UCF shouldn’t add extra gold to Whittaker’s exit parachute
The state report on UCF’s funding fiasco is in, and everybody can agree on one finding:
“I want to close the book on this unfortunate chapter in UCF history,” said Tom Leek, chairman of the House Committee on Public Integrity and Ethics.
After six tumultuous months, who doesn’t?
A couple of important details remain, however. At the top of the list is finding a new president.
Tied into that is deciding what kind of parting gifts to give the old one.
Former President Dale Whittaker’s settlement package is on the agenda at Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting. Among those keenly interested are the other UCF employees who’ve lost their jobs, and anyone interested in replacing Whittaker.
As it stands now, prospective presidents must be thinking UCF is a good place to go if you screw up.
After Whittaker resigned last month, he and the board agreed to a deal that would pay him $600,000. The board put that on hold until the House finished its investigation.
The 33-page report came out last week. It made clear there was plenty of blame to go around. The report also made clear Whittaker was not the unsuspecting naif he portrayed himself to be.
“I didn’t know there were any funds being used that violated state statute or Board of Governors regulations,” he told the Board in September. “If I had, I would have stopped it.”
No doubt, the shell game of using education and general funds for construction was going on before Whittaker arrived as provost in 2014. But the state investigation showed he participated in weekly meetings with UCF’s financial team.
He received at least “at least one clear written explanation of the limited purposes and permissible uses of E&G funds.” He also signed off on all expenditures that cost more than $1 million.
You can debate how much blame Whittaker ultimately bears, but it isn’t zero. That’s why a $600,000 payday is curiously generous.
You can debate how much blame Whittaker ultimately bears, but it isn’t zero. That’s why a $600,000 payday is curiously generous considering his annual base salary is $506,000 and considering Whittaker contributed to his own demise.
UCF should pony up what the contract says, but not a penny more. And certainly not 1,699,000 pennies more, especially since Whittaker contributed to his own demise.
“This is a very one-sided agreement that heavily favors the individual and an individual who only served for seven months in his position,” James Finkelstein, professor emeritus at George Mason University, told an Orlando Sentinel reporter.
He studies compensation packages for university leaders and reviewed Whittaker’s proposed settlement. Finkelstein told the reporter he had this advice for Whittaker: “Sign this fast before the board comes to their senses.”
The cushy settlement comes on the heels of last week’s Varsity Blues scandal. UCF was not implicated in the scam in which rich and famous paid bribes to get their children into elite schools. But there’s a growing perception that higher education is a rigged system that rewards the well-connected.
Tracy Clark, Lee Kernek, John Pittman and Christy Tant are probably feeling that way. They are the administrators who were terminated as the funding scandal unfolded in January.
Pittman retired and Clark resigned, though Clark has rescinded her resignation and is appealing to be reinstated. Kernek and Tant have also appealed to get their jobs back.
As with Whittaker, the extent of their culpability is debatable. What isn’t debatable is that he’s getting a golden parachute while his underlings were shown the door.
Such are the perks of a presidency, and UCF is in a delicate position here. Whittaker’s prospective replacements will look closely at how he was treated.
Board members don’t want to appear harsh. But they should also be concerned about a larger audience: The people who fund the whole show through taxes and donations.
“How do you cure an admitted violation of the public trust?” state Rep. Cord Byrd asked as the Integrity and Ethics committee began its investigation. “I don’t know if there is an easy answer.”
There’s not, but adding so much gold to Whittaker’s parachute is no way to start.