Email Article

Printable Page

Gainous to Leave FAMU in December

Photo credit: The Famuan FAMU President Fred Gainous as the board voted on his fate in September.

By Rachael Shackelford and Kris Thomas
Black College Wire

Fred Gainous, the president of Florida A&M University who was effectively fired in September, has notified the Board of Trustees that he will take a leave of absence beginning Dec. 11, after the fall commencement ceremonies.

The new interim president is expected to be in office by Jan. 1.

The Board of Trustees voted 9 to 4 on Sept. 28 to terminate Gainous' contract effective Jan. 1 unless board members gave Gainous a unanimous vote of support during their Dec. 14 meeting. However, Gainous requested that he leave office before that date's evaluation.

Gainous made an attempt to settle the final terms of his contract at the Nov. 10 board meeting.

As it began, Gainous discussed a memorandum he sent to James Corbin, the board chairman, which requested changes to his contract.

Gainous said he wrote the memorandum so that he and Corbin could have the same understanding.

"We needed to determine where we were as a university, where I was as an administrator and the president of the university; and I believe [the memorandum] has clarified it," Gainous said.

Gainous asked for an increase in his annuity payment to $33,000, which is $3,000 more than the original contractual agreement. In addition, Gainous said he wanted reimbursements for health benefits, as well as funding for the Center for Agricultural Policy, an agency he wants to create and direct. All of Gainous' wishes were approved.

"There's no severance pay. This is an industry. It's a business," Gainous said. "But we have not progressed in certain ways, at least contractually, at FAMU to allow it to occur any other way."

Virgil Miller, Student Government Association president, said one of the main purposes of the meeting was to "give the president what was due him in terms of the contract that was signed."

As for the annuity change, Miller said that was one of the things due Gainous.

"The additional annuity was to say 'thank you for a job well done, for your continued support of the university and its programs,'" Miller said. "I think we did that in good faith."

Gainous said the meeting went well.

"I feel the same way that I do about any board meeting that has ended, any one that you walk away from alive has been a good meeting," Gainous said. "I believe the board rests today with some very pertinent, very significant issues as to how this university moves forward. . . . I wish that they had been dealt with in this manner some time ago."

The meeting was productive, he said.

"I don't think at this juncture if I have been treated fairly or not is an issue," the president said. "I think an issue is how do we heal this university."

Miller agreed that the meeting went well.

"We got a few issues taken care of as it relates to the transition [of] bringing in an interim president," Miller said.

The decision to give Gainous a bonus in his annuity does not become final until the Foundation Board approves it, according to Miller.

Miller said Gainous' base salary in the original contract was $275,000. For the first year after he leaves office, he is to receive $247,500, which is 10 percent less than the original base salary. For the second year, he will receive an additional 10 percent less than the first year, which is $222,750.

Corbin said the search to find an interim president will be similar to the process put in place when former president Fred Humphries resigned in 2001 after 16 years. The then-dean of the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, Henry Lewis, was named interim president.

"There won't be any difference. It will be a different person," Corbin said. "The process will be tight. It will be very concise and we'll be prepared, God willing, to make a recommendation for an interim at the meeting on the 14th of December."

Corbin said he did not know of any prospective candidates.

The chairman said he had one wish for what would happen between now and Jan. 1.

"I wish I could see a new person and a very good person who is interim," Corbin said.

Miller's wish was similar.

"No matter who the person is that sits in the position, FAMU must continue to move on, and I think that has been the underlying tone and the sentiment of everybody," Miller said.

Miller said the idea for the Nov. 10 trustees meeting came about in committee meetings, especially the strategic planning and interim presidential selection committees.

Rachael Shackelford and Kris Thomas are students at Florida A&M University who write for The Famuan. They may be contacted at [email protected].

Posted Nov. 29, 2004