LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff chancellor will receive a lump sum of $190,000 as part of an early retirement agreement that includes a clause requiring him not to make disparaging comments about the University of Arkansas System and auditors.
The UA System finalized the early retirement agreement with outgoing UAPB Chancellor Lawrence A. Davis Jr. on Tuesday.
Davis announced his resignation, effective May 25, last week after an internal audit that led to the firing of four campus employees and an investigation by Arkansas State Police.
Davis, 74, had two years remaining on his contract.
UA System President Donald Bobbitt has said he did not ask Davis to resign.
Correspondence obtained under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act show Davis and Bobbitt have been discussing the UAPB chancellor’s resignation since as early as March 8.
“You will leave an unparalleled record of selfless service that has benefited generations of Arkansans, and for this I and the Board of Trustees are very thankful,” Bobbitt wrote in a letter to Davis.
Under the agreement, finalized Tuesday, Davis will forfeit his tenure in exchange for a $190,000 payment from UAPB operational funds, which is equivalent to a year’s salary, before the end of the fiscal year June 30.
The agreement, drafted by Davis’ attorney, includes a provision forbidding Davis from making “disparaging remarks” about the UA board of trustees, the UA System, UAPB, Bobbitt, the UA Division of Internal Audit or its employees. The agreement also forbids those employees from making disparaging remarks about Davis.
Under the agreement, Davis also releases the UA System from legal claims and demands.
Davis can remain in the UAPB chancellor’s house until Dec. 31, 2012, the agreement said.
The UA System also agreed to pay the employee and employer contributions of a health insurance plan for Davis and his wife until May 2018 in an amount not to exceed $20,000 and dental insurance for the same time period in an amount not to exceed $2,500.
Correspondence obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette shows Bobbitt originally proposed on March 8 paying Davis as a faculty member for the remainder of his contract and assigning him an off-campus assignment to “work on retention strategies.”
That day, Davis wrote to Bobbitt that he looked forward to “continuing to serve the University as a tenured faculty member.”
Davis wrote again March 13 and proposed, instead, trading his tenure for a lump sum of a year’s compensation.
Davis has not returned calls seeking further comment on his resignation.
His decision to leave after 21 years at the campus helm follows a recent investigation that uncovered $700,000 of payroll and purchasing transactions that violated university spending controls at the Harrold Complex, a student dormitory.
Davis fired four employees - including his assistant, Rita Ticey, and two of her family members - in February, shortly before the final draft of the internal audit was released.
The investigation showed Ticey, also employed as a student-housing supervisor, bypassed payroll and purchasing controls, employed family members, approved purchases that violated university policy, overpaid some workers and signed reimbursement forms to herself on the chancellor’s behalf.
Because Davis - who authorized Ticey to sign his name on documents - and Ticey had bypassed university rules for approving and documenting spending, auditors were unable to verify whether $497,532 in payroll expenses and $239,348 in purchasing expenses were made properly, the report said.
The investigation, which covered spending between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2010, followed a tip left on the UA fraud hot line.
The State Police investigation is ongoing.
Bobbitt plans to appoint an interim chancellor and find a replacement through a national search.
Arkansas, Pages 20 on 03/28/2012