Board of Regents postpone presidential salary decisions

Despite spending more than four hours behind closed doors Friday to evaluate its executive director and the presidents of Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, the Board of Regents emerged without setting salaries or goals for the coming year.

The board had planned to - and typically does - approve compensation for its institutional heads and executive director at its June meeting, but regents President Bruce Rastetter on Friday instead announced the board will wait 'until a later date to allow additional time to determine appropriate levels of compensation and to determine performance goals for the coming year.”

Rastetter did not give a reason for the delay. When asked whether the decision to wait was related to the University of Iowa's search for a new president, which is expected to continue into September, he declined to comment.

During the regents meeting Thursday, Rastetter also declined to commit to a tuition rate for the entire 2015-16 academic year because the legislative session had not yet ended and the governor had not approved a final budget. Rastetter committed to freezing tuition for the fall semester for resident undergraduates but said the board won't confirm a rate for the spring until knowing how much state support to expect for the 2016 budget year.

Board spokeswoman Sheila Koppin did not give a possible date the board will determine compensation and set goals for the 2016 budget year, which begins July 1.

Last year at its June meeting, the board approved a five-year contract and a 7.1 percent raise for ISU President Steven Leath, bringing his base salary from $466,752 to $500,000. UI President Sally Mason received a 2.5 percent salary boost - bringing her base pay from $513,003 to $525,828.

And UNI President William Ruud was given a 2.5 percent increase, moving his salary from $340,000 to $348,400.

Mason was not scheduled for an evaluation this week because she went through her review in January after announcing plans to retire July 31. At that time, the board accepted her resignation and approved a transition year beginning Aug. 1 that will provide her the same benefits and a salary equal to 60 percent of what she earned as president.

In 2012, the board authorized a five-year deferred compensation plan through June 30, 2016, for Mason that made annual contributions of $25,000 the first year and $150,000 in subsequent years, and that package remains in place.

Robert Donley, the board's executive director, earned a salary of $154,300 in the 2014 budget year, according to the Board of Regents Office. The state salary book lists Donley's 2014 gross pay as $164,386, but the board office has said the 'appearance of an overpayment” is the result of changing from a biweekly to a monthly pay period.

Last year, the board awarded Donley a performance incentive of $5,000 for his 2014 evaluation and put in place a $5,000 incentive for 2015. He received a deferred compensation plan beginning July 1 and ending Aug. 31, 2016, for $25,000 in year one and $100,000 in year two.

Earlier this year, Donley was among three finalists to lead the North Dakota University System, but the State Board of Higher Education announced in April it chose someone else for the job.