NITZSCHKE CONTRACT QUESTIONED; UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS INSIST CONTRACT ISN'T A 'GOLDEN PARACHUTE'

The state auditor's office is investigating Southeast Missouri State University's current contract with former president Dr. Dale Nitzschke for what Auditor Claire McCaskill says could be "possible improprieties."

But Southeast officials, including Nitzschke, insist it isn't a "golden parachute" deal.

The investigation is part of a larger performance audit that looks at Central Missouri State University's three-year contract with its former president, Ed Elliott, and the University of Missouri system's early retirement program.

Three top administrators at the University of Missouri-St. Louis retired and then were rehired, allowing them to draw salaries and retirement benefits at the same time.

The Missouri attorney general's office also is investigating Central Missouri State's $621,000 contract with Elliott.

The performance audit should be completed and released to the public within 60 days, auditor spokesman Glenn Campbell said Wednesday.

Campbell said the audit has looked at a number of contracts at Missouri's public colleges and universities to see if there were golden parachutes or generous compensation agreements for school executives. Campbell said the auditor's office wanted to see if golden parachutes existed in higher education in Missouri.

"We haven't necessarily found anything that would be illegal," said Campbell.

Campbell said the auditor's office has no enforcement powers. The contracts themselves probably are legally binding, he said. But the state audit could generate public comment and make such contracts less likely in the future, Campbell said.

At a news conference Tuesday that dealt largely with an investigation of the University of Missouri's early retirement system, McCaskill said she also was concerned about possible improprieties in contracts made to Elliott, former University of Missouri basketball coach Norm Stewart and a former Southeast president.

She did not identify Nitzschke by name, but officials in the auditor's office confirmed Wednesday that the terms of Nitzschke's contract were being investigated.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast president, said he talked with the state auditor's office last week. The auditors asked for copies of the university's contract with Nitzschke when he served as president of the school and his current contract as chancellor. Dobbins said those contracts have been sent to the auditors.

Dobbins defended the hiring of Nitzschke as the school's fund-raising chancellor. "We don't have anything to hide," he said.

Nitzschke served as president of Southeast for three years before resigning to take a newly created position as chancellor for the university. In that role he is involved in fund raising for various university projects, including the River Campus arts school and the polytechnic school.

Nitzschke was hired as Southeast's 16th president in 1996. He served two years before signing a new three-year contract. After a year under the new contract, Nitzschke decided to resign as president to spend more time with his family.

Nitzschke and his wife, Linda, live in Milford, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. Nitzschke and his wife continued to maintain their Ohio home even while he was president.

In stepping down as president, Nitzschke agreed to continue working for Southeast for two years in the school's new fund-raising chancellor role.

He is making a salary of $95,000 a year, which is $43,250 less than he made as school president. In salary and annuity combined, Nitzschke is receiving total compensation of $118,000 this fiscal year. He also has a $20,000 budget for travel and operating expenses. School officials said last year that the Southeast Missouri University Foundation was providing Nitzschke with a car and paying his membership fee at the Cape Girardeau Country Club.

Don Dickerson, president of Southeast's Board of Regents, said the contract is well worth it for the university. He said Nitzschke hasn't retired but is out raising money for the university. "All we actually did is move him to another position and one that I thought we desperately needed," said Dickerson.

Dobbins said Nitzschke is seeking to secure more than $10 million in funding from individuals and $5 million to $8 million from corporations and foundations for the university's capital campaign. He also has helped secure more than $2 million in federal funding for the school, Dobbins said.

Dickerson said Southeast's contract doesn't compare to that of Central Missouri State University.

The Warrensburg school signed a contract with its former president, Elliott. Under the contract, Elliott's duties include fund raising and the expansion of the school's international program.

Both McCaskill and Attorney General Jay Nixon earlier this month criticized the contract, which includes payments to Elliott's wife, Sandra, for travel. Nixon contended it was "an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars."

Elliott served as CMSU's president for 14 years before resigning last August. His current contract includes a one-year paid leave of absence that started last November.

While Elliott is on a leave of absence, he is being paid $152,850 in salary and $180,969 in benefits for the year ending Oct. 31, 2000. He will get $76,994 in salary and $66,890 in benefits for each of the next two years, ending Oct. 31, 2002.

The contract provides nearly $77,000 over three years for entertainment and travel for Elliott and his wife associated with fund raising and other duties.

Nitzschke, reached in Florida Wednesday on a fund-raising trip, said he is far from retired. He said he works daily on university business. "I spend every day talking, writing, faxing," he said.

Nitzschke works out of his home. The university pays for his office phone, fax machine and a computer.

Nitzschke travels a lot on fund-raising missions, including trips to Washington, D.C., to lobby for federal money for various university projects. He also spends a lot of time in St. Louis in conjunction with school fund-raising efforts.

"I am in contact every day with my office," said Nitzschke. He said he currently spends 10 to 15 days a month in Cape Girardeau. He has a desk in a room adjoining the president's office in Academic Hall.