Dive Brief:
- Longtime businessman Bruce Harreld, the University of Iowa’s new president, has declined a post-presidency offer of tenure and a guaranteed position in the College of Business with a salary matching that of the highest-paid tenured professor.
- While the offer alone, said to be standard in presidential contracts, riled faculty, the Iowa Board of Regents is not the first to offer such a perk.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that University of California President Janet Napolitano, an attorney and politician, has tenure at UC Berkeley, though the more common practice is to skip the tenure clause in presidential contracts, like for Purdue’s politician-turned-president Mitch Daniels.
Dive Insight:
Traditionally, college presidents came up through the ranks of academia to lead the organization, though it might become increasingly common for boards of regents or boards of trustees to choose a leader for his or her business background rather than academic credentials. High competition across the industry and tight budgets are forcing many changes at colleges and universities. Reflecting the common practice, however, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign’s now-former chancellor, Phyllis Wise, resigned her position last month and was given her promised faculty role at a salary matching the highest-paid tenured professor in her department.