Florida State University trustees have signed off on a $430,ooo a year five-year contract for incoming president, John Thrasher.
Thrasher will live in the president’s house. FSU will either provide a car, or if Thrasher chooses to drive his own he will get a $900 a month car allowance. The proposal is a five year contract, but Thrasher the ability to get bonuses based on his performance. Trustees have not announced how those bonuses will be decided.
“At this point, the goals have to be worked out. But we would not pay these goals and the performance bonus for a period of time, so there’s plenty of time to work out—and for the board of trustees to approve those goals," said FSU Vice President of Finance and Administration Kyle Clark.
The Trustees also made technical changes to the contract in order to clarify where more than half of Thrasher’s $430,000 a year salary will come from. Under state law, universities are capped at $200,000 for what they can pay presidents. Direct-support organizations, called DSO's, make up the rest. Thrasher’s contract calls for FSU Boosters and its Foundation to make contributions to both Thrasher’s salary and retirement plans.
If he gets approval by the state university system governing board Thrasher’s first day on the job will be November 10.
The contract is similar to ones negotiated for previous FSU President's T.K. Wetherell and Eric Barron. Barron left FSU earlier in the year to become president of Penn State University.
