The University of Illinois Board of Trustees has voted to give retiring President Robert Easter a bonus as he prepares to retire.
Easter will receive the additional $167,200 even though he is leaving office May 18.
Board Chairman Ed McMillan says the award was performance based and a part of the president's contract.
"So it wasn't a raise it was actually the payment of the performance bonus objectives which was established at the beginning of the year," McMillan said.
Easter earns a lower base salary than his predecessor. But his contract includes incentives that allow his pay to go up. This year, his total compensation will be near $645,758. That still ranks him in the bottom half of Big Ten presidents.
Easter, who is in his third year as president, has spent four decades with the U of I. He is getting the extra money in part for helping with the new leadership transition. Timothy Killeen will take over this month.
