Board of regents decide the president’s salary and buy KPLU

Of the many things on the board of regents’ two-hour long agenda Thursday evening, two of them involved large sums of money.

Via The Daily

One of these was the UW president Ana Mari Cauce’s salary for the next five years. She will earn $910,000 a year. Broken down, $12,000 of that is her yearly automobile allowance, $697,500 her yearly salary, $150,000 her yearly deferred compensation, and $50,500 her yearly retirement.

While signing her contract, Cauce announced she will donate $500,000 of her salary to the UW over the course of her promised five years. Cauce will also add to a scholarship fund she created in the name of her brother, who was killed because of his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. She also said she’ll contribute to other funds for student support and programs.

“I am very gratified by the confidence the regents have expressed in me,” Cauce said in a press release. “I will work hard to serve the faculty, staff, and students of this university I love, as well as the citizens of our state. This is a great privilege and a great responsibility.”

Cauce is currently in China, working on contracts between the UW and Tsinghua University.

During the meeting, chair Bill Ayer called Cauce’s donations generous and voiced his respect for her in doing so.

Another lump sum of money was approved by the board of regents: The UW’s KUOW, a Seattle news and information radio station, bought Pacific Lutheran University’s KPLU, Puget Sound’s news and jazz station, for $8 million.

KPLU is one of few radio stations nationwide that keeps a split format between news and music. In buying KPLU, KUOW intends to consolidate all news and information on its frequencies, while keeping an all-music jazz format on a few different frequencies.

The board of regents’ action item says this will strengthen and expand listenership of both formats on their respective stations.

It also specifies that $4.5 million will be paid in cash through KUOW, $2.5 million in cash from the UW’s treasury loan program, and $1 million of underwriting announcements over the next 10 years.

The Pacific Lutheran University board of trustees approved the sale in October. 

“We believe that in KUOW’s capable hands, this important asset will continue to serve and celebrate the greater Puget Sound community, as well as national and international audiences,” PLU president Thomas W. Krise said in a press release. 

He believes the two stations have always had a common goal to inform, educate, and entertain.

“We expect that the combined entity will have greater focus and resources to continue this shared mission through stories and music that move, inspire, and expand horizons,” Krise said.

Caryn G. Mathes, the president and manager of KUOW, believes her station is fully capable to take on the guardianship of KPLU’s renowned jazz program.

“The Seattle-Tacoma market is one of the world’s leading and most dynamic jazz regions, with a rich tradition in jazz music education, festivals and clubs, and it deserves its own dedicated jazz music station,” Mathes said in a press release.

The whole transaction is expected to close in early 2016, requiring approval from the Federal Communications Commission.