WSU President Gets Big Raise

Washington State University’s regents on Friday voted school President Sam Smith an 8 percent salary increase and praised his leadership.

Smith, whose salary will climb to $134,675, last received a pay increase in 1993, of 2.5 percent. He has been president 10 years.

Board members, who met here rather than at the school’s main Pullman campus, said Smith’s new salary still lags behind those of presidents at many public research universities. The median salary nationally for presidents of universities with budgets comparable to WSU’s is $182,100, regents president Phyllis Campbell said.

“WSU has never been more highly regarded than it is today, and Sam Smith deserves much of the credit,” Campbell said. “He has been tireless in his advocacy for this institution.”

The regents also increased the annual contribution to Smith’s deferred compensation plan from $35,000 a year to $50,000. Income for the plan comes from private, non-tax monies and funds a retirement annuity for Smith.

In other business, Smith announced that Thomas L. “Les” Purce has been named WSU’s first vice president for extended university affairs. Purce is executive vice president at The Evergreen State College and served as the Olympia school’s interim president from 1990 to 1992.