Regents approve 4 percent salary increase for Mason, Leath

University of Iowa President Sally Mason and Iowa State University President Steven Leath will see a 4 percent salary increase this year.

The state Board of Regents unanimously approved the pay increases during a meeting Thursday in Ames, after the board spent much of Wednesday in closed session for evaluation of the presidents at the UI, ISU and the University of Northern Iowa. The board also evaluated Patrick Clancy, who leads the two special schools overseen by the board, and Bob Donley, executive director of the regents office.

With the 4 percent pay increase for 2013-14, Mason's salary will be $513,003. Leath will earn $466,752. New UNI President Bill Ruud, who began in June, received no change to his salary of $340,000, since his compensation was just set upon his hire, regents said.

Mason and Leath also have deferred compensation packages, which were not changed. Mason gets $150,000 per year through 2016, and Leath gets $75,000 per year in deferred compensation.

Clancy, superintendent of the Iowa School for the Deaf and head of the statewide system for vision services, also received a 4 percent increase to his base pay, to $173,526. Clancy also was awarded a performance bonus of $10,000 by the board.

"We just felt that 4 percent is a reflection of our confidence that goals and objectives have been met," Regents President Bruce Rastetter said. "If they meet the goals and objectives of the board and continue to develop and grow the universities and the objectives that the board has, we're going to reward them and compensate them for that."

Donley saw no change to his salary, but gets a two-year deferred compensation plan running through Aug. 31, 2015 with an annual contribution of $50,000 in the first year and $75,000 in the second year. Donley also received a $5,000 performance incentive resulting from his Fiscal Year 2013 evaluation, and the opportunity to earn another $5,000 performance incentive after his FY 2014 evaluation.

The pay increase comes after a year that was at times tumultuous for Mason. It was revealed in December that Mason had been working on an at-will basis since Aug. 1, 2012. The board gave her a 2 percent raise last year after her annual evaluation, but her initial five-year contract expired July 31, 2012, and she has been an at-will employee ever since.

Mason has said that doesn't concern her, and that she is satisfied with her compensation package.

Rastetter today said the issue of contracts and at-will employment did not come up during the evaluation discussions. Leath and Ruud remain under the initial contracts in their positions.