LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – University of Louisville trustees gave President Neeli Bendapudi high marks during her second annual performance evaluation, but Bendapudi won’t get a raise until the university is on a firmer financial footing, the leader of the board said.
Trustee Mary Nixon, chairwoman of the board, said Bendapudi deftly navigated U of L through unforeseen challenges in the fiscal year ended June 30 – chiefly, averting the closure of Jewish Hospital by acquiring the former KentuckyOne Health assets and the coronavirus pandemic that forced an abrupt shift to virtual instruction in March.
“None of us could have predicted the challenges, some say opportunities, both incremental and monumental, that she and her team have faced on top of what they were already addressing,” Nixon said during Thursday’s meeting.
Bendapudi earns $780,000 a year, including a bonus that is guaranteed, under the original contract from her hiring effective May 15, 2018.
In May 2019, the trustees approved a 12% raise that would have entitled Bendapudi to $875,000. But hours after they took the action, Bendapudi said on Twitter that she would donate the raise to U of L.
She achieved that by leaving her pay unchanged, U of L spokesman John Karman said Thursday.
Nixon said the board will honor its 2018 commitment to review Bendapudi’s compensation and bring it in line with peer university leaders after her first two years on the job, but any changes will have to wait.
“These are difficult times, and it would obviously be incongruent to implement new compensation increases now,” Nixon said.
Nixon said the board will conduct a market study of all university faculty and staff compensation, including the president’s, “so that we have a strategy in place when we return, hopefully soon, to some greater level of financial stability.”
As the pandemic took hold in April, U of L pinched pennies to help close a $39 million budget gap, including an across-the-board pay cut of 2% to 10%, with higher-earning employees taking the bigger hit.
The university also stopped making contributions worth 7.5% to 10% of compensation to employees’ 403(b) retirement plans.
Salaries were restored to their previous levels on July 1, while retirement contributions will be partially restored next month.
Starting Aug. 1, U of L employees will get retirement matches of 2.5% to 5%, depending on their deferrals to their plans, according to a policy the trustees approved Thursday. That means the university’s maximum contribution will be half the pre-pandemic level. The new retirement policy lasts until Jan. 1, 2021.
U of L is planning a “hybrid” of virtual and campus instruction during the fall semester.
Asked to comment her evaluation during the meeting, Bendapudi choked up and said, “I just promise you, I will give this my best, every single day.”
Nixon said the trustees had one additional goal to add to the list Bendapudi set for herself for the coming year: That she take a vacation. Nixon said Bendapudi hasn’t had one since starting the job.
Asked to verify that, Karman said, “I’m confident she’s taken a few days here and there, but nothing substantial.”
