STUTTGART - The University of Arkansas board of trustees unanimously voted Thursday to increase system President Donald Bobbitt’s salary from $355,000 to $427,500 in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Trustees called the pay boost, which followed an employee evaluation, a vote of confidence in Bobbitt, who has led the state’s largest university system since November 2011.
Bobbitt, once a dean at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, returned to the UA System after working as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington. Because he had not been a chancellor or president, he accepted a lower starting salary at UA, Trustee Jim von Gremp of Rogers said in an interview.
“We found an exceptional person with a vision and a skill set to do the job,” he said. “He accepted the salary because he did not come up through the traditional system.”
The UA System president leads a group of campuses and units with an annual budget of about $2 billion. The system includes five universities, five community colleges, the Division of Agriculture, the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Bobbitt took the position upon the retirement of then President B. Alan Sugg, who had been in the position since 1990, the longest tenure of any president since the modern system was formed in 1969.
Bobbitt’s time at the system’s helm has been marked by a drive to increase online-education offerings and efficiency on its campuses. Trustees have praised the approach as a possible savings tool for universities, and as a way to recruit and graduate more students who may not be able to attend classes on campus.
Bobbitt’s new salary will be paid entirely from public funds in the system’s budget, UA System spokesman Ben Beaumont said.
State lawmakers set a maximum salary of $393,928 for the position in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, he said. State law allows universities to increase maximum salaries up to 25 percent for up to 10 percent of their employees.
Bobbitt said in an interview that he appreciated the “positive and constructive feedback” the board gave him in his review.
“I’m very appreciative of the support they’ve shown to me, before today in my hiring, and after today’s meeting in the decision that they made,” he said.
Bobbitt, who worked as a chemistry professor before he became an administrator, said he is driven to work in higher education because he sees it as a source of social mobility and stability.
“I believe that higher ed, going to college, changed my life,” he said, “and I believe that it is a tremendous benefit to U.S. society.”
When he retired, Sugg was earning $294,953 annually. For a portion of his time as system president, he was paid $150,000 in annual deferred compensation.
Arkansas State University System President Charles Welch’s salary is $290,700. That system includes Arkansas State University at Jonesboro and three community colleges.
G. David Gearhart, the chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, a part of the UA System, earns a salary of $320,000 a year and $225,000 in annual deferred compensation.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 05/24/2013