Robert Kennedy is the former president of Connecticut’s state university and community college system.HARTFORD, Conn. — The former president of Connecticut’s state university and community college system was paid at least $100,000 more than his salary in 13 months on the job, before resigning earlier this month amid a controversy over $250,000 in unauthorized raises.
Robert Kennedy received $75,000 from a contractual bonus and an un-vouchered expense account, and at least $25,000 in other reimbursements on top of his $340,000 salary, The Hartford Courant reported Sunday. The compensation was allowed under a contract negotiated by the governor’s office.
Kennedy is also eligible for another $20,000 in “deferred compensation,” despite his leaving the job.
Kennedy and a vice president of the college system, Michael Meotti, resigned on Oct. 12 after Kennedy admitted making a mistake when he awarded $250,000 in pay raises to staff over the past year without the Board of Regents’ permission or knowledge.
Messages were left for Kennedy on Sunday.
Kennedy was also criticized for a nearly nine-week absence from Connecticut during the summer, but is still expected to be paid more than $4,000 for nearly 27 hours of “accrued vacation,” the Courant reported, citing Kennedy’s contract and responses to a request under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
Kennedy said he worked much of the summer from his summer home in Minnesota. He has said that he believed a contract provision for six weeks of “annual paid professional leave” allowed him to work remotely from the summer home.
Besides his annual salary, Kennedy’s compensation included:
· Two payments of $25,000 each earlier this year under a provision in his contract for un-vouchered expenses. The only documented expenses in the $50,000 total were about $219 in December and January.
· A $25,000 performance-based bonus paid for meeting his first year goal of establishing the central system office of the Board of Regents.
· $19,274 in moving reimbursements for his relocation from both his main residence in Maine and his summer home in Minnesota upon his arrival in Connecticut in 2011.
· $4,343 for nearly 27 hours of unused vacation time.
· $15,183 in health care expenses under the state’s plan.
Beginning operation in July of last year, the Board of Regents was proposed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as a way to streamline the way Connecticut runs its colleges and universities. The group governs four state universities, 12 community colleges and a public, online school, excluding the University of Connecticut.
Former University of Connecticut President Philip Austin has been named as an interim replacement for Kennedy.
