Curator supplements Alden's salary

~ The athletic director receives $50,000 annually to his $225,000 salary.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators has financed a $50,000 annual supplement for athletic director Mike Alden's $225,000 annual base salary, according to a newspaper report.

Don Walsworth, president and chief executive officer of Walsworth Publishing Co. of Marceline, has made the contribution each year since 2003, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported in its Sunday editions.

Alden said he believes Walsworth makes the contribution "because he cares about the Tigers and he cares about Mizzou. He's a very generous donor to our program."

He also said using external funds to supplement athletic department salaries is common at other universities.

The newspaper reported that an amendment to Alden's contract drafted in 2002 provided that a supplemental $50,000 payment would be paid each July for five years as long as there were private donations to the university for that purpose.

The Tribune based its report on information obtained through a Sunshine Law request. The newspaper said records showed that in July 2003, Walsworth pledged $100,000 a year for five years "to be used if necessary for compensatory matters relative to Mike Alden, director of athletics and/or Gary Pinkel, head football coach."

Walsworth's company specializes in printing yearbooks and ranked ninth nationally in book printing in 2004 with $110 million in revenue. The company also prints sports publications directly for Missouri's Athletic Department and separately through a contract with Mizzou Sports Properties, which owns the media rights for MU sports.

Walsworth did not respond to requests from the Tribune for an interview.

Asked what kind of profit Walsworth makes by printing athletic department materials, Alden said, "I don't know how you could when you're contributing everything for free."

Mario Moccia, senior associate athletic director, said most of the printing Walsworth's company did directly for the Athletic Department was without charge. He said a small percentage, which went through a bidding process, amounted to about $122,000. He said the company's free printing services for the department amounted to "well over 20 times that amount."

Records showed Walsworth has promised $500,000 a year over five years in "in-kind" contributions -- an amount that reflects the free printing of sports publications.

Mizzou Sports Properties General Manager Laird Veatch said the printing business was obtained through a competitive process and that the athletic director has no role in it.