ASU System chief gets 2 percent raise

President’s salary to rise to $358,000

Arkansas State University System President Chuck Welch received a $8,500 annual raise after trustees approved the measure Friday.

Welch, 44, will now receive an annual salary of $358,500, ASU System spokesman Jeff Hankins said. The 2 percent salary bump is consistent with raises awarded to employees of the Arkansas State University Jonesboro in July, he said, adding that Welch's raise will be retroactive to July 1.

"Frankly, I think he wanted everyone else to be taken care of before he was even considered," said board Chairman Ron Rhodes of Cherokee Village.

With the increase, Welch -- who was hired for the job Nov. 9, 2010 -- will remain the second-highest-paid university system president in the state. Donald Bobbitt, the president of the University of Arkansas System, earns $510,000 annually after he received a 2 percent increase earlier this year.

Arkansas Tech University President Robin Bowen receives $315,130 annually, and University of Central Arkansas President Houston Davis earns $347,330.

Rhodes, whose term expires in January, added that the ASU board -- with the help of the Association of Governing Boards -- is coming up with a new evaluation method for the system president.

"Over the years that I've served on the board, we've evaluated the president of the system each year and we've almost reinvented the wheel every time," he said.

"Every time we've evaluated the president, we might have done it a little differently.... We got a hold of the Association of Governing Boards and we have had their help in terms of coming up with that process so that it's not just a snap decision. This board will continue to study that and there will be a process in place to evaluate the president of the system."

NW News on 12/10/2017

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