(The Center Square) – Taxpayers help fund the annual $400,000 base salary for UNC System President Peter Hans, and on Wednesday he was approved for a nearly half-million dollar bonus.
The UNC Board of Governors unanimously approved a one-time bonus of $475,200 to be deposited into Hans’ retirement account as part of an incentive package crafted when he was tapped to run the 17-campus system in 2020.
The bonus is based on incentives for meeting certain metrics set by the board last year that include increasing on-time graduation rates for certain students, and reducing student debt and expenses per degree completed.
“When we elected President Hans in 2020 we knew we were facing a two-part mission: First to help the system navigate COVID-19 pandemic … and second to bring this university out of the pandemic in fighting shape to take on a changed world,” board chairman Randy Ramsey said.
“Today, President Hans has created a more efficient operation and a better value for our taxpayers. He’s won the confidence of state lawmakers in both parties and opened doors for students who once thought college was out of reach. He’s provided opportunities for adults and military veterans who started college but never had the opportunity to finish until now.”
With base and bonus combined, Hans’ $875,200 in compensation puts him in line with past president Margaret Spellings’ nearly $900,000 in salary and bonuses in 2017.
Hans, who helmed the North Carolina Community College System from 2018 to 2020, previously served a six-year term on the State Board of Community Colleges and three terms on the UNC Board of Governors.
Ramsey highlighted a list of accomplishments over the last year he attributed to Hans’ leadership and cooperation with the board. It includes streamlining the student aid system, increasing support for campus security, addressing behavioral mental health issues, expanding collaboration with the military, and unifying the system’s advocacy in the General Assembly.
“That’s critically important that we speak together,” Ramsey said of discussions with lawmakers in Raleigh, “and the president has done a terrific job bringing us together on that.”
Other initiatives led by Hans over the last year involve moving UNC System’s headquarters from Chapel Hill to Raleigh, increasing enrollment caps at UNC System campuses with declines, recommending a ban on compelled speech in hiring and admissions, and a freeze on in-state undergraduate tuition rates.
Following Ramsey’s glowing praise for Hans, the UNC Board of Governors approved his bonus without any discussion or debate.
