Trustees on Wednesday approved a 33% pay increase for Cam Patterson, chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and a boost of $75,000 in annual deferred compensation for UA System President Donald Bobbitt.
Patterson began in 2018 as the top administrator for UAMS, a medical school and health care provider with its main campus in Little Rock.
He will be paid $1.25 million annually, plus $350,000 in yearly deferred compensation, UA System spokesman Nate Hinkel said.
The $1.6 million package will mark his first pay increase since he was hired with an offer of $1.2 million in combined annual salary and deferred compensation for an initial five-year term, according to his 2017 offer letter.
Stephen Broughton, a Pine Bluff psychiatrist and chair of the 10-member UA System trustees board, announced the pay increase during the first of two days of meetings being held at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, doing so after an executive session for the board that was closed to the public.
Patterson has led UAMS during the ongoing covid-19 pandemic while also overseeing an expansion of academic programs at the UAMS Northwest campus in Fayetteville as well as plans to provide more medical care to the Northwest Arkansas region and elsewhere around the state.
He arrived in Arkansas just months after 258 UAMS employees lost their jobs in January 2018 following revenue shortfalls.
Patterson, a cardiologist, was born in Alabama. He arrived at UAMS from Weill-Cornell Medical Center and Komansky Children's Hospital/New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he was senior vice president and chief operating officer.
UAMS has cut some positions since the pandemic began. More than a dozen positions were affected by what a spokeswoman referred to in June 2020 as "reorganizations in various business units."
But trustees on Wednesday, after the presentation of an audit report, praised UAMS leadership for steering clear of financial management issues that would lead to audit findings. UAMS has a budget of more than $1.7 billion.
"I'm very proud of our team," Patterson told trustees Wednesday.
Patterson's annual pay comes from state dollars and UAMS revenue, according to state Division of Higher Education records. Yearly deferred compensation has in the past been provided by the UAMS Foundation Fund, a spokeswoman has said.
Hinkel, the UA System spokesman, said contract details had yet to be finalized for Patterson, but his pay increase is expected to begin in December or January.
BOBBITT'S PAY
Bobbitt has led the UA System since Nov. 1, 2011. The UA System has six universities and seven two-year colleges, not including online-only ventures. The UA System also includes other units, such as the Division of Agriculture.
He earns a base salary of $510,000 plus deferred compensation, with trustees on Wednesday increasing his annual deferred compensation to $150,000 from $75,000.
Bobbitt's annual compensation will jump to $660,000, up nearly 13% from the $585,000 he had been earning previously.
Since his 2011 hire, Bobbitt's pay -- salary plus deferred compensation -- has climbed by more than 85%. In his first year, he earned $355,000 to oversee a UA System that at the time had two fewer community colleges as member institutions and no online-only stand-alone venture.
Updated salary information wasn't available Wednesday for all similar university leaders in nearby states, but data published by the Chronicle of Higher Education shows compensation for some other university leaders.
John Sharp, chancellor for the Texas A&M University System since 2011, earned base pay of $900,000 plus more than $400,000 in additional compensation in 2020, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Mun Choi, top leader for the University of Missouri System since 2017, earned base pay of $558,000 plus about $150,000 in additional compensation in 2020, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Choi also serves as the top leader for the University of Missouri campus in Columbia.
Salaries have been reported for more recent hires, with The Associated Press saying in June that William Tate IV will earn $725,000 in annual salary to lead the Louisiana State University System. Tate also serves as top administrator for the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. Randy Boyd, appointed in 2020 to lead the University of Tennessee System after serving as an interim leader, does not draw a salary, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.