary of his boss, UI President Sally Mason, last year.

The state salary database, compiled by Iowa's Department of Administrative Services, includes more than 60,000 employees who work in all branches of state government.

Iowa's public universities and schools for the deaf and blind make up about two-thirds of the database. Student employees are also included.

Coaches and doctors are always at the top of the salary list. Many of the largest salaries are at least part private money.

Former UI basketball coach Todd Lickliter is ranked fourth in state pay with $883,333, despite being fired in March 2010.

The UI bought out Lickliter's contract for $2.4 million, to be paid in three installments, the first of which was made 30 days after he was fired. A second installment was paid June 30. The final payment will be paid in June 2012, which will make him one of the state's top earners again next year.

The first non-university employee in the database - coming in at 115th - is Melissa Bruhl, health services administrator for the Iowa Veterans Home Administration, who is paid $333,985.

Three other Veterans Home Administration employees, all doctors, were among the top 10 non-university staff included in the database.

Gov. Terry Branstad was paid $52,499 in fiscal 2011, for which he was only in office for six months. His annual salary is $130,000.

Below are the top 10 highest-paid state employees for Fiscal 2011:

1. Kirk Ferentz, University of Iowa head football coach, $3.86 million

2. Jean Robillard, UI vice president for medical affairs, $1.28 million

3. Paul Rhoads, Iowa State University head football coach, $1.1 million

4. Todd Lickliter, former UI head basketball coach, $883,333

5. Fran McCaffery, UI head basketball coach, $873,600

6. Fred Hoiberg, ISU head basketball coach, $808,333

7. Paul Rothman, UI dean of College of Medicine, $805,942

8. Mark Iannettoni, UI professor and head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, $780,323

9. Ken Kates, UI associate vice president of medical affairs, $719,666

10. James Davis, UI associate professor of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, $663,537

Check out the full database here, searchable by name, department, gender and county:

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