by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Student Aaron Knauer had one question about David Schmidly's $587,000-a-year contract.
"What was his major?" Knauer said. "I'd like to follow in his footsteps. That seems like a pretty good deal."
The Board of Regents approved the five-year contract for Schmidly, UNM's next president, on Friday.
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Annually, Schmidly will get a $380,000 salary, $120,000 deferred compensation, a $42,000 car allowance and a $45,000 housing allowance.
Louis Caldera, UNM's former president, had a salary of $293,000.
Jamie Koch, president of the regents, said he is happy with Schmidly's contract.
"It's a real plain contract," he said. "There's no ambiguity at all."
Koch said the compensation is similar to that of other university presidents.
"He's been the past president of two major universities," he said. "The compensation isn't at all out of line. We're a $1.6 billion operation. We can afford his compensation."
Schmidly is president of the Oklahoma State University System and was president of Texas Tech. He will start his presidency at UNM on June 1.
Knauer said Schmidly should not be paid so much.
"It should be going to some of the programs here," he said. "A lot of them could really use some extra funding. He is kind of a special guy - he's really well-educated and well-qualified - but it seems kind of steep."
Adrian Brearley, a professor of earth and planetary sciences, said Schmidly's pay should be worth it.
"That's quite a handsome package," he said. "I know a lot of people are going to say that's outrageous, but if the outcome is a good one, then it's money well spent. Although it's a high salary, the stakes are also pretty high."
The contract allows the regents to set goals for Schmidly and evaluate him yearly.
The regents can fire Schmidly for any reason with a 30-day notice and a majority vote.
The contract for Caldera required a one-year notice.
That made it unclear if Caldera's contract was for four or five years, Koch said.
"If you have to let somebody know a year before you're going to terminate them, you've got a lame-duck person already," he said. "The way it is now, it's much clearer and better for the institution."
