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FAMU's Bryant Gets Bonus, New Contract

Photo credit: TeJay Henderson/The Famuan FAMU Interim President Castell V. Bryant, shown at an April meeting of the Board of Trustees, "has done a tremendous job" after coming at a difficult time, Trustee R.B. Holmes Jr. said.

By Mackenzie Turberville
Black College Wire

Florida A&M University's Board of Trustees voted to give Interim President Castell V. Bryant a $35,000 bonus and a new contract for up to two years.

While the presidential search committee will continue considering successors, the board decided Dec. 1 that the new contract should allow for an early termination of Bryant's contract if a replacement is found.

"We've started the search. If we find some super person, we can act" to replace Bryant, said trustee W. George Allen, who suggested the bonus amount and duration of the new contract.

The decision to award Bryant a bonus followed disclosure of the board's evaluation of her performance. It was mostly favorable, with Bryant's only low marks in the areas of student service and internal stakeholder relationships.

"This interim president came in at a difficult time. She has done a tremendous job," said the Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., a trustee whose remarks were met with applause.

Bryant took over in January after the departure of former president Fred Gainous. Since Bryant assumed the interim presidency, the university has seen administrators terminated, suspended or asked to resign; a university-wide spending freeze and an employee cell-phone recall, among other actions.

After the trustees discussed Bryant's raise and contract, Reginald Beal, chief negotiator for the Florida A&M chapter of the United Faculty of Florida, and Bill Tucker, president of the chapter, addressed the board regarding raises for faculty.

Beal said that FAMU told the group it could not offer raises because of the university's financial straits.

"That is not supported by the facts. FAMU finished $8 million in the black, not the red," Beal said.

Tucker congratulated Bryant on her bonus.

"I only wish the board would have found a way to reward the faculty," he continued. He said every board agenda should include collective bargaining until the issue is resolved.

Bryant responded by referring to a budget presentation earlier in the meeting by Gerald Dunn, chief financial officer and vice president of fiscal affairs.

In that presentation, Dunn told the board that state auditors were still investigating last year's finances and said he did not know when they would release their findings.

"The $8 million was an un-audited amount. Let's not get into financial discussions until we know what we have," Bryant said.

Mackenzie Turberville, a student at Florida A&M University, writes for the Famuan and can be reached at [email protected]

Posted Dec. 6, 2005