The Indiana University Board of Trustees unanimously approved another six-figure pay increase for President Pamela Whitten, making her annual salary $1 million.
The latest increase places Whitten as the 10th highest-paid president or chancellor in the Big Ten Conference and the conference’s second highest-paid woman president, behind Penn State’s Neeli Bendapudi.
During the February meeting, trustees said the raise keeps IU competitive with peer institutions, especially as Whitten nears five years of tenure.
“We have the second-longest tenured president in the Big Ten,” Board of Trustees Chair David Hormuth said during the meeting.
Whitten received a $200,000 raise and had her contract extended through 2031 last February. She also received a $225,000 bonus, or approximately 25% of her salary at the time, last summer.
Raise comes amidst continued tensions over free speech, leadership at IU
The raise comes even as Whitten remains controversial at IU for her corporate executive-style leadership and hardline approach to faculty and student dissent. Last fall, IU was ranked by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression as the worst public university in the country for free speech.
IU seemed to take a step towards addressing that reputation during the February board meeting. The trustees unanimously voted to adopt the Chicago Principles, a set of guidelines regarding how universities uphold free speech that some 115 higher education institutions across the country have adopted.
Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Whitten to make $1 million per year after IU board approves raise
Reporting by Brian Rosenzweig, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
