Rogers: Nevada university president’s salary to remain the same

Sunday, Nov. 27, 2005 | 12:30 p.m.

RENO, Nev. - University of Nevada, Reno President John Lilley's successor won't earn more than Lilley if Chancellor Jim Rogers has his way.

Rogers said he thinks Lilley's $227,500 base salary and $90,000 foundation supplement are sufficient to attract a top candidate.

Lilley has accepted the top job at his alma mater, Baylor University. The Board is launching a national search for his replacement.

Some regents fear if they bring in his successor at a higher salary, it will require a new round of raises for all seven other Nevada college presidents.

Since January, regents have approved more than $127,000 in annual presidential base salary increases, which are publicly funded and do not include foundation supplements.

"Those are good paying jobs now," Rogers told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "The fact that John Lilley left does not mean that job became worth more."

Some regents said they would like to start Lilley's successor at a slightly lower salary.

"I don't give a damn what the market price is, there are some markets we simply can't shop in," Regent Howard Rosenberg said. "The ones Harvard and Yale shop in, we can't shop in and quite frankly we don't need to shop in."

Regent Steve Sisolak said he wants the board to declare a salary range in advertisements to avoid attracting candidates out of the state's price range.

Including the salary range in ads for the president's job would be an unprecendented move in Nevada.

But some regents said they would rather wait to see what candidates' salary demands are.

"I don't plan on us ever being in the top bracket but I think we should be in the middle," Regent Dorothy Gallagher said.

According to a Chronicle of Higher Education study in 2004, the median compensation for presidents at public institutions was $328,400.

With the $90,000 a year extra Lilley receives from the UNR Foundation, he comes in at just under the national average: $317,500.

But Lilley is paid above the regional $303,651 average for western institutions, according to the trade journal.

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Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com