Talent recruitment and retention

The following memo was disseminated to the university community on Monday, Feb. 9, from FIU Board of Trustess Chairman David Parker:

To the university community:

In reference to a recent Miami Herald article regarding compensation of top executives at the university:

Our university is absolutely committed to attracting and retaining the very best faculty, staff, and administrative leadership. I have the strong belief that the quality of our leadership & faculty is the critical ingredient that has made the university extraordinarily successful during its short existence.

In this spirit, the university asked, and the Foundation Board of Directors approved, private dollars that would be used for strategic recruitment and retention of faculty and staff, alleviating some of the pressure on our E&G budget. The foundation allocated $500,000 for this purpose. The university then used the discretion given in the collective bargaining agreement to offer retention packages valued at more than $300,000 to 17 faculty members.  

Also in this spirit, the President acted to retain his two top senior executives, both of whom have taken on significant additional responsibility in recent years. In both cases, these executives are frequently recruited by other organizations and these offers were nothing more than an attempt to demonstrate their criticality to the institution. Given the realities of our budget situation, the President utilized the only tools available to him to attempt to retain these top executives. Keeping them through this protracted budget process is essential to our ability to continue to progress as an institution not withstanding an increasingly limited budget.

With regards to the President, who over the past 23 years has done an extraordinary job in providing leadership and assembling an excellent team of executives, the board decided it would be in the university’s best interest to persuade the President to stay beyond the standard one-year sabbatical. Dr. Maidique has created a unique thinktank – the Center for Leadership – which will serve as a great resource to the College of Business Administration, the university, and the South Florida community. It is important to remember that the President is already a tenured professor of management and, independent of any contract, has the right to return to the faculty at 82 percent of his salary. I am certain that this state-of-the-art, revenue-producing center will produce resources that far exceed the five-year, 18 percent additional salary provided by the Board-approved contract. Furthermore, President Maidique’s total compensation is currently below average compared to his peers at the six public research universities in the state of Florida.

I fully support the decisions of the President and the Board I chair. What is more, I am grateful to President Maidique for agreeing to serve while we engage in the challenging task of identifying his successor.

I welcome your comments and questions. Please direct them to trustees@fiu.edu.

David Parker
Chair, FIU Board of Trustees