The Georgia Board of Regents voted Tuesday not to raise the salaries of the University System of Georgia’s 26 presidents and its chancellor as the system works on a plan to cut its budget to meet state revenue shortfalls caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
State leaders have given the University System and other agencies a May 20 deadline to submit plans to cut their budgets by as much as 14% for the budget year that begins July 1. For the University System, the cuts amount to $361 million. The board last week gave the University System authority to potentially furlough employees, with those earning higher salaries - including presidents - taking larger cuts. The furlough plan would save the system about $40 million, officials said.
The average base presidential pay in the Georgia system last year was $332,475. Georgia State University President Mark Becker, whose school has the highest enrollment in the state, has the highest annual compensation package of any system president, approximately $1.1 million. Georgia State has about 53,000 students.
System Chancellor Steve Wrigley’s annual salary is about $515,000.
The board previously approved a system plan not to raise tuition in any of its schools for the 2020-21 school year.
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