The Kentucky Community & Technical College System expects to sign a contract next month with president-elect Jay Box. But Chairman P.G. Peeples won't say whether the new president will get the same generous pay package as predecessor Michael McCall.
With about $669,000 in annual pay, McCall is the highest paid administrator of his kind in the country. Jim Waters, president of the Bluegrass Institute, wants KCTCS to be more open about its negotiations.
"The lack of transparency in the hiring process here also should make taxpayers extremely wary about such a generous compensation package including Cadillac benefits for a person who is overseeing a system with dwindling enrollment and funding," said Waters.
Enrollment has dropped 15 percent in the last year and could decrease another 6 percent if preliminary numbers hold up. Tuition revenue is also down significantly.
"It's not enough for the KCTCS board to say trust us,” said Waters. “I think taxpayers deserve to be able to verify whether their hard-earned dollars are actually offering a sufficient bang for all of these bucks.”
KCTCS officials have defended the pay package, saying it’s needed in the highly competitive market for qualified administrators.
