Daily Staff Writer

by TIM FRERKING

The Iowa Board of Regents approved a five-year contract Thursday for Iowa State President Martin Jischke that included a 4-percent pay increase for the fiscal year, which began July 1.

Jischke and University of Iowa President Mary Sue Coleman received approval for for an annual salary of $198,000 each, while University of Northern Iowa President Robert Koob will receive a $156,000 yearly salary.

This is a 4.2 percent increase in all three salaries. Jischke’s salary last year was $190,000.

When Jischke was appointed president on June 1, 1991, he was given a $164,000 annual salary contract, the same as the president of the University of Iowa at that time, Hunter Rawlings.

In fiscal year 1992, his first full year as president, Jischke received an annual salary of $175,000.

The university presidents have received one-year contracts in previous years. This is the first time the Regents have approved five-year agreements.

Jischke said, “There’s evidence that [five-year agreements] are typical at universities, although it is not true for every university.”

The superintendent of the Iowa School for the Deaf, Bill Johnson, and the superintendent for the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, Dennis Thurman, will both receive salaries of $79,560.

The Board of Regents also recognized Jischke’s five years of service and included an associated benefits agreement along with his salary contract. Associated benefits is “a standard package of benefits that all employees participate in,” Jischke said, which includes the retirement and health packages.

The agreement passed the regents by a vote of 6-2, with Tom Dorr and John Tyrell dissenting. The board usually consists of nine regents, but has been operating with eight since Tom Collins resigned from the board on May 8.

The contract states Jischke will serve as president “at the pleasure of the Board of Regents” and will receive an “annual salary of not less than $198,000 along with associated benefits.” It adds that any adjustments in his salary will be made at the discretion of the regents.

If Jischke steps down as president, the contract states, “he will be given the title of President Emeritus if employed by Iowa State University.” At that time he will be allowed to become reoriented with his discipline “with full pay as provided by Board policy preparatory to a return to faculty status.”

He will be provided with an office, secretarial services and an expense budget until he retires from ISU, the agreement states.

If Jischke stops serving as president but remains employed by ISU, his salary will be set at no less than three-fourths of the salary he received during his final year as president. That salary would be “adjusted annually, assuming satisfactory performance, with the same percentage increase as awarded the faculty on average.”