UNC chancellor will make $1 million at Michigan State, contract shows
Departing UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz will make more than $1 million at Michigan State University, according to his contract.
Guskiewicz announced last week he is leaving his position as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to become the 22nd president at MSU.
With a base salary of $975,000 and an award of $150,000 for each year he remains employed, Guskiewicz will make more than $1 million in compensation at MSU, a 48% increase from his $657,700 salary at UNC.
Guskiewicz will also get perks, including a car with driver and a country club membership, the contract shows.
Guskiewicz will officially take the president position on March 4, 2024, also serving as a tenured professor in the Department of Kinesiology within the MSU Department of Education.
A 29-member MSU search committee was involved in the appointment of Guskiewicz. Members of the committee on Friday spoke fondly of Guskiewicz before eight board members voted "yes" in his favor. As they voted, the board was very enthusiastic and excited.
Guskiewicz then thanked the board, the search committee and Teresa Woodruff, MSU's interim chancellor, for their confidence.
"I would enthusiastically like to address the group," he said. "I intend to fully justify that confidence in the days and years ahead."
The announcement was made Friday in a virtual meeting. At that time, Guskiewicz remarked on the "transformative power of higher education," announcing his mission "to prepare the next generation of citizens and leaders ... not only to solve the grand challenges of today but also to identify the rest of the grand challenges of tomorrow."
"It's a sad day," said UNC Board of Trustees member Ralph Meekins, who has been a critic of the board’s current majority.
Meekins told WRAL News Guskiewicz is "a fine man."
He said, "He’s been an incredible chancellor, and had we as a Board of Trustees treated him different, with more respect, I believe he’d still be here and we’d be better off.”
Guskiewicz has four children, including three college graduates.
"I am focused on serving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a special place I have lived, worked and loved for 28 years," Guskiewicz said on Nov. 16. "I am very proud of what our university accomplishes every day as one of the best public universities in the country. Through the years, a variety of professional opportunities have been presented to me. My family and I must weigh each one, and we are weighing this one."
Guskiewicz has served as chancellor since February 2019, after the university's previous chancellor, Carol Folt, was forced out.
"Thank you for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me to ensure our status as the leading global public research university we have aspired to be," Guskiewicz said in a statement Friday morning. "It has not always been easy, but as I have often said — easy is boring. We certainly have not been bored."
While Guskiewicz has served as chancellor, he faced his own set of controversies and challenges.
In February 2021, a group of professors at UNC called for Guskiewicz to resign. The local chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) said there had been several breaches of trust and dishonesty displayed by the chancellor and his associates.
Part of the controversy was due to the UNC System's plan to turn the "Silent Sam" Confederate monument over to the state chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which many faculty members believed was an immoral decision.
In July 2021, there were rumors that Guskiewicz would be fired and replaced by UNC System President Peter Hans, but nothing ever came of that rumor.
On Friday, Hans issued a statement regarding Guskiewicz' departure:
“Chancellor Guskiewicz has led UNC-Chapel Hill with grace and goodwill through some very difficult moments, and he’s leaving the University in stronger shape than when he arrived. I join faculty, staff, students, and alumni at Carolina in deep appreciation for his leadership. Kevin is a brilliant researcher, a kind colleague, and a mentor to many young people. The Guskiewicz family have been good friends to me and I know that Kevin and Amy will remain devoted Tar Heels.”
Governor Roy Cooper expressed on X (formerly known as Twitter) he felt Republican interference on UNC's governing boards is partially what drove Guskiewicz to Michigan State.
"UNC governing boards controlled completely by legislative Republicans with their extreme appointees hurts our universities, economy and reputation," Cooper said. "The Chancellor leaving is a prime example."
Board of Trustee member Marty Kotis believes political interference on the Board of Trustees did not drive Guskiewicz from UNC, but believed University governance had gotten too partisan.
"I think that Democrats like Governor Cooper are using the university as a wedge issue, with this idea being that if you love the university, you should vote Democrat," Kotis said. [That] is the messaging they keep putting out, and it's completely false."
Since 1945, UNC has seen a total of 12 chancellors. There have been four chancellors since 2000 alone. Before Guskiewicz's tenure, Folt was in the role for six years, Holden Thorp for five years and James Moeser for eight years.
