Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents has rewarded school President Carlos Vargas-Aburto with a 3 percent pay raise and a $6,000 boost to his annual annuity.

The move comes after the board spent $25,000 to have a consultant assess his job performance.

Vargas' salary will increase from $270,000 to $278,000 for the new fiscal year which begins July 1. His annual annuity will climb from $24,000 to $30,000, board president Jay Knudtson said Monday.

The board approved the increased compensation during its two-day meeting in St. Louis late last week.

Board president Jay Knudtson said the regents felt Vargas had "exceeded expectations" during his first year at Southeast.

Knudtson said Vargas has brought a "sense of enthusiasm and transparency" to the university campus.

The regents' decision was based partly on the consultant's evaluation, Knudtson said. Consultant Jim Votruba held a two-day retreat with the regents in September. In April, he interviewed community members, alumni, faculty and staff to help gauge how well Vargas was performing his job.

Knudtson said he felt the money was well spent. The board president said the regents benefited from engaging a consultant to help with the first-year review. He said the consultant provided an "independent, outside view" of Vargas' job performance.

The analysis underscored the regents' positive view of Vargas, Knudtson said.

"We thought we needed to reward Dr. Vargas for a terrific year," he said.

The regents gave Vargas a 1.5 percent general raise and a 1.5 percent merit increase.

"Year one was about establishing a relationship with faculty, staff and students," Knudtson said.

The coming fiscal year will mark the start of the second year of Vargas' four-year contract, which is reviewed annually by the regents.

He said the regents won't be using a consultant to review the second-year performance.

"We have the groundwork in place to move forward," Knudtson said.

In the 2016-2017 year, job performance will focus on "the nuts and bolts of academic success," he said, adding it will include a focus on student retention.

Knudtson described Vargas' first year as a "wonderful honeymoon."

He pointed out, "When you have a wonderful honeymoon, you often have a successful marriage."

Part of the analysis included a detailed review of compensation packages for a dozen public universities. Knudtson said Vargas' compensation is in the top half of the schools surveyed.

"We have a very competitive compensation plan," Knudtson said, adding such a plan is vital for retention of a university president.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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