Posted on Fri, Dec. 10, 2004
UMKC chancellor due $125,000 in deferred pay
By LYNN FRANEY
The Kansas City Star
University of Missouri-Kansas City Chancellor Martha Gilliland will receive about $125,000 in deferred compensation next spring despite being chancellor for less than five years.
Under her contract, Gilliland had to lead the campus until April 1, 2005, to be able to collect deferred compensation. The deferred compensation equaled 12 percent of her yearly salary for each of the five years she would serve as chancellor.
But after several faculty groups said they lacked confidence in her leadership, Gilliland announced last Friday that she would resign Jan 1.
But in her severance agreement, the University of Missouri system's governing Board of Curators said they would pay Gilliland the deferred compensation.
She was making $175,000 when she was hired, but her salary had risen to $255,000 this school year.
On Jan. 1, Gilliland will begin fulfilling the duties of a tenured professor in UMKC's School of Computing and Engineering, a position she has held jointly with her position as chancellor. She last worked as a professor in 1990, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
According to the severance agreement released Thursday, Gilliland will continue to receive her $255,000 salary until April 1. On April 2, she will begin earning $116,000 a year as a professor.
She will not teach next semester, instead taking time to prepare to work as a professor. It is expected that she would teach next fall.
Gilliland has a doctorate in environmental engineering/systems ecology from the University of Florida. Between 1990 and her hiring at UMKC in 2000, she worked at several universities as a dean or top-level administrator.
When she resigns as chancellor Jan. 1, Gilliland will no longer have use of a car provided by the university. She will be allowed to live in the university-owned chancellor's residence on the UMKC campus until March 1.
To reach Lynn Franey, call (816) 234-4927 or send e-mail to lfraney@kcstar.com.