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U of L's Ramsey refuses pay raise and bonus |
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President cites tight budget
LOUISVILLE, KY (July 10, 2008) - At his own request, University of Louisville President James Ramsey won't receive a raise or a bonus this year under a recommendation expected to be approved today by the university's Board of Trustees.
Ramsey -- who asked trustees not to give him additional money in light of tight budget constraints at the state and university level -- will instead receive a lump-sum payment of $700, which other full-time faculty and staff members are receiving under this year's university budget.
"Today's not really about bonuses and salaries. It's about moving the university forward," he said after a trustee compensation committee meeting in Lexington where the recommendation was approved.
"I don't want this to be about me," Ramsey added. "I don't want this to be about what I get paid. I want this to be about the Univer- sity of Louisville and being what people expect it to be."
If approved by the full board today, Ramsey's base university salary will increase to $331,918.
Ramsey's decision not to take a bonus comes a few weeks after University of Kentucky President Lee Todd was awarded a $95,500 bonus by UK's board of trustees that will increase his total compensation to $549,510.
Todd's bonus, which is for the current fiscal year, could have been larger. But in recognition of the tight budget, he chose not to accept another $50,000 he could have received.
Like his predecessor, John Shumaker, who was making $447,054 when he left the university in 2002, Ramsey earns two paychecks, one from the university and one from the foundation, an arm of the university that oversees and invests donations made to the university.
Ramsey's foundation salary for next year has not been determined, but it will be at least $124,213, which is what he received last fiscal year.
Trustee Owsley Brown Frazier, who chairs the compensation committee, said the board felt Ramsey performed well this past year, but wanted to honor his wishes and not give him a bonus."
He has done an outstanding job, and well deserved more, but at his request this is what was done," Frazier said. "I think by far he has done the best job of any of the past presidents at least that I have known or been associated with. He works hard and is very dedicated."
Under the terms of his contract, Ramsey could have received a bonus of more than $113,000 for the 2007-08 school year.
Each year the school's trustees ask the foundation to pay a bonus of up to 25 percent of the combined salaries.
His decision not to have a bonus will effectively drop his status as the highest-paid public university president in Kentucky, a designation that will now go to Todd.
Ramsey's request not to receive a bonus drew praise from the board's faculty trustee, Beth Boehm."I think that faculty will be thrilled," said Boehm, an English professor. "
I think he is showing great leadership."
Almost a month ago, trustees enacted a budget with $6.1 million in cuts that will affect everything from faculty and staffing levels to the number of periodicals in the university's library.
The budget also doesn't include faculty and staff raises. Fulltime employees will receive a lump sum of $700.
The lean budget is the result of a 6 percent decrease in state funding for public universities and colleges in the fiscal year that began July 1. For U of L, that amounted to a $10.1 million revenue loss.
The budget also includes a 9 percent tuition increase for in-state undergraduate students.
Rudy Spencer, president of the U of L Student Government Association, said Ramsey's action shows "he understands what the university as a whole is going through.
"Everyone is facing a struggle, and he is right there with us," said Spencer, a senior political science major from Louisville.
After the compensation committee meeting, the full board of trustees also evaluated Ramsey, giving him a glowing performance review.
Trustees applauded him for securing approval from the state for a $2.5 million tax-increment financing district downtown for a life-sciences research campus and the school's health sciences campus, increasing fundraising and seeking to increase revenues through the university's health enterprises and underused assets, like its Shelby campus.
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