New University President Turns Down $1M Salary

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Documents say the incoming president of the University of Texas at Austin declined the school's offer of a $1 million salary.

The Austin American-Statesman (http://atxne.ws/1Hd3q7B ) reports that in an email, Gregory Fenves warned that a million-dollar salary would prompt widespread negative attention from students and faculty because of budget constraints seen in the last five years.

The newspaper obtained the documents through an open-records request.

Fenves will receive his requested base salary of $750,000 a year. He also requested that his annual bonus, which is dependent on a performance evaluation, be capped at 10 percent of his base salary rather than the 12 percent listed in a proposed term sheet that was earlier presented to him.

The UT System Board of Regents is expected to formally approve Fenves' compensation package Thursday.

Fenves will assume office June 3.