Board of Regents accepts Mason’s resignation

IOWA CITY - The Board of Regents might have formally accepted her resignation Tuesday, but University of Iowa President Sally Mason said she's got a lot of work planned for the next six months and will continue as a UI faculty member beyond that to help the campus transition.

For starters, Mason said, the university is nearing the end of an eight-year historic fundraising campaign aimed at generating $1.7 billion in private support by December 2016. The campaign to date has raised $1.4 billion, and Mason said she wants to make sure the university meets its goal.

'Let me be clear, I don't think I can raise $300 million in six months, but I'm sure going to give it my best,” Mason said. 'We're going to work very hard to complete that campaign by its end date.”

Mason last week announced plans to retire this summer, saying the timing is right both personally and professionally. The Board of Regents formally accepted her resignation Tuesday during a special meeting, where they also agreed to allow Mason to continue her employment as a tenured UI faculty member for one year and to grant her presidential emeritus status.

'My request to become emeritus president is so I can maintain my connection to the University of Iowa in perpetuity,” Mason said after the meeting. 'This has been a very very important part of my life.”

During the 'transition” year that will start when Mason's presidency ends July 31, she will continue to get the usual benefits and a salary equal to 60 percent of what she was earning as president.

Mason, who has been working without a contract on an at-will basis since her first five-year contract expired July 31, 2012, is making $525,828 this year. The board, for the 2012 budget year, authorized a new five-year deferred compensation plan through June 30, 2016, that made annual contributions of $25,000 in the first year and $150,000 in subsequent years.

Mason on Tuesday said that compensation package remains in place.

Regarding her transition year, Mason said she plans to stay 'as actively involved on the fundraising front as they want and need me to be until a new president is in place.”

She said her transition year won't include teaching, but she didn't rule that out for the future.

The Board of Regents also authorized its executive director to develop a process and timetable for a presidential search. Executive Director Bob Donley is charged with reporting progress related to the search at the regents' next meeting Feb. 4 and 5 in Cedar Falls.

Board President Bruce Rastetter said they're planning to use an outside firm to help conduct the presidential search, and the board office will move quickly to issue a request for proposals from potential firms.

The UI search process will follow a similar model as those recently used at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, both of which were successful, Rastetter said. But, he added, the search also will be distinct to UI's strengths and needs - including its graduate and professional programs and medical campus.

'We're not going to get in a hurry with this,” Rastetter said. 'We're going to take our time.”

That means the board could appoint an interim president until identifying a permanent replacement, he said. The search for both an interim and a permanent replacement will consider candidates within the university system and across the nation, Rastetter said.

Tuesday's meeting started in closed session for Mason's midyear performance evaluation. Last year, the board publicly criticized Mason for failing to adequately communicate with regents, but - after the board reconvened in open session Tuesday - Rastetter said the regents are 'very pleased” with Mason's progress on her goals.

Each member of the board thanked Mason for her service and lauded her accomplishments during her eight years, including her efforts to rebuild the campus after the Flood of 2008, her management through the recession, and her ability to fundraise.

Rastetter said Mason has 'set the stage and the foundation in a much better way than in 2007, in terms of the new president coming in with a university that's thriving and growing.”

Some mentioned her plans in the remaining six months on the job.

'You're going to have a really busy next seven months,” said Board President Pro Tem Katie Mulholland. 'It's wonderful to see that you're still going to push hard.”

Regent Bob Downer, who was on the board when Mason was hired as the UI's 20th president in 2007, said there are 'many aspects of her great career here about which I could speak.” But, he said, her leadership over the medical campus and UI Hospitals and Clinics stands out.

'She has done an exemplary job in that endeavor in every respect I can think of,” he said.

Regent Ruth Harkin addressed Mason's strength in fundraising.

'She knows how to close a deal,” Harkin said. 'That's not a skill everyone has.”

UI senior Hannah Walsh, the Board of Regents' student representative, told Mason that she wouldn't be sitting on the board without her guidance and help.

'I have had the opportunity to see you through different roles - as a colleague, as a teacher, and most notably as a role model,” Walsh said. 'Each perspective has provided me with deep respect for you.”