COD extends Breuder's contract three more years

After less than six months at the helm of the College of DuPage - and despite a three-and-a-half year contract already in place - COD President Robert Breuder received a three-year contract extension Thursday.

The board voted 6-0 in favor of the extension, with trustee Kathy Wessel absent. Wessel urged her colleagues - including four members who won't be on the board in a month - to postpone the vote until the new members take office.

Many who spoke at the meeting Thursday urged Breuder to reject the extension, but Breuder said he will accept the additional three years.

"It was always the board's desire to have a longer arrangement," Breuder said. "If you look nationwide, many college presidents' contracts are for six years or longer."

Incoming trustee Kim Savage works in the higher education field. She agreed that a six-year contract for a college president is not uncommon, but the circumstances surrounding Breuder's extension are also uncommon.

"If he is truly doing a good job, he deserves it, but it's only been three months and you can't make an evaluation after just three months," she said. "The current board did not approve this in the best interest of the community."

Breuder's current annual salary is $334,000. His contract calls for a 3 percent increase each year. That means by the time his contract expires in June 2015, he'll be making close to $390,000.

Many in the audience at Thursday's meeting complained that the decision to extend Breuder's contract came before they were allowed to speak and the details were kept secret until after the board voted.

"A board that is confident that it is doing the right thing for the community would freely share information and welcome public scrutiny and input," said Lisa Higgins, vice president of COD's faculty association. "When top college officials refuse to give information about agenda items on the morning that they are to be voted on, it goes against the spirit of open meetings laws and effectively cuts the public out of the process."

Outgoing board Chairman Mike McKinnon said Breuder's first few months on the job have shown he is the right person to lead the college for the next six years.

"In his first three months he has lived up to his stellar reputation as a take-charge leader with vision," he said.

Breuder arrived at COD in November from Harper College in Palatine after former President Sunil Chand was ousted by the board. A severance agreement forbids either side from discussing why Chand was let go. Chand is still be paid for the remaining years of his contract, though some of it is being covered by his current employer, Benedictine University.

COD is also paying former President Harold McAninch a salary for serving as interim president while the board searched for Chand's replacement.

Contract: Some say COD vote too hasty