Regents executive director received $21,000 in tuition assistance

If the North Dakota University System chooses the executive director of Iowa's Board of Regents as its next leader, he either will have to repay some tuition assistance he received toward his doctoral degree or remain with the board office until December.

Since his appointment as Board of Regents executive director in May 2008, Robert Donley has received $21,673.04 from the state to help cover tuition and book costs associated with his pursuit of a doctorate of higher education administration from Northeastern University in Boston.

Donley has earned the doctorate, which officially will be conferred April 16. Last month, the North Dakota system named him among eight finalists for chancellor.

Regent policy requires any staff member who receives reimbursement for tuition to remain an employee after receiving 'such benefit for a period of one month for every unit of credit earned or to repay to the state of Iowa such compensation as the staff member shall have received.”

The board office didn't provide the number of credits Donley earned, but reported the assistance he received in the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 budget years.

According to Aimee Claeys, associate counsel for the board, Donley has satisfied the terms of all the requirements except the final one, dated Dec. 18, 2014, for $5,164.

If he leaves his post before December, he must pay back about $430 a month until then. He also could lose a two-year, $125,000 deferred compensation plan approved last summer.

In the 2014 budget year, Donley earned a salary of $154,300, according to Claeys. That is the maximum allowed for his position under Iowa Code and regents policy. He also received a board-approved retention incentive of $5,000.

'Dr. Donley received exactly what he was contractually owed, plus a $5,000 bonus,” Claeys said in an email.

The state salary book lists Donley's 2014 gross pay as $164,386.66. Claeys said the 'appearance of an overpayment” is due to the board office changing from a biweekly to a monthly pay period.

'The discrepancy in the state salary book gross pay reporting is merely a reflection of how the payroll periods fell,” she wrote.

According to the salary book. Donley earned gross pay of $161,774 in the 2013 budget year and $164,050 the year before.

Claeys said that in 2013, Donley received a $5,000 incentive and took a vacation payout of 40 hours. 'These two factors account for the additional amounts reported as paid in FY13 in the state salary book,” according to Claeys. 'We have not run the numbers for FY 2012, although I anticipate a similar explanation.”

Donley remains one of seven finalists for the chancellor position after one dropped out.

Former Chancellor Hamid Shirvani agreed to step down amid complaints about his treatment of staff and questions about his compliance with open-meeting laws once the State Board of Higher Education said it would buy out his contract.

He earned base pay of $349,000 in 2013 the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

The board there is expected to narrow its list of finalists on April 14.

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