FAYETTEVILLE -- Julie Cromer Peoples will be paid $5,000 per calendar month on top of her combined annual income from all university sources of more than $222,000 while serving as interim athletic director of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained a copy of a letter, dated Nov. 27, from university Chancellor Joe Steinmetz to Cromer Peoples detailing the extra payment.
Steinmetz also assured Cromer Peoples in the letter that if she remained an employee in good standing at all times, she would be guaranteed a position at the UA "either in the Athletics Department or another department, at your current salary of $222,160 until June 30, 2019. The incoming Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics will have the discretion to make all decisions regarding your appointment at all subsequent times."
Cromer Peoples, who delivered a termination letter to football Coach Bret Bielema on Nov. 24, moments after the Razorbacks lost 48-45 to Missouri to fall to a record of 4-8, is heading up the search for his replacement with the help of the executive search firm DHR International and other unnamed advisers.
Cromer Peoples' current salary as a senior associate athletics director includes $170,791, the line item maximum, from UA athletic department funds, and $41,369 from the Razorback Foundation, the fund-raising arm of the department. She also receives $10,000 from a personal services agreement with the Razorback Foundation which began in fiscal year 2016.
Cromer Peoples' salary has risen steadily since her hiring for fiscal year 2015 at an annual total salary of $187,500. She received a 6.7 percent raise to $200,000 for the following fiscal year, a 2 percent raise to $204,000 in 2017, and a 4 percent raise to $212,106 in the current fiscal year.
Sports on 12/01/2017