Gold, when you factor in benefits and bonuses, makes more than some of the highest-paid public employees in Nebraska. Compared to other public employees analyzed by the Flatwater Free Press, his annual salary of $1.06 million is the highest base salary in the state. The University of Nebraska's football coach, basketball coach and athletic director make even more.
The University of Illinois System president's base salary for 2023 was $881,509, according to the Illinois Commission on Higher Education. Ohio State University President Carter's base salary is $1.1 million, according to university documents. System presidents often receive higher compensation than leaders of single-campus universities.
“Again, we recognise that we are in a difficult position because it is extremely challenging and taxing,” Clare said.
Salaries aren't the only cost.
The University of Nebraska has spent more than $600,000 on its four presidential searches since 2003, according to University of Nebraska Board of Regents documents.
After Carter announced his resignation to become chancellor of the Ohio State University System, NU paid Academic Search $225,000 (plus reimbursable expenses) to find a replacement.
This again reflects national trends in higher education.
According to a study by George Mason University professor Wilde, the use of executive search firms grew from 2% of companies in 1975 to nearly 92% in 2015.
Michigan State University, which has replaced six presidents since 2018 amid a series of scandals, has reportedly paid an executive recruiting firm $270,000 to help it find a new president in 2023.
“Recruitment agencies come along like a knight in shining armor on a white horse and say, 'Here's what we can do for you,'” Wilde said, adding that many recruitment agencies promise confidentiality, competitive candidates and due diligence.
NU's contract with Academic Search tasked the company with organizing listening sessions, developing leadership profiles, advertising the search and conducting background checks.
“If you try to do it on your own without using a recruitment agency, you'll really struggle,” Clare says.
Experts say university systems that tend to favor hiring presidents with academic leadership experience are like fishing from a shrinking pond.
That's led to increasingly secretive recruiting practices: Members of hiring committees at Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina said they had to sign non-disclosure agreements.
“One of the problems today is that these jobs have become so demanding that the pipeline of interested people is narrowing,” said Riley, now a senior consultant and researcher at the Association of College Boards.
After Ohio State hired Carter in August, Pillen told radio station KLIN that he was “very disappointed.” The governor, who served on the NU Board of Trustees for 10 years, also expressed frustration with a common trend in higher education for university presidents to leave their positions after four years in search of “better opportunities.”
“I love Ted Carter and I have a lot of respect for him, but he promised us, we were going to change things, we were going to make things better, so it's a great shame he's stepping down at this time.”
Those frustrations surfaced again in March when Husker athletic director Trev Alberts left his alma mater to take the same job at Texas A&M University. Alberts told the Omaha World-Herald that the decision was up to leadership. At the time, NU had not yet named a permanent president to fill the job vacated by Carter.
Pillen issued a press release criticizing NU's Board of Trustees and calling for “urgent and decisive action” in appointing a new president.
About a week later, Gold was named the preferred candidate, and he said the comments did not affect his hiring process.
