Salary for Johnson set at $275,000, Johnson Starts Job July 1
By Bronson Peshlakai
Metro Campus Editor-in-Chief
“We will make certain that tuition remains affordable, and we will also enrich and sustain the positive image of Cuyahoga Community College,” President Johnson said after taking his oath of office. “We have Dr. Thornton’s legacy to follow, but we need to look no more further than the words of an individual.”
While his official duties do not begin until July 1, the board approved a three-year contract setting his annual base salary at $275,000.
“We have negotiated Dr. Johnson’s compensation package after benchmarking other community colleges similar to Tri-C, including Dr. Johnson’s current institution,” said Jerry L. Kelsheimer, chair of the board, in a release. “This package builds upon his current compensation, is commensurate with his many qualifications and achievements and is comparable to our peer institutions.”
Outgoing President Jerry Sue Thornton’s last three-year contract gave her a base salary increase July 1, 2012, to $261,590. According to a release, Johnson would have earned approximately $260,000 after administrative pay increases July 1 as president of the Community College of Allegheny County, situated in the Pittsburgh, Penn., area.
In addition to Johnson’s base salary, he will enjoy a $12,000 annual retention bonus, an annually awarded performance bonus of up to 10 percent of his base salary, approximately $27,500, a leased automobile, mobile phone, and standard administrative benefits.
Johnson returns to Tri-C after serving as the Metropolitan Campus president and provost from 1993 to 2003. Since then he was a chancellor at Delgado Community College in New Orleans, La., from 2004 to 2008. It was on his watch that he saw great devastation to his campus and the surrounding community in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
