OSU Board of Trustees meets to discuss presidential compensation, finalist fee reimbursement
The Oregon State University Board of Trustees discusses salary of the future OSU President on May 5 during a public Zoom meeting. The Board is working through presidential applicants and this Zoom meeting is another step in the process of finding the finalists for the position.
May 6, 2022
On May 5, members of Oregon State University’s Board of Trustees convened to discuss compensation for the next president and vote on fee reimbursement for finalist candidates.
While the board met to discuss compensation for OSU’s next president, they compared the salaries of presidents of research and land grant universities rather than making a specific decision on the compensation that the next president will receive, according to Steve Clark, the vice president of University Relations and Marketing.
Among the factors related to compensation was the importance of preventing any pay disparities that could be perceived as racial or sexist in nature.
A member of the OSU community and the United Academics of OSU Union said there should be more of a financial focus on paying those in charge of finding the next president.
The board also discussed during the meeting whether or not finalists should be reimbursed for the cost of professional advisor fees.
According to CEO of Brook Resources Corporation and chair of the board, Kirk Schueler, past presidential search candidates have been offered reimbursement for legal advising. Specifically, reimbursement was offered for Interim President Becky Johnson and former President F. King Alexander.
The motion in this session to look into reimbursing the finalist candidates for legal fees was struck down by eight of the trustees. This means the finalist candidates for the presidential position will not be reimbursed for their legal fees.
“I feel like, even in entertainment, it’s a similar deal with people in our industry where, when it comes to their legal fees, you cover your own,” said Lamar Hurd, a trustee and TV analyst for the Portland Trailblazers.
Following the public portion of the meeting session for the board was an executive discussion for the purpose of outlining the slate of semifinalists to be interviewed from May 7 to 9.
By May 9, according to Schueler, semifinalists will likely have been interviewed and a selection made about who should stay on campus for further interviews.
“We won’t announce who those are until late next week, [May] 19 or 20,” Schueler said.
