Harter may get big raise, but also a new, rigid contract

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2004 | 9:42 a.m.

UNLV President Carol Harter's proposed $50,000-a-year raise from the UNLV Foundation may come with a lot of strings attached, depending on how regents take a new proposal from Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers.

Rogers said he wants the Board of Regents to approve the foundation's plans to privately supplement Harter's salary, but he also wants regents to ask Harter to sign a modified contract that would give the board -- and later possibly the chancellor -- greater authority to discipline the university president should she step out of line.

Rogers wants the board to approve similar contracts for all of the presidents as they are hired or as their contracts come under review, citing a need for greater accountability.

UNR President John Lilley, Truckee Meadows Community College President Philip Ringle and Great Basin College President Paul Killpatrick are all due for contract renewals, system officials said. The system is currently searching for a new president for Nevada State College in Henderson.

Rogers sent a draft copy of the contract addition to regents Monday. The addition would allow regents to terminate Harter's contract for specific causes, such as demonstrated dishonesty, insubordination, personal misconduct that impairs her ability to function as president, violation of board policy or violation of state or federal law.

The contract is worded in such a way as to allow regents to later give the same authority to the chancellor. Rogers has repeatedly stressed the need for the chancellor to have the authority to hire, discipline and fire presidents if need be.

Rogers said he doubted the future chancellor would ever have to act on the authority, but having that power would make the higher education system run more smoothly.

Harter did not return calls for comment.

Under the current presidential contracts, regents may fire presidents at-will without cause, but they must continue paying the base salary for the remainder of the contract, Rogers said. This new addition would rid the system of having to buy out contracts.

"That's not much of a hammer to say to someone, 'You're no longer president,' and have them say, 'That's OK with me, I'll go sit on the beach in Hawaii for the rest of my contract,' " Rogers said.

In instances of misconduct, the contract addition gives the board the authority to issue the president a warning, an oral or written reprimand, to cut pay, to suspend or to fire the president. Presidents must receive notice of any discipline in writing and are allowed seven working days to respond.

The proposed contract does not give presidents any right to a hearing or any means to appeal.

Most regents who could be reached Monday said they still had a lot of questions about the foundation's proposal and about Rogers' proposed employment contract. In addition to the $50,000-a-year raise, the foundation wants to sock away $40,000 a year for Harter's retirement and set aside a $250,000 bonus for the president if she meets the university's capital campaign fund-raising goals.

Regent Howard Rosenberg said he still needed to read Rogers' proposal, but he said regents already have the authority to discipline presidents and do not need the addition. Regent Steve Sisolak said he believed firing a president for cause could lead to just as much litigation as firing them without cause if the reasons for termination were not better defined.

Other regents, such as Mark Alden and Bret Whipple, said they approved the proposal in concept but needed to look at the details.

"I'm a firm believer in accountability, in checks and balances," Whipple said. "We're accountable to the state, the chancellor is accountable to us, the presidents should be accountable to the chancellor."