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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The board that oversees the state's university system unanimously approved James Bernard Machen as the University of Florida's next president during a Friday conference call.
The Florida Board of Governors ratified Wednesday's decision by the university's Board of Trustees to hire Machen, the 59-year-old president of the University of Utah. He is scheduled to replace Charles Young, who is retiring after four years at the helm of the state's flagship university, on Jan. 5.
Steven Uhlfelder, a member of the Board of Governors, congratulated the university on its selection.
"I have never seen a finer group of candidates in a public search as I have seen at this time," Uhlfelder said of the 11 prospects who sought the job. "It is an excellent job they've done and I'm proud to be a University of Florida alum."
Carolyn Roberts, chairwoman of the Board of Governors, said the University of Florida proved that university presidents can be selected in an open process consistent with Florida's open meetings and records laws.
"We all understand the constraints of doing the search in the sunshine. UF can be a model of what we can do and should do," she said.
Machen will be paid a base yearly salary of $375,000, making his the state's highest paid public university president, and can earn a $75,000 performance bonus, plus benefits and perks, including use of the president's home, said Manny Fernandez, the chairman of the search committee and a university trustee.
The employment contract, which is still being drafted, calls for a five-year commitment, with an optional three-year extension.
The state has a $225,000 cap on the amount of state money universities can use to pay their presidents, so part of Machen's pay will have to come from other sources, including the University of Florida Foundation.
After getting a 36 percent raise in December, Young was already the state's highest paid president, with an annual salary of $350,000. University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft is second with a base salary of $325,000.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
