Seminole State chief gets new contract

Agreement includes extended pay, free car

When longtime Seminole State College president Ann McGee decides to retire, she will get a full year’s salary after she’s gone, a job at a full professor’s pay, a free car and as many as 108 bonus vacation days.

Those are key components of a new contract that school trustees approved last week as they prepare for the transition from the 67-year-old Ann McGee’s leadership at the college, which has about 30,000 students on four campuses.

“Her contract reflects exactly the value of Dr. McGee and what she brings to the college,” said Seminole trustee vice chair Scott Howat, chief communications officer for the Orange County school district.

In the new contract, McGee, the school’s leader since 1996, got a 16 percent pay increase to $303,916 for the next three years as president. She is also eligible for up to $15,000 in performance bonuses.

In an interview, she said she has no immediate plans to retire.

“I love this community,” Mc-

Gee said. “I love this job.”

She said she also thinks it’s an important time to stay at the college with the threat of major financial cuts coming from the state.

The new contract would keep McGee as president for up to the next three years and then create a “president emeritus” position for her in the following two years.

With that title, McGee will go on a one-year sabbatical while still receiving her presidential salary. With the next president’s approval, McGee could stay at the college the following year to do fund raising and work with retired employees.

She would receive a paycheck that couldn’t be less than the maximum salary for a full-time faculty member with a doctorate, the contract says. That number is $98,615 annually, according to the school.

Like many presidents at universities and state colleges, McGee drives a school car as part of her compensation package. Within six months before she retires, the school will transfer the 2015 Hyundai Genesis “free and clear of any encumbrances” to McGee, and the car’s fair market value will be reported as additional compensation under the IRS tax codes, according to the contract.

McGee said the school would pay off the lease, but she would be responsible for paying the taxes.

Under her new contract, she will receive up to 90 days of paid time off every year — 20 personal days, 10 days for consulting, 24 vacation days and up to 36 bonus vacation days on top of the regular holidays. Every year, she qualifies for bonus vacation time based upon her job evaluations.

That additional time is important, because the college must pay McGee for all the unused paid time off and sick time within 45 days of her retirement.

James Finkelstein, a recently retired public policy professor at George Mason University who studied more than 100 university presidents’ contracts with his colleague Judith Wilde, said the payout for all the paid leave is “among the most generous we have seen if not the most generous we have seen.”

He added it was unusual for a school to transfer a car title to a president.

Howat said McGee is well-deserving of the benefits in her contract, especially since she often works 60 to 80 hours a week and needs time to re-energize.

“When you’re president of a college, it’s 24-7,” he said. “It’s not a 40-hour week, five days a week.”

McGee pointed to other state college leaders who she said have similar contracts.

“If you look at the contracts for other presidents, you'll see there’s nothing out of the ordinary with this contract,” she said. “The board did not do this contract in a vacuum.”

For instance, Daytona State College will allow President Thomas LoBasso to keep his school car when he resigns if he’s worked there for four years, according to his contract that pays him $265,000 a year.

Valencia College President Sandy Shugart, who oversees about 70,000 students and is paid $328,048 annually, gets 28 days of paid study leave and 12 days of paid professional leave in his contract.

Howat said McGee has accomplished much in her 21 years at Seminole State.

Under her tenure, the community college now offers six bachelor’s degrees in addition to associate’s degrees. The college grew from one campus to four sites, and its foundation endowment jumped from $1 million to $30 million.

“She continues to accelerate and push forward. You can see it, you can feel it,” Howat said. “I hope she never leaves, but I know one day she inevitably will.”