October 13, 2017

Purdue trustees provide Daniels 95% of metrics-based pay

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue Board of Trustees on Friday (Oct. 13) voted to withhold $10,500 of President Mitch Daniels’ potential pay for 2016-17 after evaluating his performance at 95 percent.

A continued focus on affordability and student success, plus fundraising and operational objectives, are the measures by which Daniels is judged by trustees, said Trustees Chair Mike Berghoff.

“We continue to see outstanding successes across this great institution, thanks to the efforts of the entire Purdue community and led by an extraordinary president in Mitch Daniels,” Berghoff said. “As we set goals for each year, we intend for them to be hard to reach, but it seems our Boilermakers are determined to reach and exceed our expectations. For that, as we say around here, we are ‘ever grateful.’”

Daniels’ salary, one of few in higher education using an at-risk formula, is based on performance goals in four areas: Student Affordability (20 percent), Student Success (25 percent), Fundraising (30 percent) and Operations (25 percent).

Berghoff pointed specifically to strides in affordability, where the average debt per undergraduate dropped 11 percent and time to degree is now just over 4 years (at 4.11). In addition, Purdue set records for fiscal 2016-17 in fundraising with an all-time high of $351.9 million, and in research productivity with $418.3 million in sponsored research funding.

Trustees said Daniels will receive $199,500 of his at-risk funds in addition to his base pay, which remains at $420,000, which at his request was set lower than his predecessor’s in his initial contract approved in December 2012. He remains among the lowest paid presidents in the Big Ten conference.

Tom Spurgeon, chair of the board’s Compensation Committee, said trustees awarded Daniels 24 percent for student affordability based on the sliding scale of goals set by trustees, 23 percent for student success, 24 percent for fundraising, and 24 percent for operations. Daniels received 88 percent, 90 percent and 96 percent of his at-risk pay in each of the past three years, respectively. Goals and weights are revised each year and mutually agreed upon by Daniels and the board.

Source: Mike Berghoff, trustees@purdue.edu

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