Large payouts for departing executives are fairly common. That's part of the origin of the term "golden parachute."
But the money for the separation agreement of former Illinois State University president Terri Goss Kinzy invites a comparison to at least one past high-level departure. Kinzy resigned Tuesday.
The separation agreement allows Kinzy to live in the University Residence for up to four months and receive an additional $144,000 in pay, or 20 weeks of wages. That is far less than the $480,000 that former President Tim Flanagan was paid to go away, more than three times Kinzy's payout. Flanagan was also allowed to continue his use of the residence for some months.
Kinzy served more than a year and a half. Flanagan spent just seven months at ISU.
Kinzy is accused of no wrongdoing, a former ISU trustee told WGLT. The final rupture with Flanagan came after he verbally abused a grounds worker by screaming obscenities, made close contact with the employee, and had spit on the worker during the confrontation, though there had been other concerns about his leadership before that.
In 2014 Board of Trustees Chair Michael McCuskey said the board did not believe they had enough legal cause to fire Flanagan, and issued the payout to avoid a court fight and a potential award for Flanagan that far exceeded the amount paid.
It's unknown how much Kinzy negotiated the terms of her own departure.
"After the Flanagan resignation, Illinois passed the Government Severance Pay Act, which imposes limits on how much severance pay a university can provide to a university president or other university employees. The maximum is 20 weeks of wages," said retired ISU Political Scientist Bob Bradley.
Even in comparing Flanagan's original annual salary of $350,000 per year, Kinzy comes up financially behind. Kinzy was ostensibly paid 7% more than Flanagan at $375,000 per year. But inflation more than makes up the difference in those wages from the time Flanagan departed in 2014 to the time Kinzy was hired in 2021.
Editors Note: This story has been updated to reflect legislative action to limit severance payouts.
