Bloomington Herald-Times
February 18, 2013
IU President Michael McRobbie's contract extended to 2020
By Mike Leonard
February 16, 2013
Indiana University will celebrate its bicentennial in 2020, and the university's trustees want to make certain that President Michael A. McRobbie will be there to preside over it.
In an unanticipated move on Friday, they announced an extension of the president's current contract by another three years to run until 2020. And they voted to increase the parameters of his performance bonus agreement from a maximum of 15 percent of his salary to 20 percent.
"Not that the bonus has been or will be awarded," trustees chairman William Cast said during a break in the meeting. "This merely gives the trustees the flexibility to add to his contract should the compensation committee and trustees feel it is justified."
McRobbie became IU's 18th president in 2007 and received a five-year contract when he was hired for the position. The trustees voted to extend the Australian native's contract another five years, until June 30, 2017, in December 2009, citing his excellent performance and his attractiveness to other institutions that might look to hire him away.
When McRobbie took office on July 1, 2007, his salary was $400,000 and at the bottom of the Big Ten. Pay increases over the past five years have increased his salary to $533,120 in base pay.
Cast said the average tenure for a university president has fallen to five years, and several quality institutions are looking for presidents. "The headhunters are out there looking, believe me," he said. "Michael is a very attractive candidate."
McRobbie, 62, issued a statement Friday about his contract extension.
"I am honored and delighted that the trustees have demonstrated their confidence and satisfaction in my work as president of Indiana University by extending my appointment until the university's bicentenary year 2019/20, a year that will be a momentous milestone in IU's history," he wrote.
"The university has an ambitious plan for growth and change over the next several years that includes completion of our $5 billion multi-campus endowment campaign in 2019/20, and numerous major academic and building initiatives that are under way or are planned, and I am grateful for the opportunity to help lead this work," his statement reads.
"I am also greatly honored to continue to have the opportunity of working with the outstanding and dedicated faculty, students and staff that make Indiana University one of the finest universities in the world."
