The North Dakota Board of Higher Education will vote today on raises for college and university presidents, but members don't expect to hand out across-the-board increases.
Board member Duaine Espegard said this year's salary recommendations will be tied more to performance.
"There's quite a lot more thought that went into it this year," said Espegard, a member of the board's executive compensation task force.
The board meets today at North Dakota State University.
A year ago, several board members raised concerns about giving each of the 10 presidents in the North Dakota University System a 4 percent raise. The raises ranged from $6,000 to $13,000.
ADVERTISEMENT
The board asked a compensation task force to develop a more comprehensive way of giving presidents raises.
"We're trying to make it a lot more open so that each president has a really good idea of what is expected and required of them and what it would take to get a pay raise," said Michael Haugen, the other board member on the task force.
The Forum requested documentation of salary recommendations for the presidents. As of about 5 p.m. Wednesday, those recommendations had not been finalized.
Chancellor Bill Goetz has met with each of the presidents, but the evaluations are not expected to be finalized until the end of the week, said spokeswoman Debra Anderson.
Goetz discusses evaluations with the board president, but other members will not have an opportunity to review the evaluations before today's meeting, Anderson said.
Goetz did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment.
Haugen said he would like to review the presidents' evaluations, but Espegard said it's the chancellor's job to evaluate presidents.
"I guess you might say we trust our chancellor to evaluate them properly," Espegard said. "They have goals and objectives to complete, and as he visits with them, either they did it or they didn't."
ADVERTISEMENT
Also today, board members will vote on a raise for Goetz, who is evaluated by board President Richie Smith.
In the performance assessment, Smith wrote that Goetz completed his goals for the year and met the board's expectations.
Smith particularly noted Goetz for his work to develop a strategic plan.
The evaluation did not include a raise recommendation. Smith did not return a message left on his cell phone.
Also today, board members will vote on specific goals for the chancellor and each president for the coming year.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Amy Dalrymple at (701) 241-5590
