Dean’s List: How much will UNC’s Kevin Guskiewicz make as Michigan State president?
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UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz has a big payday waiting for him in East Lansing, Michigan.
Guskiewicz, who was hired Friday as the next president of Michigan State University, will make an annual base salary of almost $1 million in his new role, according to his contract with the university.
What other perks will Guskiewicz receive?
Welcome to Dean’s List, a weekly roundup of higher education news in the Triangle and across North Carolina from The News & Observer and myself, Korie Dean. We plan to publish this roundup in an email newsletter format soon, but we wanted to first give you a taste, on our website, of the insights on higher education trends and research you can expect each week.
This week’s edition includes more information about Guskiewicz’s contract with Michigan State, the recently announced search committee to find a new chancellor at Winston-Salem State University and new transfer agreements between Wake Tech Community College and William Peace University.
Let’s get started.
Guskiewicz to make $975,000 as Michigan State president
As president of Michigan State, Guskiewicz will make an annual base salary of $975,000.
That’s a noticeable increase from his salary at UNC, where he made a base salary of $620,000 when he entered the chancellor role. UNC System records show his salary is currently up to $657,743.
According to his Michigan State contract, which is valid for five years, Guskiewicz will also receive:
$150,000 per year in deferred compensation
A university vehicle and driver for use in connection with “official university duties,” plus a leased vehicle “for business and personal use.”
Memberships to the University Club and the Country Club of Lansing.
Complimentary tickets to all university athletic events for Guskiewicz, his spouse and guests, plus a suite at football and basketball games.
Housing provided by the university, with a one-time “transition payment” of $75,000 in his first month’s paycheck.
Guskiewicz will step down from the chancellorship at UNC on Jan. 12 and will begin his new role at Michigan State on March 4. An interim chancellor for UNC has not been announced, but UNC System spokesperson Andy Wallace said Friday that system President Peter Hans expects to name that person “in the next week or so.”
Winston-Salem State chancellor search committee announced
Chapel Hill isn’t the only UNC System university searching for a new chancellor.
One search is underway at NC A&T State University in Greensboro to replace Chancellor Harold Martin, who announced in September that he would retire at the end of the academic year.
And another search, at Winston-Salem State University, is getting underway after the search committee was announced last week. Former Chancellor Elwood Robinson retired this summer, and WSSU provost Anthony Graham has been serving in the role since July 1.
The WSSU search committee is made up of 13 members:
Kathleen Kelly, chair of the WSSU Board of Trustees and search advisory committee chair
Bill Miller, vice chair of the WSSU Board of Trustees
Matthew Cullinan, member of the WSSU Board of Trustees
Pam Oliver, member of the WSSU Board of Trustees
Mark Holton, member of the UNC Board of Governors (Holton will serve in place of Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey)
Phil Byers, member of the UNC Board of Governors
Andrew Kelly, UNC System Office executive vice president (Kelly will serve in place of UNC System President Peter Hans)
Harold Martin, chancellor of NC A&T State University
Lisa Maness, WSSU Faculty Senate chair and professor
Sharon Hill, WSSU Staff Senate chair
Tyrone McNair Jr., WSSU Student Government Association president and WSSU Board of Trustees member
Crystal Thompkins, vice chair of the WSSU Foundation Board
Mark Owens, president and CEO of Greater Winston-Salem, Inc.
“The members of this group are committed to Winston-Salem State’s success, and I know they will invest their time and talent to identify a strong pool of candidates,” Hans said in a news release announcing the committee. “I’m grateful to Chair Kelly for her willingness to lead this committee, and I’m confident Winston-Salem State has a bright future ahead.”
The committee is expected to begin meeting in January.
Wake Tech, WPU offer new transfer options
Transferring from Wake Tech Community College to Raleigh’s William Peace University is about to get easier.
Leaders from both schools signed 15 new and revised agreements last week, creating a “Peace Pathway” that will create smoother transitions to WPU for Wake Tech students who earn degrees in business administration, criminal justice, simulation and game development and more.
Some Wake Tech students who transfer with an associate’s degree are expected to be able to finish their bachelor’s degree at WPU in less than two years, an announcement said last week.
“We know that pursuing a bachelor’s degree means more time and money for those who are ready to get started on their career,” WPU President Brian Ralph said. “That’s why we’re making WPU the area’s most transfer-friendly university.”
The new agreements will allow associate in applied science (AAS), which were traditionally designed for students who were seeking immediate employment, to transfer to WPU, and updates other agreements between the schools.
“William Peace University has long been a strong transfer partner with Wake Tech, and we’re excited to strengthen that partnership with the Peace Pathway,” Wake Tech President Scott Ralls said. “At Wake Tech, all degrees — even our technical degrees — are transferrable so our graduates can always climb the ladder and advance in their career with greater knowledge and skills. You help our students, who become your students, become our community’s breadwinners and contributors back to this community.”
You can see the full list of transferable degrees between Wake Tech and WPU at waketech.edu/post/wt-news-story/16646.
NC A&T student designs Urban Outfitters line
After completing a 10-week internship with retailer Urban Outfitters a year ago, NC A&T student Mya Harris is seeing her own fashion designs come to life.
Harris, who was one of five students from historically Black colleges or universities to intern for Urban Outfitters in 2022, designed six pieces — a flannel shirt, a bomber jacket, jeans, a trucker hat and a scarf — inspired by A&T’s history and culture. The pieces hit store shelves this fall and are also available online.
Harris dug through university archives, including yearbooks, to gather inspiration for her looks.
“For the flannel shirt, I went deep into looking for something that not a lot of people had seen,” Harris said in an A&T news release. “I designed the shirt from images taken at a game that I found in the 1982 yearbook. Aggie Pride is the obvious message and people had it on their signs. I wanted to show that this is nothing new. This is something that we’ve been doing since 1891.”
Proceeds from the Urban Outfitters collection support donations to participating HBCUs. Designs from NC Central University in Durham are also featured.
Wake County superintendent to address Fayetteville State grads
More than 500 Fayetteville State University students will turn their tassels Friday, and the featured speaker at the university’s commencement ceremony will be a familiar face to those in the Triangle.
Wake County Public School System Superintendent Robert Taylor, who holds his master’s and doctoral degrees from FSU, will deliver the commencement address.
FSU previously honored Taylor as the grand marshal of its homecoming parade in October.
Higher ed news I’m reading
The man police say killed three people at the University of Nevada Las Vegas last week had a hit list that included faculty members at East Carolina University, where he taught for over a decade, my News & Observer colleague Martha Quillin reports.
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That’s all for this week’s roundup of North Carolina higher education news. I hope you’ll stay tuned for more in the weeks to come.
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