URI basketball coaches, president highest-paid state employees in R.I.
PROVIDENCE — University of Rhode Island men’s basketball coach Ryan “Archie” Miller topped the list of the highest-paid state employees in 2023, taking home $1.4 million, according to state data released Dec. 28.
Marc B. Parlange, who became URI’s president in 2021, was the second-highest earner, receiving $623,846 — less than half of what the men’s basketball coach earned. And URI women’s basketball coach Tammi M. Reiss rose to the third-highest paid state employee, receiving $449,132.
URI employees accounted for five of the top 10 highest-paid Rhode Island employees this year. The top 10 also included a doctor and two nurses at the state-run Eleanor Slater Hospital and two state Department of Corrections officers.
The Globe asked the Department of Administration for information on the 100 top earners on the state payroll in 2023. With a salary of $163,295, Governor Daniel J. McKee did not make the list.
Miller, the former head coach at Indiana University, took over the men’s basketball program in 2022 after URI fired David Cox. In doing so, he took over the title of highest-paid state employee. A five-year contract calls for paying him $1.4 million per year for two years, followed by $1.9 million a year for three years, the university confirmed.
Reiss, the URI women’s basketball coach, has seen her income jump from $190,000 in 2020, to $265,384 in 2021, to $380,653 in 2022, and now to $449,132.
“Nationally, it is common for basketball coaches at Division I institutions to be among a state’s highest-paid employees,” URI spokesperson Dave Lavallee said. “Coach Miller’s pay includes his base salary, fees for appearance and participation in events and functions, a portion of gate receipts for home games, and other categories of pay. Coach Reiss continues to lead the women’s basketball team to new levels of success and national recognition, including an Atlantic 10 regular season cochampionship last season.”
The other URI employees in the Top 10 include Provost Barbara E. Wolfe (fifth highest, $428,001) and Director of Athletics Thorr D. Bjorn (ninth highest, $357,055).
The fourth-highest-paid state employee was Dr. Jason M. Andreas, who made $429,087 working for the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals. That total included $214,862 in overtime pay. BHDDH runs Eleanor Slater Hospital, which has campuses in Cranston and Burrillville, caring for patients with a range of medical and psychiatric conditions.
Two BHDDH registered nurses took home the sixth-highest and eighthhighest totals: Wade C. Johnson received $414,321, including $277,964 in overtime pay, and Christopher Scott received $382,198, including $241,346 in overtime pay.
BHDDH officials have said doctors at Eleanor Slater are paid to take additional hours because the hospital must have coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Two state correctional officers racked up enough overtime to qualify as the fifth- and 10th-highest-paid state employees: Mark E. Wilbur received $405,580, including $271,320 in overtime pay, and John H. Brazil Jr. took home $354,851, including $223,999 in overtime pay.
The Globe has reported that Rhode Island correctional officers have worked marathon 32-hour shifts thousands of times a year, going without sleep while pushing the bounds of health and safety. The Department of Corrections has said prisons also are a 24/7 operation, and overtime is required to ensure that all shifts are covered and that safety and security are maintained.