JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The University of Missouri System has doled out more than $2 million in hidden bonuses to administrators over the last three years and paid former Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin thousands of dollars in the months after his resignation with no work responsibility, according to an audit released Monday by state Auditor Nicole Galloway.
The audit revealed that the system has paid more than $1.2 million in performance incentives to top university officials without clear criteria and without notifying the public. They also have received inflated vehicle reimbursements, retention payments and housing reimbursements.
“These administrators appear to have forgotten that the university is a public institution and that they are accountable to taxpayers, students and their families,” Galloway said at a news conference.
The audit reviewed the UM System’s executive compensation following a tumultuous time at the Columbia campus. In the fall of 2015, students launched protests over the administration’s handling of several racial incidents on campus. UM System President Timothy Wolfe and Columbia campus Chancellor Loftin resigned, leaving the administration scrambling and raising questions from some lawmakers about the direction of the university.
After Nov. 10, 2015, Loftin was “not officially employed in any capacity by the university,” the audit said. He was still paid $230,000 over six months after his resignation – the equivalent to what he would’ve earned while he was working full time. Loftin’s contract said he should receive 75 percent of his previous salary.
He also received a $35,000 annual stipend, a $15,560 vehicle allowance, $100,000 in retention payments and a $50,000 travel budget to use while on a six-month “developmental leave.”
In June 2016, Loftin was hired as MU’s director of national security research development with a salary of $344,000. The audit says the position pays 31 percent more than the highest paid research administrator on campus, and Loftin’s duties “are not supported by the strategic plans of the UM System or the Columbia campus.”
A statement from the Columbia campus said the payments after Loftin’s resignation followed the provisions outlined in his original contract. Loftin will be evaluated in the spring for how effective he’s been in finding new research opportunities in defense, intelligence and homeland security.
