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Penley remains a finalist after one turns down Idaho president job over pay
Associated Press
Issue date: 3/13/09 Section: News
BOISE, Idaho - Kansas State Provost Duane Nellis said Friday he turned down an offer to become the next University of Idaho president after Idaho's Board of Education rejected his salary request.
Now just three finalists remain including Larry Penley, former president of Colorado State University, Montana State University Provost David Dooley, and Don Burnett, dean of the University of Idaho Law School.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Nellis said he had sought less money at Idaho than what he and his wife, a Kansas State employee, make together at that school, where they earn a combined base salary of $370,354 a year.
"I was not being unreasonable, in my opinion," Nellis said.
Nellis is paid a yearly base salary of $272,116 as provost and his wife, Ruthie, makes a $98,238 base salary working in institutional advancement, said Kansas State spokeswoman Beth Bohn.
Penley earned a base pay of $389,000 before resigning last year. Dooley earns a base salary of $169,950. Burnett earns a yearly base salary of $207,938, according to the University of Idaho.
While none of the five finalists announced in January have been publicly offered the top job at Idaho's oldest public university, Nellis said board leaders extended an offer to him by telephone on Wednesday.
"I told them, given what they were offering me, I was turning them down," Nellis said.
Board spokesman Mark Browning declined to discuss the salary negotiations with Nellis. He said an official offer to the next university president has to be made as the result of a vote in an open meeting.
Nationwide, median pay and benefits for presidents of public research universities rose 7.6 percent during the 2007-2008 school year to $427,400, according to an annual survey that The Chronicle of Higher Education released in November.
Former Idaho President Tim White was paid $291,912 in his fourth and final year, a salary "substantially below" the average for a research institution of its size and reputation, said Paul Fain, a senior reporter at The Chronicle who researches compensation of university presidents.
Now just three finalists remain including Larry Penley, former president of Colorado State University, Montana State University Provost David Dooley, and Don Burnett, dean of the University of Idaho Law School.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Nellis said he had sought less money at Idaho than what he and his wife, a Kansas State employee, make together at that school, where they earn a combined base salary of $370,354 a year.
"I was not being unreasonable, in my opinion," Nellis said.
Nellis is paid a yearly base salary of $272,116 as provost and his wife, Ruthie, makes a $98,238 base salary working in institutional advancement, said Kansas State spokeswoman Beth Bohn.
Penley earned a base pay of $389,000 before resigning last year. Dooley earns a base salary of $169,950. Burnett earns a yearly base salary of $207,938, according to the University of Idaho.
While none of the five finalists announced in January have been publicly offered the top job at Idaho's oldest public university, Nellis said board leaders extended an offer to him by telephone on Wednesday.
"I told them, given what they were offering me, I was turning them down," Nellis said.
Board spokesman Mark Browning declined to discuss the salary negotiations with Nellis. He said an official offer to the next university president has to be made as the result of a vote in an open meeting.
Nationwide, median pay and benefits for presidents of public research universities rose 7.6 percent during the 2007-2008 school year to $427,400, according to an annual survey that The Chronicle of Higher Education released in November.
Former Idaho President Tim White was paid $291,912 in his fourth and final year, a salary "substantially below" the average for a research institution of its size and reputation, said Paul Fain, a senior reporter at The Chronicle who researches compensation of university presidents.
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