(The Center Square) – Wade Rousse, the new president of the LSU system, will receive a $750,000-per-year base salary in a pay package that includes more than $1 million in bonuses tied to university-based measures including enrollment and research spending.
He can earn even more if he secures deals with the state’s economic development office and brings in more dollars from the state Legislature.
Under the contract, approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors on Nov. 17, Rousse could receive up to $210,000 per year if certain performance measures connected to the university are met, such as increasing retention or graduation rates. He can receive another $415,000 per year in “revenue-related incentives,” like increased federal appropriations or donations.
Several incentives are tied to state funding measures. If LSU secures a contract with Louisiana Economic Development valued at more than $5 million, Rousse will receive an extra $25,000.
LED did not specify the potential work that would be involved but said it already partners with LSU on research and development projects, workforce training through state grants and programs to help companies find skilled workers.
“LED looks forward to deepening our work with LSU under President Rousse’s leadership,” the agency told The Center Square in a statement, adding they are “encouraged” by the incentives.
Rousse can receive additional bonuses if he brings in more funding from the state legislature.
Under the contract, Rousse can earn a $75,000 bonus in any year that LSU secures at least $50 million in state-funded infrastructure money, such as capital outlay, non-recurring cash, supplemental construction appropriations or cash lines of credit approved by the State Bond Commission.
He can earn another $25,000 for every additional $25 million the state provides above that amount. If LSU doesn’t hit the $50 million mark in a single year, Rousse can still receive the bonus if the combined state infrastructure funding over two years tops $150 million. Money that LSU generates on its own and non-cash lines of credit don’t count toward the total.
Rousse, a Nicholls State alumnus who previously served as president of McNeese State, was named LSU system leader in November. University of Alabama Provost James Dalton was chosen as system vice president and chancellor as LSU returned to a two-leader structure.
Political insiders said Rousse was favored by Gov. Jeff Landry, whose office oversees Louisiana Economic Development, and that he had strong backing from LSU Board Vice Chair Lee Mallett, a major Landry donor. Board members serve at the governor’s pleasure, and the governor selects the chair.
Mallett and the Board could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rousse is also eligible for up to $425,000 in one-time incentive payments tied to major institutional milestones. He can receive $25,000 if accrediting bodies approve a new organizational structure for the LSU system and its flagship campus, and $100,000 if LSU breaks into the top 50 public universities in the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research & Development survey rankings.
Additional $100,000 bonuses are available if an LSU institution secures a National Cancer Institute designation, wins a National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award or lands a federally funded research and development center or federal national lab site.
Rousse will be provided with a $2 million, 7,600-square-foot South Lakeshore Drive residence owned by the LSU Foundation, along with a $15,000 annual vehicle allowance, LSU retirement and health plans and payment or reimbursement for club and professional memberships.
Former LSU President William Tate IV, who left earlier this year for Rutgers University after four years at LSU, received the same salary, perks and many of the same incentives listed in Rousse’s contract.
Tate’s contract did not include incentives tied to the state’s economic development projects or increased infrastructure funding.
