London

Here's how much Western University's new President Alan Shepard will get paid

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share by Email

Shepard will get $440K a year, plus a car, a house and a 10 per cent bonus based on job performance

When Alan Shepard starts his job as Western's 11th president at the end of June 2019, he will be paid a salary of $440,000 a year, not including benefits or a performance bonus. (Western University)

Incoming Western University President Alan Shepard's contract contains many details around salary and job perks. But one perk is missing.

He will not be able to take a cash payment in lieu of administrative leave like his predecessor Amit Chakma did in 2014, CBC News has confirmed.

The revelation is among the details of Shepard's executive compensation package, which was obtained by CBC News through a Freedom of Information request.

ADVERTISEMENT

Reports of Chakma's 2014 income triggered days of public outrage after it was learned that he nearly doubled his income to almost $1 million, making him one of the highest paid public officials in Ontario.

Because of a clause in his contract, Chakma was able to choose to take cash in lieu of taking a 12-month administrative leave allowing him to collect $924,000 plus benefits.

Amit Chakma's reign as Western University president was met with controversy after he earned $924,000 in one year. (Mark Spowart/Canadian Press)

Chakma voluntarily paid back a portion of his 2014 salary and made a public apology in an attempt to soothe some of the public fury. The depth and breadth of that anger, retired justice Stephen Goudge noted in his September 2015 report, took Western's administration by surprise at the time.

Administrative leave cannot be monetized and paid out in cash in whole or in part. - Alan Shepard's contract with Western University

Like Chakma, Shepard will be granted a 12-month administrative leave to be taken at the end of his five-year term.

ADVERTISEMENT

Unlike his predecssor however, Shepard will not be able to take it in the form of a cash payment, according to his contract.

"Administrative leave cannot be monetized and paid out in cash in whole or in part," the contract said.

Western University has agreed to pay Alan Shepard a base salary of $440,000, plus benefits with a 10 per cent bonus based on his performance when he begins his job on July 1, 2019.

The contract also grants Shepard a "non-luxury vehicle," which will be leased by the university "to support travel to and from the airport and meetings with stakeholders within driving distance from the university."

Shepard won't be London's top paid public official

Like all presidents of the university, Shepard will live at Gibbons Lodge, a luxury home with an outdoor swimming pool surrounded by a sprawling greenspace in the Masonville area that is owned and operated by the university.

ADVERTISEMENT

Shepard's lodgings are a taxable benefit, according to the contract, which also guarantees he and his family up to $30,000 in moving expenses.

With a base salary of $440,000, Alan Shepard won't be the top paid public official in the city. That title goes to Paul Woods, the president and CEO of London Health Sciences Centre who earns $495,000, plus benefits and a 20 per cent bonus based on performance.

Shepard is on par with London's other hospital boss, St. Joseph's Healthcare London's chief executive Gillian Kernaghan, who made $446,876.38 last year.

In the academic sector, Fanshawe President Peter Devlin, earned $298,933.80 last year, according to the province's Sunshine list.

CBC News contacted the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association, but spokesperson Vanessa Brown did not respond to requests for comment.