JON HELGASON/Arizona Summer Wildcat President Peter Likins discusses scheduling with his Executive Assistant Linda Stapleton. Regents will meet Friday and decide whether or not to raise Likinsâ salary by $148,394.

When Peter Likins was inaugurated in 1997, he took an $80,000 pay cut from his job as Lehigh Universityâs president to take over UAâs top job.

Since then, the Arizona Board of Regents has raised Likinsâ salary twice to its current $320,000 a year. Meanwhile, Likins has piloted the institution through sweatshop scandals, a continual loss of top faculty and, most recently, a series of budget cuts that have forced the university to return tens of millions of dollars to the state.

Last week UA staff and students found out that Likins ÷ one of UAâs highest-paid employees ÷ would get a $148,394 raise.

They were shocked.

After the raise, Likins will make $468,394 a year, or 46 percent more than he makes now. His salary will increase by $25,750 alone, while his pension plan will nearly quadruple in size.

Likins said in March that he would not accept a raise because it would be embarrassing to do so in the middle of a university budget crisis.

Recently, however, he said he would accept the raise and donate the increase in his salary and foundation gifts ÷ not including the increase in his pension ÷ to the university.

ã(The raise) makes me uncomfortable,ä Likins said. ãThis is not a good time for this to happen.ä

Likins said he changed his mind about accepting the raise because it would not be fair for ASU and UA to have presidents with a huge salary difference.

ãIf they had a $200,000 disparity, it would cause problems in a lot of ways,ä he said, noting that the financial situation at ASU is no better than that at UA.

Now at a time when Arizona is facing some of the biggest budget shortages in recent history and UA has been forced to lay off hundreds of employees and even close one of its colleges, the board of regents will meet Friday to vote on hoisting Likinsâ salary.

Kay McKay, Arizona Board of Regentsâ president, said the board decided to raise Likinsâ salary so that it better compares to the market value for a good university president. This move was made in preparation for Likinsâ eventual retirement, when the regents will need a healthy pay and benefits package to woo a top president away from a different institution to replace Likins.

Likins said he fully intends to work until July 2007, but there is a chance that he might retire earlier than that.

McKay said the regents also wanted Likinsâ salary to be equal to that of incoming ASU president Michael Crow, who was given nearly $500,000 to leave his position as executive vice provost at Columbia University.

ãWe didnât want Crowâs salary to be a slap in the face to the other two university presidents,ä McKay said, noting that NAU president John D. Haeger will also get a salary increase at the next regents meeting.

In fact, Likins increased salary will be on par with the national base salary for a president at a doctoral university, which sits at just under $250,000, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Regent Chris Herstam said there was no doubt among the regents that Likinsâ salary would be raised and that the regents realized Likins would need a raise when they began looking for a new ASU president. He said that it became evident that Likinsâ salary was well below the market value when the regents sought a new ASU president.

ãThere is no more important position at the university than the president,ä Herstam said. ãYou get what you pay for. Itâs a necessary investment that needs to be made.ä

Lisa Wakefield, president of the Staff Advisory Council, said she was shocked when she heard about the upcoming raise.

As head of SAC, Wakefield represents university staff members ÷ from secretaries to mechanics to janitors. Some of her constituents worry that their jobs will be lost when positions around the university are cut to ease the tension on the shrinking budget.

ãI expect an outcry,ä she said of Likinsâ raise.

Jack Nottingham, a Parking and Transportation Services employee, said that Likins deserves a raise but now is not the right time to give him one.

ãI donât know what (the regents) were thinking,ä Nottingham said. ãIf they had done this a year ago, probably no one would have said anything about it.ä

In the 2001-2002 academic year, UA lost $16.6 million in retracted state funding. UA expects to enter the fiscal year beginning on July 1 with an additional $8.2 million loss, said UA budget director Dick Roberts.

Likins has tried to cut the UA budget where it would have the least impact, but he announced on June 4 that staff positions would have to be cut across UA over the next several months.

If the raise is approved, Likins will receive a $250,000 base salary, $8,394 for a car, $46,993 in housing expenses and $163,052 toward his pension per year.

Likins said he chose to devote most of his raise to his pension so that he could secure his financial future.

ãIâm making sure that when I retire, the responsibilities I have to my family are met,ä he said.

Likins may also receive an additional $50,000 from the UA Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money for the university.

Likins currently receives $1,000 from the foundation, which is used to purchase a personal parking space for the President. Since ASUâs foundation is expected to donate much more money to Crow, Likins said he expects an increase from the foundation as well.

ãItâs possible that the ASU Foundation will provide Crow with as much as $50,000. If it does, it is possible that the UA Foundation will match it,ä Likins said.

He has already announced that any amount over $1,000 he gets from the foundation will be returned in the form of a donation. Add that amount to the $25,750 Likins has already promised to donate from the cash portion of his raise, and he could be giving as much as $75,000 a year back to UA.

ãI have no discomfort with the way I responded,ä he said.

Karlena Poncius, a music education senior, said she would like to see a letter from Likins to the university community explaining where his donations will go.

Likins said that the donated money will be available for anything this year, because the foundation has not budgeted for such a drastic increase.

Despite the fact that many UA students and staff members think Likinsâ offer to donate the money back to UA is generous, they donât see why he is getting a raise when the university doesnât have enough money to fund some of its existing programs and is forced to cut others.

McKay said the money used to raise Likinsâ salary comes from a different source than money used to pay teachersâ salaries or other university expenses.

Paul Perez, a senior majoring in marketing and business management, said he thinks Likins is doing the best he can given the universityâs financial situation.

He said that, despite the stateâs budget shortfalls, Likins does merit a raise because he is doing an adequate job of leading UA.

ãThe pay raise looks huge, but itâs probably not much in the big picture,ä Perez said.

Some students and UA employees, however, do not share Perezâ optimistic views.

ãArenât they still cutting people and the budget like crazy?ä Poncius asked.

ãThe music department doesnât even have enough money to copy sheet music. It seems contradictory to give him a raise right now.ä

Becky Holden, a retailing and consumer sciences senior, said she thinks it is a good idea to plan for Likinsâ replacement once he retires by raising the presidentâs salary, but she said now is not a good time to do it.