UA System chief gets $10,000 raise

Contract extended for four years

The president of Arkansas’ largest university system has had four more years added to his contract.

The University of Arkansas board of trustees voted in August to extend System President Donald Bobbitt’s contract and offer him a $10,000 raise and a $25,000 increase in deferred compensation. That brings Bobbitt’s salary to $510,000 annually with total deferred compensation of $75,000 annually.

Previously Bobbitt was operating under a contract that automatically extended every Jan. 1, unless trustees informed him in writing that it would not be extended.

His contract extension adds four more years to his service, in addition to this year, through 2023. If he serves through then, he will have served more than 12 years as UA System president.

Bobbitt has already been president beyond what the average chief executive of a university or university system lasts these days, per the American Council on Education’s American College President Study 2017.

The same is true for Arkansas State University System President Chuck Welch, who received a 2% raise and a one-year contract extension in June. His contract now runs through June 30, 2024.

Both Bobbitt and Welch took over as system presidents in 2011 and have seen other senior system leadership come and go.

During his tenure, Welch has replaced the chancellors of every campus at least once. Bobbitt, similarly, has replaced the chancellors of every system university, the medical school and some community colleges.

College presidents last on average about 6½ years in office, according to the survey, which was based on 1,546 college presidents’ responses in 2016. They lasted seven years in 2011 and 8½ years as of 2006, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

According to the survey, chief executives tend to be older now than they were in 2011, and they tend to have more senior leadership experience in higher education before being hired. The survey polled chief executives, which could include system leaders or individual campus leaders, and not just “presidents.” In Arkansas’ public higher education, presidents run systems or stand-alone colleges or universities, while chancellors run individual campuses within systems. Many other states call system leaders “chancellors” and system campus leaders “presidents.”

Robin Bowen, president of Arkansas Tech University, has served five years in the position. Female chief executives of public universities last about 5½ years, according to the survey.

Southern Arkansas University President Trey Berry has served four years in the position.