This year President Jon Wefald received a salary increase that ups his total earnings to $296,400, including supplements.
On Sept. 21, the Kansas Board of Regents gave the leaders of all six Kansas universities pay raises for Fiscal Year 2007. The chief administrators at K-State, the University of Kansas and Wichita State University all received up to 4-percent salary raises.
Wefald's pay has increased significantly over his two decades at K-State, and the components of his compensation have changed, said Bruce Shubert, associate vice president of administration and finance.
Shubert said the alterations were made because of the success and accomplishments the university has seen through Wefald's leadership.
In recent years, presidential compensation packages have become more complex. They include a variety of benefits, bonuses and prerequisites, many which are paid in full or in part by private foundations.
Wefald is provided a three-story home by the university and automobiles for business purposes through the KSU Foundation, Shubert said.
When he was hired in 1987, Wefald earned $92,000, $204,440 less than his current earnings. He hit the $200,000 mark in 2002.
In 2004 an individual endowed the salaries of chief administrators at K-State, KU and Wichita State, said Cindy Bontrager, director of K-State's Budget Office.
After this donation, the Board set a maximum salary for state funding and state appropriation in 2004, Bontrager said.
Since 2004, Wefald has received compensation every year, including FY 2006, when he received $54,655.
This year, $56,841 of Wefald's total salary is endowments.
In comparison, KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway will earn $319,280 for FY 2007, $22,880 more than Wefald's earnings.
"Kansas as a state is not by any means on top of the pay scale for university officials," said Lynn Bretz, director of university communications at KU.
University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman earns a total annual university compensation of $724,604, nearly $200,000 more than Wefald, according to the Chronicles of Higher Education.
Kip Peterson, director for Government Relations and Communications for the Regents, said North Carolina State University officials earn at least 12 percent more than K-State officials.
"I think K-State is getting a bargain (in Wefald)," Shubert said. "Only a handful of presidents have been at an institution as long as he has and has had the amount of success."
