Ex-Clark-Atlanta President paid $1.1 million

Former Clark Atlanta University President William Broadnax was paid $1.1 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year, his last year in office. That put him among the 30 top-paid presidents of private colleges in the nation. The payout to Broadnax was more than 1 percent of the university's $86.6 million operating budget.

During his tenure at CAU, Broadnax's annual pay and deferred compensation, usually totaled more than $400,000 a year, among the top if not above the pay range at comparable institutions, said a college compensation expert.

CAU, with an enrollment of 3,800 students, has struggled financially in recent years, even before the recession.

The news outraged current and former professors, among whom Broadnax had been deeply unpopular.

"That is criminal," said retired professor Bob Holmes. "On what basis did the board of trustees agree to that? It's not a golden parachute because he didn't have a contract after five years. ... The alumni association should file a lawsuit against the board for malfeasance."

Broadnax contended his compensation package was closer to $800,000 than $1.1 million although he was unable to give an exact figure. He said he was guaranteed a retirement package when he became president because he had left a secure position at American University and would have to make unpopular decisions at Clark Atlanta. He is currently the Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at Syracuse University in New York.

The 66-year-old said the university had drained its endowment of $40 million for operating expenses before he came aboard and was teetering on bankruptcy. He had to to fire faculty and eliminate programs.

"What you see is the honoring of a contract," he said of his compensation. "They (the trustees) understood it was giong to be a fairly rough road if I did the things that needed to be done

"The only reason Clark Atlanta is still around is because of the steps we took and they were tough."

Clark Atlanta spokeswoman Donna Brock said the reported payout to Broadnax of $1,158,537 was correct and part of it was contractual. She didn't know the amount.

Ray Cotton, an expert on compensation for university presidents, said some of the pay may have been in the form of deferred compensation, but he questioned the wisdom of awarding that much to Broadnax.

“The fact of the matter is he received that amount of money in one fiscal year," said Cotton, a lawyer based in Washington. "With regard to Clark Atlanta peer institutions, that is an extraordinarily high number."

Only one other metro Atlanta college president came close to Broadnax's compensation. Emory University President James W. Wagner also received slightly more than $1 million.

Brock said current CAU President Carlton Brown does not have a retirement package.

Fisk VP could lead Alcorn

Fisk University Provost Dr. M. Christopher Brown could become the next president of Mississippi's Alcorn State University if all goes as planned. Brown has served as Fisk Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost since July 2009.

Last week Brown, who is 35- years old, was selected as the the "preferred candidate" for the Alcorn presidency by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning commission.

Brown must now attend a series of campus meetings, leading up to a final vote by the Mississippi College Board

He previously served as Vice President for Programs and Administration at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Director of Social Justice and Professional Development for the American Educational Research Association (AERA), as well as Executive Director and Chief Research Scientist of the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute of the United Negro College Fund. Dr. Brown has held faculty appointments at the Pennsylvania State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Former NSU President is "preferred" candidate for JSU job

Carolyn Meyers, a past president of Norfolk State University, was named Monday as the preferred candidate for president of Jackson State University.

If formally named president, Meyers would be the first woman to lead Jackson State. Meyers must now attend a series of campus meetings, leading up to a final vote by the Mississippi College Board.

Former JSU President Ronald Mason left at the end of June to take over the Southern University System, based in Baton Rouge, La. Former professor Leslie McLemore has been interim president.

Bethune receives grant to develop new masters program

Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) has received a $250,000 grant from the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund to support the identification and acquisition of library resources for a new graduate program in Integrated Environmental Science (IES).

DuPont has given the university more than $3.5 million since 1948.

""The masters in Integrated Environmental Science will be the second master's degree planned by B-CU faculty since 2004, "said B-CU President Trudie Kibbe Reed. While the university has already purchased new library resources for the new program, this grant will ensure B-CU's vision for the program will become a signature degree offering."

B-CU has taken an innovative approach in the development and implementation of its new IES programs.

Recognizing the field of environmental studies/science is, by definition, interdisciplinary – encompassing elements from the sciences (biology, chemistry, ecology, geology), humanities (philosophy, ethics), and social sciences (economics, geography, sociology, law) as well as policy analysis and other fields of study – B-CU's bachelor's and master's degree programs in IES are designed to expose students to multiple disciplines and help them develop the skills to make important linkages and assessments across the sub-fields.


B-CU's programs seek to fill this need and stand as a model in the newly developing field of IES. The curriculum has been reviewed by upper-level employees of NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Estuarine Research Reserve system, the U.S. Geological Survey, and incorporates the proposals of the Environmental Systems and Sustainability Roundtable, a national effort to develop standards for interdisciplinary environmental programs in higher education.

N.C. A&T to offer motorsports technology degree

N.C. A&T University gained approval to establish a bachelor's degree program in motorsports technology.

The program will train students to work with team owners, corporate sponsors and others in the motorsports industry.

The university already has a motorsports concentration in its department of manufacturing systems.