Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz’s letter to the campus on May 27 was unusual. He accused unnamed members of the Board of Trustees of cheating, lying and advancing a personal agenda, while simultaneously announcing that he was leaving to take a top job at Clemson University.
On Monday, he posted another unusual update: He had withdrawn from classes and decided to stay at Michigan State. He signed a new contract that will raise nearly half a million and add benefits.
“Under the strong leadership of Board Chair Brianna Scott and Vice Chair Renee Knake Jefferson, we had productive discussions about the management challenges I shared earlier,” Guskiewicz wrote. “The board has demonstrated its commitment to implementing a strong governance framework, including the recent development of a Code of Ethics and Conduct.”
So what changed his mind?
He told History of Higher Education On Tuesday, he thinks that “there has been a commitment to this way of bringing together one party—where the priorities are set by the chairman of the board and the chairman of the committees.” He said, “We had meaningful discussions about how the board can work in a more creative, effective way.
The university did not offer Within Higher Ed interview this week. It seems that this “one party approach” did not happen.
Board member Mike Balow said he found out from Scott at a board meeting Monday morning that the president wanted to stay.
“But it’s clear to me that the chairman and other board members have been doing this for several days,” said Balow.
Scott and Guskiewicz signed a new presidential contract on Monday—the same day Guskiewicz announced he was leaving Clemson. Balow said the contract was not shared with the entire board before it was signed, and Scott still hasn’t given him a copy.
“It is not clear to me why it was not shared with the entire board before it was signed, or before it was shared with outsiders,” said Balow. The university provided a copy Within Higher Ed after it is signed.
One senior university leader, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said not all board members were shown Guskiewicz’s new contract before he and Scott signed it.
University spokeswoman Amber McCann said Within Higher Ed in an email that the final contract did not have to come before the full board for a vote.
“In May, the Board met and approved the Chairman [Scott] and Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee [Sandy Pierce] to negotiate and finalize the contract with President Guskiewicz,” McCann wrote.” At that time, the decision approved a salary of two million dollars.
“Following President Guskiewicz’s decision to stay at MSU, Chairman Scott and Trustee Pierce were still authorized under May’s decision to negotiate and finalize terms,” the spokesperson wrote.
Scott and Pierce didn’t answer Within Higher Ed‘s requests for interviews.
The new contract terms include an annual salary of $1.5 million, not $2 million, but that’s still about $500,000 more than his previous contract. And Guskiewicz got more benefits. In one, the contract gives him $250,000 a year in deferred compensation, up from $200,000 previously. The contract is also long-term: until March 2031, not 2029.
He also received a new transportation benefit. Each year, the university “shall make available to Guskiewicz a private plane for personal, non-business travel of Guskiewicz and/or his guests and family for ten (10) hours of flight.” This will be paid for “using philanthropic funding sources,” the contract reads, but that item is not named.
“Personal use—if I’ve seen it before, I don’t remember it,” said James Finkelstein, a George Mason University public policy professor emeritus who studies presidential contracts.
“This seems to me to be more than a breach of the board’s duties. You are paying for holidays.”
He also noted that the contract does not specify the type of aircraft.
“You can fly in an uncomfortable plane, or fly in a private 757,” he said. “The costs are very different. There is no limit to the costs here. No one has to pre-authorize them.”
The contract states that “if the University acquires an aircraft during the term of this Agreement, Guskiewicz’s ten (10) hours of personal flight time will be transferred to that aircraft.”
Finally Flying in Formation?
Guskiewicz may have signed a new contract, but it remains to be seen whether his relationship with the board members he criticized has improved.
Judith Wilde, an independent researcher who works with Finkelstein and studies the president’s hiring and exits, said she hopes Guskiewicz spoke with all board members individually, as well as the group, before making a decision to move forward.
Wilde, who previously served as chief operating officer of George Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government, said Guskiewicz “stepped down with a letter unlike any we’ve seen before, basically saying he’s stepping down because of the misconduct and disruptive behavior of other board members.”
He said he wonders if the relationship has really changed.
“How long will this last?” Wilde asked.
Finkelstein echoed him.
“How likely is it that Guskiewicz, given his resignation letter … would just accept a handshake agreement of ‘Oh yeah, we’ll do better’?” Finkelstein said.
In his campus message announcing his tenure, Guskiewicz referred to “the recent development of the Code of Ethics and Conduct.” But the final changes to that code were approved in a split board vote on May 17—before he announced his move to Clemson. The board criticized two of its members, including Balow, last month for not signing a “Statement of Consent” agreeing to be bound by the code.
Guskiewicz credited his change of heart to an outpouring of support from the Michigan State community. That included support from men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo, who said, “We just lost the best president that’s ever been here, maybe,” and asked alumni to “stand up because what happened to our president is ridiculous.”
In his message to the campus saying he and his wife, Amy, will be staying, Guskiewicz expressed gratitude for “the confidence and encouragement I received from our board members, our leadership team, our outstanding faculty and many alumni, donors, students, staff and friends of the university.”
“Your support, advice, honest feedback and belief in Michigan State’s future underscored what has always made Michigan State special: People here care deeply about this university and about each other,” he said. Your words mattered, and they played an important role in my thinking and my belief that this is where Amy and I are meant to be.
For its part, Clemson acknowledged Guskiewicz’s resignation, but didn’t say much else. But it appears to have picked up speed again: The board meets at 9:30 a.m. Thursday to name a new president.
