The University of North Carolina Board of Governors unanimously approved State First Lady Mary Easley’s new salary Friday, as well as the 33 contracts the University sent for review after misinterpreting BOG policy from 2002 to 2008, and 11 new salary increase requests.
Easley, an executive-in-residence, will have a salary that comprises $114,750 in state funds and $55,250 in non-state funds, which Easley’s personnel information states could include “grants, receipts, trust funds [and] endowments.”
Chancellor James Oblinger said it is common for grants or outside programs to constitute for a portion of a faculty member’s salary.
Greg Doucette, UNC Association of Student Governments president and Student Senate President, said based on Easley’s job function, “she’s a perfect choice for the position.”
Doucette said having a portion of a salary come from non-state funds can serve as an incentive to do a job well.
“If she doesn’t raise the money, she doesn’t get it,” he said.
The UNC system released personnel information regarding Easley’s salary, the Public Safety Leadership Center which she will direct, and the University’s justifications for increasing her salary.
“It is kind of a unique situation in that Mary Easley herself had to authorize the release of this document,” Oblinger said.
Events before Friday’s decision
Controversy erupted in July over Provost Larry Nielsen’s decision to give Easley an 88 percent raise, increasing her salary from $90,300 to $170,000.
A Board of Governors’ policy states that if a salary increase is at least 15 percent and $10,000 greater than the original salary, the University must send it to the board for approval.
Oblinger has said the University misinterpreted the policy and considered each fixed-term contract to be a new one.
Oblinger selected a group of 16 faculty members to take part in a Contract Review Task Force in July, and the group submitted its findings to him Aug. 29 after comparing the University’s policies with the UNC-system’s.
Out of 1,067 contracts with salary increases not meeting the system’s rule between 2002 and June 2008, the University had to submit 33 for the board’s review.
The University also submitted 11 salary increases from the current fiscal year, and the board approved them all, Oblinger said.
