FAMU trustees OK president's contract extension through 2023 amid salary increase debate

Florida A&M University President Larry Robinson’s contract extension to serve one more year was an easy yes for the Board of Trustees Thursday as his current agreement comes to an end on Dec. 31.

But the same cannot be said for discussions about his salary increase that comes along with Robinson’s additional year and favorable evaluation.

After a contentious discussion between trustees during Wednesday’s governance committee meeting ahead of Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting, a 3.5% salary increase was eventually agreed upon, along with a 17.5% bonus of Robinson’s current $436,000 base salary.

But committee members had opposing opinions about proposed percentages that were seen as too low or too high, given Robinson’s performance as president this past year — and if he should even be getting a bonus as soon as January during the start of his renewed contract.

“We are in support of your presidency for the 2023 academic year, Mr. President,” Board of Trustees Chairman Kelvin Lawson told Robinson, “but some issues need to be completely rounded out and the university focus should be on continuous improvement... given where we are as an institution.”

The debate began with Lawson recommending that Robinson get a 2% salary increase for his renewed one-year term from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, and suggesting that the bonus component of his extended contract be delayed.

He added that his recommendation comes from considering Robinson’s performance as president on factors such as the speed of decision making and accountability.

Grilled: Board of Governors questions FAMU President Larry Robinson's leadership following athletics issues

'High level of accountability': FAMU trustees put Robinson on hot seat over recent turmoil

The fall semester got off to a rocky start with on-campus housing shortages that left students with no choice but to find a place to live off campus.

Making matters worse, the university’s athletics department came under fire over audit and compliance issues regarding the football team and then a "pest infestation" led to more student resident relocations to local hotels for several days.

Despite the turmoil, Robinson’s annual evaluation from trustees over the summer was an overall score of 4.48 out of a possible 5.0 in categories such as personal values and strategic and academic leadership.

More: FAMU trustees approve the president's annual evaluation. Here's how he scored. 

The delayed bonus that Lawson suggested as a way of “driving a higher level of accountability” would be until the athletics action plan currently in place is completed, where the university has been working on adding two academic advisors and five compliance employees to the department.

But Trustee Kenward Stone followed up by proposing the 17.5% bonus with no delay attached to it, which the members ended up agreeing on.

Stone also opposed Lawson’s salary increase recommendation and suggested a 4% increase instead.

Trustees Ann Marie Cavazos and Kristin Harper both agreed with Stone on his proposal.

“I'm not in favor of 2%,” Harper said. “I don't think that it recognizes the performance evaluation that we completed as a board over the summer and the outcomes of that performance evaluation.”

Larry Robinson is approaching five-year anniversary as FAMU president

Robinson’s contract extension this year comes around the time of his five-year mark as the 12th president of the university since he took on the role in November 2017.

His previous contract extension during the end of 2021 included a 4% salary increase and a 15% bonus while his base salary was $419,650.

Related news: FAMU trustees approve contract extension, new goals for president Larry Robinson

“While there have been those bumps in the road, overall we had a lot of good things in the academic sector that were very positive and that extended our brand,” Trustee Belvin Perry Jr. said as he referred to the university being the highest ranked public HBCU (historically black college or university) in the country by the U.S. News & World Report this year.

But what seemed to be a lingering question during the back-and-forth discussion Thursday was if Robinson’s salary increase and bonus would reflect his performance up to the point of his above-average annual evaluation from trustees that took place over the summer, or if it would consider events tied to this fall semester as well.

Trustee Otis Cliatt II said he fully supports Robinson but added that the concerning series of events that took place throughout the fall semester cannot be ignored.

“We had some major issues that occurred in August and September that we don't need to forget about,” Cliatt said. “I cannot as a board member say that we move from that and give someone a maximum increase.”

With some of the trustees leaning toward Lawson’s proposed 2% salary increase and others pushing for a higher one, Perry suggested meeting in the middle before the members finally agreed on his suggested 3.5% raise instead.

Despite the differences of opinion about both the salary increase and the bonus, one thing trustees found common ground on was keeping Robinson as FAMU’s president for another year.

Lawson said that the board is “clearly not interested in his termination,” and Vice Chair Kimberly Moore — who did not indicate where she stood during the salary increase discussion — added that there is “no question about that.”

Robinson did not provide any comments after the board came to a final agreement about his extended contract, salary increase and bonus during its Thursday meeting.

But later in a release, he said, "I am honored and humbled to serve as the 12th president of Florida A&M University and truly pleased that the Board of Trustees has allowed me to continue in this role. I look forward to working on our ascension to becoming one of the top 100 universities in the nation with student success leading the way."

The Board of Governors has a policy for the 12 universities in the State University System that only grants sitting presidents one-year contract extensions at a time. Following the trustees' contract extension recommendation, approval from the Board of Governors is expected during its next meeting in January.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU trustees extend deal for President Larry Robinson, debate raise