Back in August, the FAMU Board of Trustees rebuffed outgoing Chairman Bill Jennings by handing the gavel to Solomon L. Badger, III instead of Jennings ally Richard A. Dent. Since that time, Badger has made slow but steady progress in cleaning up the board’s long-running bad reputation.The new chairman and former chairman immediately clashed over the direction of the presidential employment agreement negotiations. In the months preceding the August 4, 2011 BOT meeting, Jennings had attempted to pressure President James H. Ammons into major contractual modifications that he had not mentioned to the entire board at a public meeting.
Badger has led the board away from Jennings-style under-the-table dealing to a more open negotiation process with president. On Badger’s first day, the BOT established an ad hoc committee to review how the Ammons’ compensation, super-majority, and evergreen clauses compared with that of other State University System of Florida (SUS) presidents. The new chairman appointed Kelvin Lawson to head the committee.
The Badger-led committee process has brought dignity into the negotiations by sticking with the publicly approved agenda and providing regular updates to the press. It has also helped clear up the rampant misinformation concerning the details of the employment agreement.
For example, Jennings ally Karl E. White said he wanted the super-majority clause removed because it was his “understanding” that Ammons was the only SUS president with such protection. The committee exposed the fact White’s “understanding” was inaccurate and dropped this issue.
After the ad hoc committee’s initial meetings, Lawson presented the group’s recommendations to Ammons during a one-on-one talk. The committee then met again on October 3. As reported by The FAMUan, the committee and Ammons are now close to an agreement that will include:
-An annuity increase from 12 percent to 15 percent.
-A retention bonus to be awarded of the course of the 5-year contract on the third and fifth years.
-A salary increase of 10 percent.
-A performance bonus that would be reduced not to exceed 10 percent of the president's entire salary.
-A post-presidential sabbatical which would guarantee Ammons 90 percent of his salary as university president for one year after his resignation while he serves as a tenured faculty member.
Ammons has noted that he would like to extend the length of the sabbatical beyond one year.
This new negotiation process represents a much-need change from the way Jennings approached the presidential contract. The majority of FAMU’s trustees are now showing that they want to handle business in a way that will not bring further harm to the board’s reputation or leave most members in the dark.