Over 100 at AState make above $100,000 a year

Five make over $350,000 a year

JONESBORO, Ark. – A lot of people are getting rich while working at Arkansas State University.

NEA Report submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request on Monday, February 11, and learned that over 100 people working for ASU Jonesboro earned over $100,000 a year. Many earned over $200,000 and $300,000 a year.

The median Arkansas income for one person is $23,681. Source.

Here are the highest earning staff members of ASU Jonesboro in descending order of yearly salary.

1. Robert Anderson, ASU Head Football Coach, $825,000 ($186,196, with another $638,804 from Red Wolves Foundation)
2. Terril Mohajir, Dir. of Athletics, $450,000 ($161,634, with $288,366 from the Red Wolves Foundation)
3. Michael Balado, Head Men’s BBall Coach, $375,000 ($161,634, with $213,366 from the Red Wolves Foundation)
4. Kelly Damphousse, ASU J. Chancellor, $360,000 ($348,563, with another $11,437 from ASU Foundation)
5. Charles Welch, ASU President, $358,500
6. Jason Penry, VC for University Advancement, $249,990 ($218,101, with another $31,889 from ASU Foundation)
7. Joe Cauthen, ASU Asst. Head Football Coach, $220,000 ($129,115 with another $90,885 from the Red Wolves Foundation)
8. Edward Faulkner, ASU FB Defensive Coordinator, $210,000 ($131,911 with another $78,089 from Red Wolves Foundation)
9. Lynita Cooksey, Executive VC & Provost, $203,385
10. Len Frey, VC for Finance and Administration, $203,385.
11. Brian Boyer, Women’s BBall Head Coach, $200,000 ($87,315 plus $112,685 from the Red Wolves Foundation)
12. Michael Broadway, Vice-President, $194,399.
13. Julie Bates, VP for ASU System Operations, $184,154
14. Jeffrey Hankins, Vice-President, $184,032
15. Susan Hanrahan, Dean of Schools (Nursing), $178,816
16. Timothy Burcham, Dean of Engineering (Agri), $176,296.
17. Christie Black, Nurse Anesthesia Clinical Coordinator, $166,000.
18. James Doering, Department Chair (Accounting), $165,000.
19. Carl Cates, Dean of Schools (Liberal Arts), $163,680.
20. Richard Zvosec, Assoc. Dir. of Athletics, $158,612 ($100,000 plus $58,612 from Red Wolves Foundation)
21. Bradford Phelps, General Counsel, $157,621.
22. Charles Rudolph, ASU Offensive Coor. Football, $150,000 ($70,000 plus $80,000 from Red Wolves Foundation)
23. Ruth Hawkins, Dir Delta Heritage, $148,145
24. Charles Hannah, Assoc VC, $145,000.
25. Charles Roe, Professor Business, $144,779.
26. Karen Wheeler, Senior Assoc VC for AAR, $142,744.
27. James Washam, Associate Dean (Business), $141,903
28. Lee Hammon, Nurse Anesthesia Clinical Coordinator, $140,634
29. Philip Jackson, Vice-President Agri, $140,454.
30. Gregory Phillips, Professor Agri, $138,369.

A-State’s Undergraduate fees based on 15 hrs are $4,304 for in-state, $7,649 to out of state. It is significantly cheaper than UofA, with in-state being $8,522 while out of state is $21,826. A-State is also considerably cheaper than University of Central Arkansas, which has an in-state rate of $7,889 with an out-of-state rate at $13,806.

A-State’s costs are lower than other schools but their graduation rates are, too. 41-percent of students attending A-State for a 4-year-degree will graduate, compared to 45-percent at UCA and a whopping 60-percent at UofA.

The defense that the communications department head Bill Smith gave for the high salaries was only to check the pay averages for other colleges. NEA Report reviewed the Southern Regional Education Board averages for 2017 (the latest year available). Sure enough, many of the salaries were close matches.

The average salary for a Chief Executive Officer was $359,837. Both ASU President Charles Welch and ASU Jonesboro Chancellor Kelly Damphousee make $358,500 and $360,000 respectively. The reasoning behind two executives paid at this level is that other colleges are in the ASU System. University officials believe this justifies paying two CEO level salaries, both at national averages.

Salaries in southern states are often inflated by enormous fees attached to big-name sports programs’ coaches. For this reason, SREB states have an average salary of $380,442 while salaries in the northeast are averaged at $318,833

The SREB average pay for Chief Academic Officer is $263,339. Jason Penry, VC for University Advancement, is the only employee close at $249,990, including money from the AState Foundation.

Many titles are vague and don’t match the titles used by SREB, making it difficult to track who earns more or less than they should, or if there are more employees or less than usual. That in mind, here are the other pay averages:

The average pay for Chief Budgeting Officer is $206,280.

Chief Business Officer is $225,489.

Chief Development Officer is $215,131

Chief Information Systems Officer is $182,217

Chief Personnel/Human Relations Officer is $144,946

Chief Planning Officer is $172,564

Chief Public Relations Officer is $151,378

Director of Academic Computing is $110,522

Director of Administrative Computing is $119,208

Director of Institutional Research is $116,675

Director of Library Services is $144,498

From 2011-12 to 2016-17, the average annual salaries for campus chancellors and presidents nationwide rose 23 percent to $359,800. In the SREB region, the increase was also 23 percent, rising to $380,400 — $20,600 higher than the national average, $4,700 greater than the average in the West, $46,100 more than the Midwest and $61,600 greater than in the Northeast. Chief academic officer salaries in the SREB region rose 22 percent to $270,100 — $6,800 above the national average, which increased 23 percent. Chief business officer salaries in the region rose 18 percent to $233,100 — nearly matching the average increase nationwide of 18 percent to $225,500. However, in most fields, average salaries for academic deans in the SREB region were below the national average. Source.

To see the full 2018 Salary list obtained by NEA Report through FOIA, click here. The file is in spreadsheet .xlxs format and uploaded through Google Sheets.