University of Missouri chief solicits help to cover pay raises

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri system's chief has asked outside contributors help cover the $50,000 raises he proposed this year for chancellors of the system's campus in St. Louis, Kansas City and Rolla.

In letters faxed Wednesday to the leaders of campus advisory groups, university president Elson Floyd asked each to come up with $50,000 apiece by April 1. Floyd said last July that he would seek private contributions to raise the pay for all four of the university's chancellors to $250,000 a year.

Out of its own money, the university pays the Rolla, St. Louis and Kansas City chancellors $200,000 and the Columbia chancellor $234,000. The $16,000 gap in Columbia is being made up from unrestricted contributions to the university.

Floyd repeated in his letters Wednesday the university must offer the higher salaries to draw and keep high-caliber chancellors.

Joe Moore, a university spokesman, said the system is paying its four chancellors at the $250,000 rate, with plans to replenish its accounts when it gets the donations.

David Russell, another spokesman, described the $50,000 request as "one-time to cover this year."

In seeking contributions on behalf of Missouri-St. Louis chancellor Thomas George, Floyd looked to 36 members of that campus' chancellor's council, formed in the early 1980s to advise the chancellor and help with fund-raising and other support activities.

Most members of that group are executives of businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Floyd said Thursday that he was limiting his solicitations to council members.

Floyd said Thursday that preliminary conversations with a handful of council members and a few people in the other campus groups had persuaded him that he "should be able to get the $50,000 from each of those organizations."

Dick Vitek, president of a similar group at the Rolla campus, said one way to meet Floyd's request would be for the 20 members of his board of trustees, all of them alumni, to dip into their own pockets to raise the salary of chancellor Gary Thomas.

At UMKC, board of trustees member Hugh Zimmer said his group plans to meet Monday to talk about how to raise the money. Zimmer said he didn't know of any individuals who have said they will donate money to raise Chancellor Martha Gilliland's salary.