Dr. Jeffrey Gold, pictured April 15, 2024, as the then-priority candidate for president of the University of Nebraska. He ascended to lead the NU system effective July 1, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold will not keep a performance-based 15% salary bonus and will instead donate the funds to support campus programs.
Gold announced the decision Friday, a day after the NU Board of Regents voted 6-2 to award him the $159,386 bonus on top of his base salary of $1.06 million. Multiple regents said the question wasn’t whether Gold had earned the bonus. The metrics the regents baked into Gold’s employment contract after each year in office said he had. Instead, some regents said it was a question of how to pay for it.
NU faces a systemwide budget deficit of $20 million, which Gold cited for declining his bonus.
“I am grateful for the strong support of the Board of Regents and inspired every day by our students, faculty and staff,” Gold said in a Friday statement. “It is an honor to be able to make this decision to support our university and the communities we serve during this critical time for higher education.”
Neal Schnoor, at podium, is announced as priority candidate for the next University of Nebraska at Kearney chancellor. To his right are NU President Jeffrey Gold, UNK Student Regent Sam Schroeder and Regent Paul Kenney of Amherst. April 23, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
Regent Paul Kenney of Amherst, chair of the NU Board of Regents, praised Gold’s decision and for a tenure that “has consistently put students at the center of his leadership.”
“We are grateful for his generosity and for the example he continues to set for our university community,” Kenney said in a Friday statement.
‘A financial bind’
Regents Kathy Wilmot of Beaver City and Jim Scheer of Norfolk opposed paying the bonus, both suggesting that finding an alternative funding source would be better.
Scheer, a former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, which decides how much the state funds NU, said his opposing vote was “not one of disrespect” for Gold, a sentiment Wilmot echoed.
“We are in a financial bind,” Scheer said. “We are continuing to have to reduce services and other things across all the campuses to rectify our budget problems.”
Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature John Arch, left, talks with former Speaker Jim Scheer of Norfolk. Scheer now serves on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. June 6, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
Wilmot said she has seen how much Nebraskans appreciate Gold when he’s out in the community, and she said she knows he has “definitely” met the requirements for merit pay. However, she said, families and students will be impacted by budget cuts and tuition hikes.
Part of NU’s budget shortfall comes with the slowing of year-to-year increases in state funding under Gov. Jim Pillen, a former regent for 10 years before becoming governor in 2023. NU will offer a buyout program this fall for tenured NU faculty who are at least 62 years old and have 10 years of service to NU.
Other NU campus leaders will need to find specific ways to save funds, such as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which is planning to cut $27.5 million by the end of the year to help close the systemwide budget hole and also close a campus-specific shortfall.
‘Baked into the contract’
Regent Rob Schafer of Beatrice joined Wilmot in June to oppose NU’s 2025-26 operating budget of $1.1 billion, which is composed of tuition and state dollars. He did so in part because it included a 5% tuition increase, which he said was a policy choice.
However, with the board’s contract with Gold, Schafer said regents had agreed “to pay him X, and if he performs Y, then he also gets Z.”
“It’s baked into the contract. It’s not a discretionary bonus or anything,” Schafer said Thursday.
From left, now-former UNL Student Regent Paul Pechous and Regents Elizabeth O’Connor of Omaha and Rob Schafer of Beatrice. Oct. 5, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
Regents Elizabeth O’Connor and Jack Stark, both of Omaha, said the board’s hesitation to pay Gold’s bonus could set a bad precedent. They worried about what message it might send.
“The university cannot enter into contracts, refuse to honor them and look for private entities to bail us out,” O’Connor said. “That’s a non-starter.”
Faculty and staff concerns
Sarah Zuckerman, an associate professor of educational administration at UNL and president of the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, was among those calling for Gold to donate his awarded bonus.
She noted NU presidential salaries have ballooned 281% since 2012, standing as a “stark contrast” to faculty and staff salaries.
“Tenure-line faculty are increasingly replaced with contingent faculty who are paid less and have fewer academic freedom protections,” Zuckerman told the Nebraska Examiner.
Regent Kathy Wilmot of Beaver City, center, is flanked by Chancellor Rodney Bennett and Mike Zeleny, vice chancellor for business and finance, both at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. April 26, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
Upon learning of Gold’s decision not to keep his bonus and to donate it, Zuckerman said the AAUP UNL chapter is appreciative of his action but still concerned, as UNL faculty and staff have been “demoralized” after significant annual budget cuts while being asked to do more with less as executive compensation continues to rise.
NU’s operating budget for this fiscal year also included no across-the-board merit pay pool for campus staff, meaning most non-professorial employees at NU will not receive a raise.
‘Worth every dollar’
Schafer, who has served as a regent since 2013, said he has served with multiple NU presidents, but he said none had brought “as much talent to the table” or “accomplished more to move Nebraska ahead” than Gold.
Regent Tim Clare of Lincoln, who has served as a regent since 2009, said he was honored to vote for the bonus as Gold has “done absolutely everything we’ve asked.”
University of Nebraska Medical Center Student Regent Brock Calamari said Gold had shown he would exceed board expectations while also fulfilling a pledge to listen to and seriously consider student opinions. Gold previously served as UNMC chancellor for 10 years.
Said Calamari: “I think he’s worth every dollar that we give him.”
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX