At the July 14 Board of Trustees meeting, the board announced, because of President Lester Lefton’s performance over the last year, they would award him his yearly bonus.

According to Lefton’s employment contract, every year he submits a list of goals he wishes to meet with the university. If he meets these goals by the end of the year, he will be granted a bonus that is 20 percent of his salary.

“We’re contractually obligated to do so based upon his performance, and his performance, in all the areas that we measure, far exceeded what our expectations were,” said Patrick Mullin, chair of the Board of Trustees. “The areas that we measure are graduation rate, student attraction, student retention, balanced budget, areas like that, recruiting talent, which he’s certainly done in the last couple of years. Based upon him meeting those criteria we’re contractually obligated to pay up his bonus.”

The 20 percent bonus is estimated to be $75,000.

-Allison Smith