KNOXVILLE — The Executive Committee of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees will meet Friday to vote on a five-year contract for the new UT President, Dr. J. Wade Gilley.
The committee will meet by telephone conference call at 9 a.m., Friday, June 4, to vote on the contract. The call will originate from the office of the General Counsel and Secretary, 719 Andy Holt Tower.
Gilley’s contract would be a first for UT presidents, following a pattern at a growing number of large institutions.
If approved by the Executive Committee, the contract will become effective Aug. 1 when Gilley leaves his present job as president of Marshall University and assumes the presidency of UT. The contract would be in effect through July 31, 2004.
Under terms of the contract, Gilley’s annual salary would be $250,000. UT Board Vice-chairman Bill Sansom said the salary would “put UT in line with similar universities in the South.”
Sansom noted that the president of the Florida system is paid $255,000 and the president of the University of Georgia is paid $267,000.
The contract stipulates that Gilley would be eligible for university fringe benefits to the same extent as other full-time UT employees, with the exception that federal law limits annual retirement contributions to $160,000 in salary.
As is the practice with most other university presidents, Gilley will live in university-provided housing. Pending the availability of a permanent residence, Gilley and his wife Nanna will reside in housing leased by the university.
“The new UT president will face a number of difficult decisions. The contract should make it a bit easier for a new president to address these decisions,” Sansom said.
The University of Tennessee has more than 42,000 students located at campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, Tullahoma and Memphis.
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Contact: Bill Sansom (423-588-6710)