Board of Regents Rescinds President Gamble’s Retention Bonus At His Request

The University of Alaska Board of Regents Monday voted Monday to rescind President Pat Gamble’s $320,000 retention bonus by a 9-1 vote.

The Board reviewed the decision to award the bonus at the request of President Gamble.

“I think a number of us felt that a deal is a deal and it was a commitment we had made, and so we did it with some reluctance,” Pat Jacobson, the chair of the Board of Regents, said. “At the same time, again, this gentleman, this very capable gentleman who has done such a good job for the university felt it was a thing we needed to do in order to move forward positively – and so we accepted it.”

The Board originally approved the retention incentive at its June meeting.

With the university facing system-wide budget cuts and declining state funding, President Gamble says the timing was bad.

“It just is not a good time to be personally standing up and smiling because you get a big bonus when you’ve got a tight budget and you’re looking at dropping programs or dropping people,” Gamble said.

Ultimately, Gamble says the sentiment of the students, staff, and faculty played a significant role in his decision to ask the Board to reconsider the bonus.

“My ability to actually deal with the people that I have to deal with to move this university forward, that’s where my concern laid,” he said. “And that’s where I was beginning to have feelings that I was starting to lose some of that, and that’s why I made the recommendation to the Board.”

The bonus would have been awarded at the end of President Gamble’s current contract in May 2016.