After learning that former University President James Duderstadt offered secret compensation agreements to top officials, regents say they plan to develop a more structured salary policy for administrators.
At Friday's University Board of Regents meeting, Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor) read a statement that expressed the board's concern about the deals.
"The regents, working with interim President (Homer) Neal and others, will examine these circumstances, as well as the University's overall policy with regard to executive officer compensation," Baker said.
Baker said that during the next few months, board members will look into developing a policy for the next president to follow.
Employment letters outlining the agreements - including yearlong leaves of absence at full salary and "administrative supplements" after returning to the faculty - were released last week.
Duderstadt said he had the right to authorize the agreements, but regents say they should have been consulted.
"That kind of stuff needs to stop," said Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor). "You don't do stuff like that at a public institution."
Other regents said they did not necessarily disagree with the deals, but in the future there needs to be a less arbitrary system.
"We now need to create a compensation structure which allows the University to recruit, motivate and retain the best people in the country," said Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor).
Regent Nellie Varner (D-Detroit) said board members can do little to change the salary agreements, but echoed other statements about implementing a formal salary policy.
"I think the regents have to respect and honor what was in place," Varner said. "This demonstrates the necessity of having a more structural policy."
Michigan Student Assembly President Fiona Rose reacted more negatively to reports of the compensation agreements.
"Students don't want their school to become the cheaters and the best," she said.
Rose said the University's public status should prompt its leaders to refocus its priorities.
"As a student paying a lot of money to go to a public institution, I think I deserve the assurance that my money is going towards education, not vacations," Rose said.
The executive officers who made arrangements with Duderstadt include Neal, Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison, Chief Financial Officer Farris Womack, Provost J. Bernard Machen, Vice President for Development Thomas Kinnear and Deputy to the President Jon Cosovich.