FVCC Board Approves $250k Salary for Incoming President Amid Faculty Compensation Complaints

Flathead Valley Community College trustees on Thursday unanimously approved an employment contract for incoming president Dr. Deborah Kish Stephan that includes a $250,000 annual salary and a $30,000 yearly retention incentive.

The approval of the three-and-a-half year contract for Stephan, whom the board tapped on Sept. 22 to replace retiring, longtime FVCC president Jane Karas, came amid ongoing concerns from faculty, staff and union representatives over inequitable compensation and a lack of pay transparency. 

Earlier this week, the FVCC Education Association, the Flathead Trades Instructors Association and the Federation of Flathead Valley Community College Adjunct Faculty voted “no confidence” in FVCC Executive Director of Human Resources Karen Glasser, citing “a pattern of inequitable compensation decisions,” slow and “poorly prepared” bargaining, and  “administrative lapses that have delayed or reduced employees’ take-home pay.”

“For more than six months, every employee group on this campus has worked to understand how pay is set here,” Conrad Rauscher, the vice president of the faculty union on campus, said at Thursday’s special meeting. “We filed public information requests. We wrote letters. We met with the administration. We built a compensation audit from the college’s own records. 

“Those records tell a clear story. The largest increases have gone to the top. The revised contract before you continues that story.”

Following the trustees’ vote, FVCC board chair Callie Langohr addressed a packed board room in Blake Hall, saying the presidential search was an “extensive and thoughtful process” where the board has made a “concerted effort to listen.” The nationwide search drew 90 applicants, the most interest that consultant Jill Wakefield of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) has seen for such a position. 

“I’ve done many searches, and this is truly the most transparent that I’ve been involved with,” said Wakefield, who has guided the board throughout the presidential search process.

Stephan’s compensation package approved on Thursday includes: 

• An annual salary of $250,000 for the first 18 months of her employment. Beginning with Fiscal Year 2029, the annual salary will be increased by not less than those offered to other employees, and “in no case” will the annual salary be decreased.
• Reimbursement up to $10,000 in moving expenses, upon the submission of receipts. 
• An annual college contribution of $30,000 to the optional retirement plan(s) of Stephan’s choice. The college will also contribute the full employer share and 75% of the president’s share to the applicable Montana state retirement system. 
• A $30,000 annual retention incentive.

The contract also provides Stephan with a college-leased vehicle of her choosing. The college will pay all operating costs, including insurance, fuel, upkeep and maintenance, and will replace the vehicle every three years.

Nearly a dozen staff and union representatives spoke ahead of the vote, with many asking trustees what kind of message the compensation package sends to faculty given the years of rising frustration over pay.

FVCC Library Services Director Morgan Ray during public comment described the compensation package as “difficult to stomach after many employees have been told you don’t go into education to make market value wages, and you can’t expect it.”

“When the $30,000 retention incentive and the $30,000 retirement contribution are combined, it is higher than what all 27 employees in our classified union make, one of which has worked here for 22 years,” Ray said while reading a statement endorsed by 14 staff members. “It is $4,000 higher than the base pay for faculty, and it is higher than the minimum starting wage for 100 different professional positions on campus. 

“I can reconcile one-time moving costs. I cannot reconcile annual allowances that are higher than many employees’ livelihoods, especially when it is compounded with a robust salary and a car of their choosing, including entrance and upkeep, which is likely more than the original $12,000 allowance.”

Ahead of the board’s vote, Trustee Mark Ruby said he appreciated “all the passion and preparation” from those who spoke during public comment.

“Just hearing the concerns from those in the room here today, I think is really important,” Ruby said. “Those are the future challenges for us to take seriously. And I’m sure Dr. Stephan, if this moves forward, will do too.”

Thursday’s contract approval marks the end of a roughly seven-month search and selection process for FVCC’s next president. 

Stephan, president of Hillsborough College’s Brandon Campus in Florida, was selected as the board’s top candidate from a pool of four finalists. Each finalist visited campus in mid-September to engage in interviews and in forums with staff and community members as the board weighed that information in selecting a successor for Karas. Board members praised Stephan’s experience as a critical factor during their deliberations last Tuesday, suggesting she’d be able to take on the presidency with ease.

Stephan’s contract was set to be considered for approval at the board’s Sept. 28 meeting, but the action was postponed by trustees until an employment attorney could review it. Campus employees used public comment to raise concerns about campus compensation and transparency in the presidential search — most notably taking issue with Karas weighing in on the search process in a closed session with the board and a perceived lack of shared results from feedback sessions.

Langohr addressed concerns in her statement following Thursday’s contract approval, noting it was the board’s responsibility to consider a large body of information — from formal candidate interviews, to public faculty, staff, and student forums, to written stakeholder feedback and more — when making its way through the search process. 

“No single survey, conversation, interview, constituency, or piece of information would determine the board’s decision,” Langohr said. “Our responsibility was to consider all of it, to weigh the information carefully and independently, ask difficult questions, listen to one another, and ultimately exercise our best judgment in determining who we believe was the best qualified to lead FVCC into the next chapter.”

With the contract now approved, Stephan is set to begin her term as FVCC’s next president on Jan. 1, 2027.

“This is a dream come true for me, both professionally and personally, and I’m just beyond honored,” Stephan told meetinggoers through Zoom on Thursday. “As you know, Flathead Valley Community College is a local treasure, and it has a very strong national reputation, so I’m deeply honored and incredibly excited to serve as your next president.”

“My commitment to you is simple: to honor what makes Flathead Valley Community College extraordinary, to listen to your needs and the aspirations of the community, and to work alongside each of you to imagine what is possible and turn that shared vision into reality,” she added. “I look forward to getting to know each of you, learning what matters most to you, and I heard quite a bit today, and beginning this exciting next chapter together.”

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